Shows
Go-to-Germany Stories#22 Special Episode - French Tech Germany Awards 2025In this special episode of Go to Germany Stories, host Andrea Vaugan sits down with the French Tech Düsseldorf team and the winners of the French Tech Germany Awards 2025 to explore what it really takes to build, invest, and scale across the Franco-German border.This episode brings together founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders who share their firsthand experience of expanding to Germany — from early market entry to long-term growth.🎤 Guests in this episode:Adrien Serres & Cyril Catel – French Tech Düsseldorf🏆 Yun Luo (CEO, RO...
2025-12-1647 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#21 Besart Shala - Breaking Through Germany’s Banking Fortress: The IbanFirst StoryHow do you win trust and business in one of Europe’s most conservative markets?In this episode of Go to Germany Stories, Andrea Vaugan sits down with Besart Shala, Country Manager for Germany at Ibanfirst, to explore how Ibanfirst has built a strong presence in Germany, now accounting for 10% of the company’s global revenue.We discuss the “sales secret sauce” behind their growth, how to break through the walls of a traditional banking market, and why everything had to happen in German rather than...
2025-12-1147 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#20 Marek Kraus - Winning in Germany’s HR Tech Market: How Lucca took on the competitionIn this episode of Go-to-Germany Stories, host Andrea Vaugan sits down with Marek Kraus, Country Manager Germany at Lucca, the French HR software company breaking into one of Europe’s toughest markets.Marek shares how Lucca combined rigorous preparation, thoughtful localization, and cultural awareness to build real traction in Germany — from adapting product features to small but telling choices in communication, like whether to say “Du” or “Sie.”They discuss how to build a resilient local team, turn sales enablement into a true growth driver, and strengthen cross-border collaboration between the local and HQ teams.A must...
2025-11-2039 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#19 Philipp Wegmann - Signicat - How to Build an International Go to Market Engine That Scales Beyond Year OneWelcome back to Go-to-Germany Stories!Season 4 opens with host Andrea Vaugan and Philipp Wegmann, Country Manager Germany at Signicat, exploring what it takes to build a true “growth engine” when entering the German market.Philipp shares first-hand lessons from his journey: how to set the right goals and prove traction early, why sales readiness is essential before scaling, and how regulatory milestones can be turned into compelling events. They also discuss assembling the right team, raising brand awareness in a crowded space, and navigating intercultural differences when Scandinavian and German business cultures meet.
2025-10-0946 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#18 Eva Katernberg - Eva Worldwide - Why outsourcing translation to a professional will make your team happyIn this episode, Andrea Vaugan interviews Eva Katernberg, a localization specialist and translator.
They discuss the importance of localization and the differences between translation, localization, and transcreation. Eva explains that localization involves not only translating content but also adapting it culturally, including numbers, images, and cultural references.
Transcreation, on the other hand, focuses on creative translation, especially for slogans and marketing campaigns. They emphasize the importance of hiring a professional translator who is a native speaker and has cultural expertise. They also discuss the benefits of outsourcing translation work and the potential risks of relying on internal employees who...
2024-11-0832 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#17 Tim Rath - Yoyaba - How to successfully grow a startup brand and drive growth in the German market w/ Tim Rath YoyabaAndrea Vaugan interviews Tim Rath, the founder of Yoyaba, a leading B2B tech SaaS growth agency in the German market. They discuss how to approach the German market and the critical steps to launch a brand successfully. They emphasize the importance of mindset, market differences, and mechanics in the process and also highlight the need for thorough research, understanding the target market's pain points, and adapting the creative strategy to fit the local culture. They discuss the challenges of convincing investors and stakeholders to prioritize warming up the market over immediate revenue goals. They also touch on the...
2024-10-1741 min
Go-to-Germany Stories# 16 Caroline Langer - Doctolib - International Talent MarketingIn this new episode of Go-to-Germany Stories Caroline Langer and Andrea Vaugan take a look behind the scenes of the employer branding and international communications strategies of Doctolib - a prime example of what can happen when international market expansion is done right. ✅
Head of Employer Brand & International Communications at Doctolib today, Caroline is a trilingual marketing leader with a decade of experience across various domains. 🇪🇺 She leverages marketing strategies to enhance recruiting and internal communication efforts for the French and European healthcare company that employs more than 2800 team members across 4 countries and x offices.
Caroline...
2024-06-1344 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#15 Martin Huegli - CCO at Back Market - Sustainable growth in Europe and beyondIf at any point since 2014 you were looking to buy a phone or laptop, more likely than not you know of them - Back Market 📱🔋By offering a platform that ensures rigorous refurbishing processes and quality checks, Back Market enables consumers to make eco-friendly choices without compromising on performance or affordability.Active in 13 European countries today, as well as Australia, Japan, South Korea, the UK and the US, the Back Market teams have mastered one thing: 💫 The art of market expansion. 💫A key player of this success since he joined the company in 2020 as GM German...
