Impact Entrepreneur of the Year — Two Hearts, Two Cultures | German Startup Awards | Startuprad.io
Executive Summary
In this episode of Startuprad.io, host Jörn “Joe” Menninger interviews Gülsah Wilke, the winner of the Impact Entrepreneur of the Year Award, at the German Startup Awards. They discuss Gülsah’s background, including her studies at a private university and her career in consulting and media. They also talk about her experiences in Montreal and her unique perspective as someone with a dual cultural identity. Throughout the conversation, the focus is on Gülsah’s impact-focused work and her role in supporting entrepreneurs.
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German Startup Awards 2023
This interview is in media partnership with the German startup association (Bundesverband Deutscher Startups https://deutschestartups.org/). Their German Startup Awards #GSA23 honor each year outstanding female and male founders and investors in special categories. You can learn more about the winners in our interview and on this website: https://germanstartupawards.de/rueckblick/rueckblick-2023
We already covered most winners of the #GSA21 and #GSA22
Playlist Interviews Winners 2021 #GSA21
Playlist Interviews Winners 2022 #GSA22
Questions Discussed in the Interview
- What does it mean to be an impact entrepreneur and why is it important?
2. How did Gülsah Wilke’s background and experiences shape her journey as an impact entrepreneur?
3. How did Gülsah Wilke’s education at EBS and her involvement with Vodafone’s scholarship program impact her career trajectory?
4. What role did her time at Axel Springer play in her development as an impact entrepreneur?
5. How did Gülsah Wilke’s multicultural background influence her work with 2 Hearts?
6. What challenges did Gülsah Wilke face as an impact entrepreneur and how did she overcome them?
7. Can you share a specific example of an impact project or initiative that Gülsah Wilke has been involved in?
8. How does Gülsah Wilke’s work align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals?
9. What advice does Gülsah Wilke have for aspiring impact entrepreneurs?
10. What can we learn from Gülsah Wilke’s journey as the winner of the Impact Entrepreneur of the Year award?
The Video Interview is set to go live on Thursday, October 5th, 2023
The Audio Interview is set to go live on Thursday, October 5th, 2023
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Impact Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 — German Startup Awards
Gülsah Wilke (https://www.linkedin.com/in/guelsahwilke/) is a talented and highly intelligent individual who stumbled upon the world of private business schools during her high school years. While attending the Akademie Verbegartiungliche, she met a girl named Iman, who shared with her the wonders of a private university where one could learn various languages and travel extensively. Intrigued by the opportunity, Gülsah decided to explore this new path instead of pursuing her original plan to study law in Bonn. She attended an information day at the school with her father and became even more interested in the possibilities it offered.
2Hearts
During the interview, Gülsah Wilke, the winner of the Impact Entrepreneur of the Year, discussed her startup called 2Hearts (https://www.2heartscommunity.com/). 2Hearts is a platform that aims to provide a home for individuals who have multiple cultural identities and want to connect with others who share similar experiences. The startup has gained significant attention and recognition in the industry due to its unique offering and impact-driven mission.
What sets 2Hearts apart is its focus on building a supportive community for individuals navigating multiple cultural identities. The platform goes beyond simply acknowledging the challenges faced by these individuals; it actively cultivates an environment where members can connect, share experiences, and find common ground. This unique approach has positioned 2Hearts as a light tower, with an ever-growing user base and a strong reputation for promoting inclusivity and cultural understanding. By creating a space where individuals can embrace their multiple cultural identities and find a sense of belonging, 2Hearts is making a significant impact on the lives of its members and contributing to the growth of a more inclusive society.
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The Interviewer
This interview was conducted by Jörn “Joe” Menninger, startup scout, consultant, founder, and host of Startuprad.io. Reach out to him:
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Topics Discussed in this Interview
In this interview, we are talking about
impact entrepreneur of the year, German startup awards, Gülsah, German startup association, Bundesweberbank Deutscher Startups, Startuprad.io, startup.radio, tech entrepreneurship radio, Montreal, warm socks, bagels, CV, Key sources, private university, EBS, higher education in Germany, tuitions, financing, Vodafone scholarship program, private business school, Turkish background, 2 hearts, German cheesecake, Käsekuchen, baklava, cultural background, L’Oreal, Roland Berger Strategy Consulting, Kuehne Nagel, logistics company, IBM, McKinsey, Axel Springer, Silicon Valley, Stepstone
Automated Transcript
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:00:02]:
Hello, and welcome everybody. This is Joe from Startuprate. Io, your startup podcast and YouTube blog from Germany, as well as the founder of Startup. Radio, the world’s number 1 tech entrepreneurship radio. Today, I bring you another interview in association with the German startup association, Bundesweberbank Deutscher startups in German, with the winner of the German startup awards. This time, I would like to welcome the winner of the impact entrepreneur of the year 2023, Gusa. Hey. Welcome.
