#29 Stephan Schambach, Serial Entrepreneur and E-commerce Pioneer | Making It Real Podcast with Jan Brinckmann

In today's episode we welcome Stephan Schambach, serial entrepreneur building market changing companies in the e-commerce space. Prior to his current software NewStore, providing Ominchannel-as-a-Service, Stephan launched Intershop and Demandware that was acquired for $2.8 billion by Salesforce. They say timining is everything, when launching a business. But what is the secret to get it right? How to narrow down focus and go big, when there are so many exciting opportunities? And once launched, how to find your first customers? He answers all these questions and shares his take on the NFT space as well as on the European investment ecosystem. https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanschambach https://www.newstore.com linkedin.com/in/janbrinckmann 0:00 Intro 1:00 The energy that powers Stephan 03:03 Stephan's passion for building companies internationally 06:20 The challenges of starting international companies in Europe 09:30 Finding ideas for new ventures and executing them 14:00 How to determine the right time for launching a startup 18:10 The influence of the first customer 21:10 How to find the first customer 22:30 Trends to watch out for in the ecommerce space 25:30 Stephan's take on opportunities with NFTs 27:45 Raising venture capital in Europe and building a European tech stock exchange 32:45 Quick fire round: Middlename | Something broken that entrepreneurs should fix immediately | Technology that will transform the future | Core concept 33:52 Closing