"co-founding is like marriage", Dr. Vivien Karl

Discover the determination that led Vivien to find the perfect co-founder, which has since become an essential partnership that played a vital role in shaping the success of the business. Her insights into the strategies used to secure investments and steps to identify the perfect co-founder offer valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs navigating the process of building their startup.

What motivated you to relocate to Berlin for your startup?

After the Grace Summer Accelerator I built up my network in Berlin and really saw the opportunities this city has to offer in context of entrepreneurship. I commuted a lot between Cologne and Berlin after the accelerator. After a couple of months I had a strong gut feeling that I should build up my start-up fully in Berlin.

How has the start-up community in Berlin contributed to the growth and success of your company?

Most importantly I found my better half and Co-founder Julia in Berlin. This city has a really big start-up scene and especially the female founder bubble is well connected. Everyone is supporting and connecting each other. It’s really special. The media learned about us early on because I was networking a lot, attending many events and winning awards. In my opinion Berlin has to offer so many possibilities to make your start-up known in the scene. Eventually the media awareness was a big lever for our recent financing round.

How do you approach finding a co-founder whose values align with the vision of your business?

I was looking for Julia for 8 months and talked to 100+ potential co-founders. Ultimately I found her through the help of Lea-Sophie Cramer, who helped with her reach on Instagram. Before that I searched almost everywhere: My own network, co-founder platforms, LinkedIn, Instagram and so on. The key was to pitch my start-up at every event with the one important CTA: Do you know a potential co-founder for me?

What advice would you give founders searching for a compatible co-founder?

For me committing to Julia was -again- a strong gut feeling. In my opinion the personal level should be above all because co-founding is like marriage. There is no one I spend more time with since the day we met. Julia and I did coaching before we co-founded because it was very important for us to really get to know each other, where we and our actions are coming from, where we want to develop etc. Overall our characters are similar to each other, whereas our hard skills are complementary. For us it’s the perfect match.

What strategies have you used to secure investments for your start-up?

We always believed strongly in our product, business idea and ourselves as a founding team. Right before the kick off of our investment round we then focused on a strong media buzz. Investors were impressed by our achievements and the awareness. That was our key to raise our pre-seed financing round.

What impact are you hoping to make in improving women’s health and well-being through your business?

Our ultimate goal is that no woman has to suffer from intimate discomfort anymore. Developing great products that actually work and breaking taboos go along with it. We want to make a real difference in women’s lives who always struggled with their intimate health. DR.VIVIEN KARL will be the go to place for trusted intimate care products.

Thank you Vivien for the Interview! We are happy to have you on Board as a Grace Alumna.