Gülsah Wilke [00:00:35]:
Hi, Do. Thanks for having
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:00:37]:
me. Totally my pleasure. As we said in the beginning, you are the winner of the impact entrepreneur of the year. But as always, we go a little bit through your CV, what you’ve done in the past, and actually there is a lot of very interesting Key sources there. First thing that came to mind was Montreal. You’ve been to Montreal. First, Did you pack enough warm socks? And, secondly, can you tell us something about the bagels there?
Gülsah Wilke [00:01:10]:
So I have to say I packed a lot, because I knew that I was about to see 3 different seasons, summer and the Indian summer and definitely winter. So it Range from 30 degrees super hot to minus 30 degrees super cold. And still I was not enough prepared For Montreal, I had to buy still some terrible clothes because it was really
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:01:34]:
cold. What a terrible thing. You had to go shopping.
Gülsah Wilke [00:01:37]:
Yeah. Probably not so bad for me too.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:01:42]:
You you’ve been studying close to Frankfurt here
Gülsah Wilke [00:01:45]:
at Yeah.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:01:46]:
EBS? Mhmm. I I do know from other interviews I’ve heard, from you in preparation of this interview that there is a specific story behind it, how you got in there to its private university for everybody who’s listening because only around 2 thirds of our audience is from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and we are heard in places, for example, like recently, Mongolia, Malaysia, and so on and so forth. So therefore, I’m going to explain, usually, Higher education in Germany is free of charge, but in private universities like EBS, you have to pay tuitions. But can you tell us a little bit how you got in there?
Gülsah Wilke [00:02:32]:
Yeah to be honest I didn’t even know about the existence of Private business schools or apps business school and for me it was during my high school years that I was sent from my school to It was called Akademie Verbegartiungliche. So it was like, an academy for highly talented, young people Who are quite smart and best then I went there and met, a girl called Iman. She is German Moroccan And she also had very good grades and told me about that private university where you can learn different languages, travel a lot, and simply a great school. And that she heard of a very wealthy friend of hers about the school. And that’s where I first heard about that school. Before that, I simply planned to study law In Bonn, which is very close to Cologne where I used to live, so I thought I don’t need to move out. And then, yeah, this sparked my interest. I, initial and then eventually went with my dad back then, to the Talk to Often 2, so the information day.
Gülsah Wilke [00:03:34]:
And I remember in the end, there was one last info session that was called financing and you have to know that all of Germany’s richest kids are on that school. Right? So when it was the last agenda point around financing, it was only my dad and me left, basically. And the guy from the Local bank, Nassau Schisker, who then explained how you could still go to that university if you don’t have financial means. And, I decided back then to take on a credit to go to that university and got a luck that just before the university started, I got a letter from Vodafone scholarship program, and they said that they saw me in the admissions and that they would love To, sponsor and pay my entire studies because just on that very same year, they launched a program for highly talented Students with migration background who want to study at a private university. Yeah. And, that was how I got into a private business school being probably the 1st or one of the very few people with, a Turkish background who probably are not from the very, very wealthy bubble.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:04:46]:
That is always, a story that’s also where the name 2 hearts come from. Right? Yeah. With the background, you said in 1 interview that made me really Mile, at your birthdays, you have German cheesecake, kiese kuchen, and baklava.
