Hey, dear reader!
Would you send printed pitch decks to a prospect when they don't reply to your emails? Would you post publicly about your revenue, hires, and churn on LinkedIn? Would you get over the cringe to get that one "yes"?
In the second episode of the found podcast, we sat down with Fenja Vespermann, co-founder and CEO of mimikry.ai — a company building AI content pipelines for enterprises like Adidas, Audi, and Otto Group.
How does a one-year-old company land names like that? Fenja's answer: by getting over the cringe, over and over. She sent a printed pitch card to a client's desk when the emails went unanswered. She builds in public and posts her real monthly numbers. And she asks almost everyone she meets for an intro, even though, in her words, it always feels cringe.
My biggest takeaways from our talk with Fenja:
Do the stuff that makes you cringe — sending the package, posting the numbers, asking for the intro. Lean into that feeling. That's where the growth is.
You gotta create your own luck — the worst thing you can do is stay idle and wait for it to happen.
Grind isn't everything — building a company needs luck and a network too.
Hamburg has a lot of opportunities, but we don't have the right rooms to get the right people together. It needs more communities, more spaces for opportunities.
You can watch the full episode on YouTube, or listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
P.S. We're opening up the found podcast to sponsors. If you or someone you know wants to put your brand in front of Hamburg's startup and tech crowd, just hit reply. Forwards very welcome!
Save the Date 🗓
The events I'm most excited about in the weeks ahead.
Tuesday-Wednesday, June 9-10
Helmholtz Tech & Industry Day (English) — Connect research and industry around deep-tech innovation across two days at the DESY campus.
Thursday, June 11
Butter bei die Fintechs (English/German) — Bring fintech startups together with banks and financial players to trade notes on where the sector is heading.
Female StartAperitivo semi-final (English/German) — Watch strong female founders pitch live and get matched with investors at the Hamburg semi-final.
Wednesday, June 17
ECom Aperitivo: Tech Edition (German) — Connect with e-commerce and tech professionals over panels and technical deep dives at this capped-capacity evening hosted by minubo.
Thursday, June 18
Hamburg Innovation Summit (English/German) — Experience Hamburg's largest innovation event — 5+ stages and 1,800+ sqm of expo where the local community shows what's next.
Weekly Picks📍
All the events on my radar for this week.
This Issue’s Gem 💎
Saturday, June 6
founder hackathon (English) — Build something real in a single day and pitch it for funding, alongside AI Beavers, Mollie, and fellow founders.
AI Everywhere 🤖
Wednesday, June 3
Beyond Academia: Career Transition for AI Researchers (English) — Explore career paths beyond academia built for PhD and postdoc AI researchers, with industry insight and new connections.
Thursday, June 4
AI in Marketing (German) — Get a sharp evening read on AI in marketing — analytics, attribution, and real use cases — from ARIC and NORDAKADEMIE.
Startup 101 🔨
Wednesday, June 3
(Self-)Leadership for Female Founders (German) — Build leadership skills and a steadier mindset in a full-day workshop for female founders and aspiring leaders.
Overview of the Startup Process (German) — Get a clear map of the founding journey, from first idea to incorporation, with HAW's startup service.
Thursday, June 4
Public Funding: IFB Hamburg programmes (German/English) — Walk through Hamburg's current funding programs with IFB experts, with a focus on the new IFB PROFI line and the AI & Robotics call.
Friday, June 5
Pre-Incubator Info Brunch (German) — Discover how Körber's pre-incubator supports first-time founders over brunch and casual conversation.
build fridays (English) — Ship products alongside other builders, demo your progress, and get feedback from fellow founders.
Get Inspired ✨
Tuesday, June 2
Health & Life Science Venture Day (English) — Watch biotech, pharma, medtech, and digital health startups pitch investors at the region's leading life-science venture event.
Thursday, June 4
Next.Gen Summit for Good (German) — Turn a social-impact idea into a startup through a full day of workshops, expert consultations, and fellow young founders.
Saturday, June 6
Founders Running Club (English) — Energize your weekend with founders, investors, and tech folks for an easy 5K — coffee and conversation after.
Open Calls 📣
Grants, programs, and opportunities waiting for your application.
EIC Accelerator — For deeptech and high-growth startups building breakthrough innovation in AI, health, or climate. The European Innovation Council's flagship program offers blended finance: a grant of up to €2.5M plus €1–10M in direct equity investment. Open to startups and SMEs across the EU and Horizon Europe associated countries. Next cut-off: July 8.
Creative Destruction Lab — For early-stage science and tech founders chasing massive scale. CDL's 9-month objectives-based program pairs you with seasoned entrepreneurs, scientists, and investors across its Berlin, Paris, London, and Milan sites — no fees, no equity. Since 2012, 4,000+ ventures have generated over CAD $60B in equity value. Deadline: July 24.
TiE Women Global Pitch — For women-founded startups (33%+ female equity, founded after 2019) actively raising. A global competition with $50,000 in equity-free cash prizes awarded at the December grand finale, plus international exposure and mentorship from TiE's network. Open worldwide. Deadline: June 25.
Job Picks 💼
3 open roles worth a look this week.
AI Engineer at Logicc, a DSGVO-compliant AI platform aggregator (Seed, €2.5M).
Inside Sales Representative at Sidekick Health, a digital therapeutics startup (Series B, $55M).
Business Development Manager at MUVN, a marketplace matching unused truck capacity with shippers (early-stage).
Hiring? Submit your job here. Want to feature it in the newsletter? Reply to this email.
That’s a wrap!
Check out the tune of the week from the found playlist
🏄♂
Share found Hamburg with your friends
See you next week,
Kyrylo from found Hamburg