What have you learnt? Episode 2 with finmarie’s Rica Klitzke

What have you learnt? This is a question we’re putting to company founders from our portfolio. Because if you found a start-up, run a company, make investments or work in management, you are learning something new every single day. You also have to deal with new situations. And continue to develop new skills. To cover the latter aspect, we expanded the HTGF Academy this year to offer a comprehensive programme for company founders. And because we firmly believe in the power of peer-to-peer learning, our newsletter now includes the column: What have you learnt? Once a month, company founders from our portfolio share tips and advice in this column. Rica Klitzke, Co-Founder and CMO of finmarie, joins us this time round.

Finmarie’s mission is to help women become more financially independent. Founded in Berlin in 2018, the start-up offers conventional financial coaching as well as a range of robo-advisors and an e-learning community. On top of that, it also has various other offerings to promote financial education.

Through their idea, the founders have been able to help lots of women improve their financial knowledge – and they themselves have also learned a great deal in the process. Rica Klitzke, Co-Founder and CMO of finmarie, tells us all about it in this latest episode of “What have you learnt?”

What have you learnt, Rica?

‘Everything is figureoutable’. Don’t wait until you’re feeling 100 percent ready to take on a challenge or you’ve completely understood everything – the truth of the matter is hardly anybody does. Instead, you should start gaining experience and learning, and in the process get better and actively seek support from your network.

What have you learnt from the process of founding your company that has stuck with you? 

At 37 I’m already among the older generation of founders, and I wasn’t sure whether I still had the courage to take that step at that point in my life. But it’s never too late to learn new things and pursue something that you feel passionate about. In our late thirties we still have over half of our careers ahead of us. That’s too much to just take your foot off the gas.

What advice would you give to other company founders?  

Firstly, learn how to deal with uncertainty; secondly, build up your network early; and thirdly, make sure you keep going!

How important is the notion of learning in general for founders?  

It’s absolutely vital. As an entrepreneur, you face new challenges on a daily basis. You encounter lots of topics for the first time and don’t have a boss to tell you what to do. Continuous personal development is hugely important.

In the next DeepDive newsletter, which will come out in early November, Valentina Triacca will tell us about what she has learnt. Valentina is Co-Founder & COO of the medtech Lymphatica.