Gülsah Wilke [00:05:01]:
Definitely. Definitely. Yeah. I mean, It’s, 2 hearts is about I mean, as the name says and suggests about having 2 hearts living between 2 cultures, having 2 identities, And simply identifying yourself, in my case, both with the German culture because I was born here, but at the same time also with the Turkish culture As my parents and grandparents come, from Turkey originally, and I do think that many, many expats be it those that are already 2nd, 3rd generation, but also those that Just arrive in a new country will know exactly what I mean. On the one hand, they have their probably work life and everything that is Happening outside, which is very specific to the country they are living in. And on the other side, they have their Private life, their cultural background, everything that is there, 2 hearts. And, that’s why we actually launched 2 hearts to Be the place and home for people all over the world who have 2 or more hearts and know exactly what this means.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:05:59]:
I do believe that rings about with a lot of our audience. But before we get a little bit more into that, you had Quite a lot of different stops what you’ve been doing in the past. I can just drop some names where you’ve been working. L’Oreal, Holland Bagher Strategy Consulting, Kuehne Nagel, that’s a logistics company, where you’ve been, an intern in Montreal. Yes. I I can see you’ve been there in January February. That had to be tough if you have used it. You’ve been with IBM.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:06:35]:
You’ve been with McKinsey. You had different Other positions, including, would have found interesting, mem, member board of directors for Stepstone. Mhmm. And you’ve been for quite some time in different positions with Axel Springer. Can you tell us a little bit about that because I do believe that was very informative for you.
Gülsah Wilke [00:07:02]:
Yeah. I mean, as you can see from my background, I have I always have been quite driven and quite interested in different areas. So when I started out my career I thought that consulting would be a good thing to do. To be honest like that was 15 years ago. That was the time when basically everyone after studying business either went to a bank or To consulting. So I decided to be, to go to consulting because I love to talk to people. I’m quite extrovert, and I thought, okay, just sitting behind a computer the entire day The numbers only as it is in banking is probably a waste of time for me, even though consulting fees is also very analytical that you get to see the clients and travel. Yeah.
Gülsah Wilke [00:07:43]:
And then, as you said, I, after some time decided to let leave McKinsey and then, work For a German media company, which is now one of the world’s global biggest and most global, media companies, which is Axel Springer. And I have to say the the 6 years that I spent there have been very, very great for me in terms of personal, peep like, people that I met personally, but also, obviously, Professionally. And I as I got to do what I love most, which is working with entrepreneurs, working with different stakeholders, And traveling. So, in 2016, I was responsible for the Silicon Valley office of Axel Springer. Spent some time there both, Looking after the portfolio companies and looking for investment opportunities. And then the last 3 years before leaving, Axel Springer, I basically Left the, left the investment strategy and activities. And as part of that, I was board member of StepStone, which many of you know as Your recruitment company, which by now makes, I guess, more than 1,000,000,000 of revenues.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:08:47]:
Yeah. And for everybody where Aksel Springer doesn’t ring a bell, it’s a company that owns for example Business Insider, Politico, all, outlets here famous in Germany called Bild, Autobuild, and so on and so forth. The Worldcoop, which includes, Konasena, from which we share a lot of content, n 24, the news media, the it’s it’s like a German version of CNN, I would say. Yeah. Insider insider inc, insider intelligence, and so on and so forth. So there is a lot of Very well known brands behind this not so much known name. You said you’ve been working there for quite some Time have been in the Silicon Valley office. I do assume that was quite a contrast to Montreal?
Gülsah Wilke [00:09:42]:
Yeah. Obviously. I mean, First of all, my I was in Montreal. I was much younger. I was an intern, more student years. It was more about traveling and yeah. Earning some money, which I did at CUNA Nagel, great people. And, obviously, with Access Spring, it was a bit different because I was responsible.
Gülsah Wilke [00:09:57]:
I was in a Professional more professional men, I was responsible for the investment activities there, for the ecosystem to represent Axespringa, as you said, Also with having more and more acquired, American brands like Business Insider, and that was quite a difference. And, obviously, also culturally. Right? When I first knew that I was would go to the West Coast, as Germans who sometimes think of LA and the fine fancy things. And I was like, oh, wow. I will live now on the West Coast. But then when I went there, basically, our office and house was in Mountain View, which is, Google’s headquarters, which is Silicon Valley and super, Let’s say I mean, let’s let’s put it that way. The people, they they wake up very early. There are a lot of nerds and techies.
Gülsah Wilke [00:10:40]:
They then go to work, come back. Dinner is around 6 or 7, and at 9 PM, everybody basically goes to bed. That’s that’s life there. If you go to San Francisco, which is still almost 1 hour of drive, it’s a bit Different. But, I mean, that’s Silicon Valley. And I did not expect that, but, eventually, I got used to it and I like the crowd. That’s why I’m also Still working in technology because I think there are there are great, very smart people who are very driven and very international. And, probably that’s the first time that I really Got to see how international and great people working in tech are.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:11:17]:
You know what? You you I just in my mind created a new name, a new term because I now have 2 kids, and I can say I live on a Silicon Valley schedule. I get up very early, and I go to bed very early.
