Porsche and Start-ups: Investments into the Future
In the latest episode of our Next Visions Podcast series, we delve into the world of venture capital. Ulrich Thiem, Head of M&A and Venture Capital at Porsche, and Christian Miele, Partner at the investor Headline, talk about investments into the future and their companies’ approach to VC investing, including challenges, lessons learned and strategies employed along the way.
What challenges and issues do investors face in today’s increasingly crowded and competitive environment? Why does Porsche invest in startups? What are the different strategies behind venture capital (VC) and corporate venture capital (CVC)? How do investors choose and structure their investments? And how can they help startups make an impact? Our latest podcast episode focuses on the role of VC and CVC.
In this episode, podcast host Christopher Golombek is joined by Ulrich Thiem and Christian Miele. Christian is Partner at Headline (previously known as e.ventures), a tech-enabled global venture capital firm headquartered in San Francisco and Berlin investing in consumer and software companies. As well as being an experienced investor, Christian is also President of Bundesverband Deutsche Startups (German Startups Association). In a sense, an entrepreneurial spirit runs through the family’s veins. Carl Miele, Christian’s great-great-grandfather, is the co-founder of Miele, a German manufacturer of domestic appliances and commercial equipment.
Ulrich is Head of Porsche Ventures, the corporate venture capital unit of the Zuffenhausen based sports car manufacturer. Headquartered in Stuttgart, with offices in Europe, Silicon Valley, Israel, and China, Porsche Ventures partners with and invests in companies from early-stage through growth.
Taking risks is essential for success
Most startups fail. Perhaps surprisingly, Christian argues that this is not bad news: “I don’t think we would be good venture capital investors if most of our portfolio companies didn’t go bust because that would mean we weren’t taking big enough risks,” says Christian. “We have to take sufficiently large risks so that we are in a position to find those very special needles in the haystack that then end up attacking really large markets and eventually dominate the market.”
Venturing beyond mobility
Meanwhile, Ulrich reveals that Porsche Ventures has taken the next step in its evolution as a corporate venture capitalist. “We are currently creating four to six highly tailored portfolios.” For instance, what Ulrich and his colleagues call ‘AutoTech’ is very close to Porsche’s core product, the car, revolving around mobility. “We also want to tackle the topic of intelligent enterprises more strongly. This includes the software as a service, for example,” Ulrich adds.
If you would like to learn more about venture capital investing, listen to the full episode of the podcast now available on all common platforms like Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify and Deezer. Please note that this podcast is in German.
