Independesk at the lion’s den: “The relief was huge”

In the first part of the interview with t3n, Karsten Kossatz explained how the Independesk pitch for “Die Höhle der Löwen” came about – in part two he talks about the deal that has been made and how it will continue.

Episode three of the tenth season “Die Höhle der Löwen”: Karsten Kossatz presents his startup Independesk to the Vox audience and the jury. What then followed was “super cool” for the 29-year-old founder – the audience got to see an exciting negotiation.

Read the first part of the interview here.

Kossatz describes the process after his pitch as follows: “I went in with an offer, I wanted 150,000 for 15 percent of the shares. And then the lions traded up on each other on the show. That means, I had an offer from Dagmar Wöhrl, I had an offer from Nils Glagau and I had an offer from Carsten Maschmeyer and Georg Kofler. Ralf Dümmel said he found it super exciting, but he’s out because he invests a lot in products, of course. “

In fact, Georg Kofler and Carsten Maschmeyer want a combined 25.1 percent of the shares for the targeted price. Dagmar Wöhrl would like to have 18 percent, Nils Glagau would stay with 15 percent. Kofler and Maschmeier then increased their offer to 251,000 euros for 25.1 percent, Wöhrl followed suit with 200,000 for their desired 18 percent.

Kossatz telephones with his business partner Uwe Weinreich – who, after a short motivational speech, advises him to negotiate hard. Kossatz returns to the studio, turns to Maschmeyer and Kofler and demands more than was previously the subject of debate: a total of 200,000 euros for 15 percent of the shares between the two lions. The proposal caused astonishment in the jury, but after a brief consultation the two lions strike – in the next investment round they also receive a right of first refusal with a 20 percent discount.

“This boasting also showed me once again what relevance this topic has, and also what potential. The fact that everyone wanted to take part is of course something that makes you incredibly proud and also happy that everyone sees this potential, ”said Kossatz.

t3n: What went through your head when you realized how great the interest actually is?

Karsten Kossatz: I think that was the maximum overburdening, but also a maximum focus. You weigh things up very quickly, and you have to listen a lot to your gut instinct, you shouldn’t first discuss it in front of yourself. Without wanting to sound too esoteric now, you have to let the first vibrations and the way you talked to each other work briefly, and then not hesitate for long. In my case it was about making a counter-proposal, it worked – and then the relief was enormous.

t3n: Did you expect such a high level of interest before the show?

Karsten Kossatz: Well, I’m very convinced of Independesk. Otherwise I wouldn’t have put so much into it myself and made it for it. But I would not have thought that so many lions would like to do something together at once.

t3n: What’s next after the deal?

The investment actually worked, which means that the negotiations were very good, very trusting and very cooperative. And now we’re all in the boat together and we’re experiencing phenomenal support from our lion teams. So apart from the financial aspect, they are really so committed to supporting us with everything possible – we never would have thought in life that there would be such blatant support, and that is incredibly valuable. This is something that I really want to pass on to all other founders, that it is above all these people, these investors, personalities who believe in you and make things possible that would otherwise not be possible.

t3n: Can you say something more specific about this?

Karsten Kossatz: Well, whether these are really specific intros to potential partners, whether it is about support in legal questions, the design of investment structures … or simply about support when it comes to finding even more spaces for us. Intros to big hotel chains are part of it, for example, these are things that are just incredibly helpful.

t3n: What are the near future plans with Independesk?

Karsten Kossatz: In one year we want to have dared to jump into other European countries, to our neighboring countries with a view to Austria and Switzerland, i.e. the DACH region. And of course we want to gain a lot more space and offer all companies that work hybrid with us a good service that is really as flexible as possible – and thus encourage them to work hybrid.