Gülsah Wilke [00:11:29]:
Same here. I also have 2 sons so, I I couldn’t agree more. And now we have a dog so I, I’m very much into this, super structured, waking up early, going to bed, hopefully, not too late, schedule.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:11:46]:
And hopefully no interruptions. I know that
Gülsah Wilke [00:11:49]:
one.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:11:50]:
Yeah. At one point, he decided to leave Springer, and did other stuff including being the COO Mhmm. Of a Berlin based health tech startup called Aderheal, member of the board of advisers for Finmarie. Actually, I interviewed a few years ago one of the founders of Finmarie. Cool. And then in June 2020, we’ll get to the core of your award. You founded to hearts. Can you tell us a little bit about the background story, how this originally
Gülsah Wilke [00:12:26]:
started?
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:12:27]:
Yeah. What it will be and how people can benefit from it.
Gülsah Wilke [00:12:31]:
Sure. I mean, I have to say, one thing that everybody needs to know about me is I have a very I have a cultural diverse background that you can see, so I look look quite Turkish. I don’t look like the average German woman. Let’s Put it that way, I have a very Turkish name, Gulsa. I mean, it means queen of roses. It’s a beautiful name in Gulsa in in Turkish. I don’t know what, which which pill my parents took when they give me gave me this name as a baby born in Germany because it’s super hard to pronounce in, in Germany. So I always, right from the beginning of my childhood, also being raised up in a quite underprivileged background, Had this challenge of, on the one hand, loving my Turkish community, loving my parents speaking fluent Turkish, but on the other hand, Also being very driven, wanting to be accepted in German culture, being the first one going to university, and breaking a lot of walls And having a lot of firsts.
Gülsah Wilke [00:13:28]:
And in the beginning, I did not want to be associated at all with my especially Turkish background, Also not with this, Muslim environment. I’ve always wanted to be known as Guelcha, the hardworking Guelcha. But over time, as I proceeded in my career, I noticed that you can work as hard as you want, But there’s always some kind of code or glass ceiling that is very hard to go through if you do not have Super rich parents. If you have not been to tennis clubs your entire life, if you have not been, skiing your entire life, if you have a different name, if you do not No. The CEOs, families, etcetera. So this is something that I noticed over time, and it’s not specific to a certain company. And I said, okay. If I don’t get a seat at the table and I got to see that with table, I have to say, I went to McKinsey Access Springer, but many do not.
Gülsah Wilke [00:14:23]:
How about I build my own table? How about I create an influential network? Like many know the PayPal mafia that people call. How about I create this influential network And help many more Guelschers, Minzongs, whatever people that did not have as much luck as me or probably Did not have the chances. And that’s how we came, about with 2 hearts. Me and my cofounders, we are 4. It’s Min Sung who has a German Korean background. We have, Iskander and, Octaig, they have German Turkish background, and myself, and we said, we want to be the persons that we needed when we were younger, we want to not only have a professional super influential tech network, but we also want the people to feel at home, to feel at ease, to be Very open about their challenges and to have people that understand them, that speak their language, that just give them the impression. Hey. And I understand you.
Gülsah Wilke [00:15:21]:
I went through the same challenges, and I can help you. By by now, we are Europe’s largest platform and community for for people with migration background in the tech industry. You can join us, via Typeform. We have it on our 2heartscommunity.com, website. And we have 3 criteria, 2 of them very direct. One of them is you have to have some migration background, At least if you want to become a member, for mentors, we also accept those that do not have a migration background, but we need those allies supporting us in our mission. The second is that you have a strong interest or already are working in technology. This can be as a founder.
Gülsah Wilke [00:16:02]:
This Can be in a corporate where you work on digitization strategy, etcetera. And the 3rd and this is something that is not a hard criteria, but As we want to support as many young people as possible who do not have the nurture, we we like to see young people who have Some kind of underprivileged background probably who came as refugees, probably who who are the 1st ones to go to university because we do know that some things Are more challenging than if your parents do not have the 1st check they can pay you when you found your startup, if your parents do not have the biggest network or whatsoever. So this is, this is it in a nutshell. And, yeah, I’m super proud that we are being acknowledged for what we are doing with Trueheart.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:16:49]:
I can totally see that this is very important. There is a lot of people listening out there and Janice, how can people engage? You said, people with migration background who came in as refugees having a tough time growing up Somewhere in Europe, I assume it’s open to everybody who lives in
Gülsah Wilke [00:17:12]:
Europe. Yes. So we don’t have we even don’t limit it To Europe only. I mean, naturally, we are, we we launched 2 hearts out of Germany. We now have members all over Europe. We also have some members in the US, For example, so you can apply from wherever you are and we are a very bottom up driven community. Right? So it’s not about us telling Our members were to do, for example, individual chapters where they me we meet on a monthly basis. It’s more about our members organizing it themselves.
Gülsah Wilke [00:17:43]:
We also already had a meet up in new in New York because there have been some members who associate with our mission with 2 to build tomorrow’s tech society with cultural diversity and who wanted to come together and share thoughts and support each other.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:17:58]:
I see. And, what kind of mentors you are looking for? Like, the kind of people who help your members. What are you looking for in those people?
Gülsah Wilke [00:18:12]:
So we want to, first of all, the first most important thing For, for being a mentor at 2 hearts is the willingness to support and empower young talent with migration background in the tech industry. It’s not about having 2 hearts yourself. Obviously, sometimes, if you are a mentor with 2 hearts yourself, you an you better understand the challenges that These young people go through, but in my life, for example, all my mentors have been white, old, male, always, And I’m so grateful for them. They helped me so much. So what I do think is we also need allies. That’s why we accept both culturally diverse, but also Those mentors with one heart. And, the second is that we need to see that you have certain expertise in the tech industry. And as we define it quite broad is not it’s not that you have to be an engineer or programmer yourself.
Gülsah Wilke [00:19:06]:
It’s more about It’s more about navigating in the tech industry in different fields because we don’t want to narrow it down as we want to help as many young people as possible.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:19:18]:
Mhmm. I see. And, we’ve been talking before, there there are now 2 more points I’ll be, I’ll be asking you. Point number 1, where do you see 2 hearts in, let’s say, 5 years? And how can people join you? I know you’re also hiring full time to get even more involved.
Gülsah Wilke [00:19:44]:
Yeah. So, first of all, for us, the mission is very clear. We want to be the home for Culturally diverse talent and technology globally. So everybody who associates with our mission to build tomorrow’s tech society with cultural diversity, Especially those senior people who want to give big back should be part of 2 hearts. This is our biggest mission. Obviously, to achieve that, we need a lot of things. We need great, very motivated, very engaging members Because two hearts is what we all make of it. Secondly, we need more data and transparency.
Gülsah Wilke [00:20:20]:
We do notice that especially when it comes to migration background And as a diversity factor, especially in the tech industry, we do not have much data. So we are working with some organizations like the Deutsche Startup to ban on the Migrant Founders Monitor to bring in more transparency because if you cannot measure it, it’s hard to, derive solutions. And last but not least, We want to, also move something in in the German politics and also European Union to make sure That the immigration, conditions for culturally diverse talent from abroad is ideal, that English is a given, and it’s not as hard, especially to come to Germany as a culturally diverse talent. As we know that until two 2030, Germany is missing more than 7,000,000, people working in in our economy. So it’s a must, and it’s not an option. And how can you become a member? So you should go on our website, 2 hearts community, 2 as a number, 2 hearts community.com And there we have a link to join now which will direct you to our type form. And, basically, you then answer the questions and you will hear back from us. As with any, every startup, we are still growing very fastly so it may might take some time.
Gülsah Wilke [00:21:41]:
If you don’t hear after 48 hours. Don’t be surprised because, we take our selection process very very seriously and we don’t look in individually through each and every application.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:21:54]:
I see. Everybody who’d like to learn more, go to our medium blog, medium.comforward/startuprightminus or dash I o. There you find the interview of today with all the show notes or link, of Kohl’s Gusser, we will link your LinkedIn profile there, and everybody who would like to join will also have the URL, of course, of your to heart community
Gülsah Wilke [00:22:22]:
there. Sounds
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:22:24]:
great. Great. Thank you very much. It was a pleasure having you, and congratulations again.
Gülsah Wilke [00:22:30]:
Thanks a lot. It was great talking to you, Joe.
Jörn “Joe” Menninger [00:22:33]:
My pleasure. Have a good day. Bye bye.
Gülsah Wilke [00:22:35]:
You too. Bye bye.