2024-05-3049 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#14 Pico Petershagen - VP Growth at Swan - European hyper-localizationSeason 3 continues with a second deep-dive into Swan, the leading provider of embedded finance solutions in Europe. This time, Andrea Vaugan interviews Pico Petershagen, VP Growth at the Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) startup. Splitting his time between Paris and Berlin, Pico leads Swan’s growth marketing, product marketing and brand teams.
What Pico outlines as the reason for Swan’s rapid success in now 10 European countries is a growth strategy he coins “hyper-localization”.
How this strategy compares to more traditional growth marketing and international business development strategies, what the difference between mere translation and true localization is and how...
2024-05-0744 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#13 Benjamin Romberg - Head of Global Comms at Qonto - What is the role of communication inLast year we discussed the important role of partnerships for a successful market expansion - now we’re welcoming back another team member of Qonto!
Benjamin Romberg, Head of Global Communications, is leading central PR, Social Media, and Community teams at the European unicorn start-up.
Qonto is the leading European business finance solution, making day-to-day banking easier for SMEs and freelancers. Founded in 2016 by Alexandre Prot and Steve Anavi, Qonto now operates in 4 European markets (France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), and employs more than 1,400 people.
In conversation with Andrea Vaugan, Benjamin explains how im...
2024-04-1847 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#12 Franziska Geier - Managing Director DACH at Stoïk - Innovating CyberinsuranceWelcome back to Go-to-Germany Stories!
Season 3 is kicking off with an exciting new player in the European start-up space: Franziska Geier, Managing Director DACH at Stoïk, sits down with host Andrea Vaugan to outline the start-up’s impressive European expansion processes.
Founded in 2021 by Jules Veyrat, Alexandre Andreini, Nicolas Sayer and Philippe Mangematin, Stoïk is the first insurance agent in Europe to empower brokers by providing their clients with insurance policy and protection against cyber risks.
Franziska and Andrea discuss how the start-up’s vision of being European is influenced by invest...
2024-04-0444 min
The DubWings and Lynx - Not a KFC BundleThe Lings and the Wynx. No. Wyngs and Linx...WINGS AND LYNX are two teams in great positions. They have foundational superstars, roster depth, killer head coaches. So what's next for them? Can they beat teams like New York and Las Vegas? Their futures are bright, listen to how Kaylee and Scotty think they can shine brightest.With a new baby on the way, Scotty desperately needs new joke material. Send them our way! Thanks for listening, and be sure to check out more from The Dub!Xhttps://twitter.com...
2024-03-1252 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#11 Sophie Wehrle - General Manager DACH at PlayPlay - Playbooks and structure for international growthSeason 2 is coming to an end with this fifth episode and our guest Sophie Wehrle. Sophie Wehrle is currently General Manager DACH at PlayPlay, a B2B SaaS startup and video creation platform trusted by more than 3000 organizations in 15 countries.
Before kickstarting the DACH market launch at PlayPlay, Sophie helped Doctolib, now one of France’s most successful unicorn companies expand to Germany.
Sophie and Andrea discuss how crucial well-structured playbooks are not only for sales, but for the efficiency of the entire company and its growth trajectory. Strategic hiring as well as finding the ri...
2024-01-2555 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#10 Thorsten Seeger - COO and CEO Germany at October - Partnerships as an entryway into the marketIn this episode of "Go-to-Germany Stories," Andrea Vaugan invites Thorsten Seeger, Group COO of October and the CEO of October Germany.
October is a European FinTech specialized in business lending. Leader in continental Europe, it has already financed thousands of SMEs for a total amount of over €1 billion in France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany.
Based on his extensive experience in the traditional banking sector and FinTech industry, Thorsten shares insights into October’s initial business-model-specific challenges and their solutions, such as opting for a partnership strategy over direct marketing.
Thorsten also walk...
2024-01-2549 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#9 - Felix Nübold - Country Manager DACH at Rapidmooc - Bootstrapping a startup accross European bordersDans l’épisode nr. 3 de la saison 2 de "Go-to-Germany Stories", Andrea Vaugan discute avec Felix Nübold, Country Manager Germany chez Rapidmooc.
Rapidmooc, une entreprise bootstrapped fondée à Lyon en 2016, est un fournisseur d'e-learning qui permet aux organisations de créer de manière rapide et facile des contenus de formation pour leurs équipes.
Felix partage comment, avec le partenariat de longue date avec Andrea Vaugan et l'équipe de Wyngs, Rapidmooc a stratégiquement élargi sa présence en Allemagne, en mettant l'accent sur des actions concrètes, des workshops stratégiques, et en intégrant le fe...
2023-11-1650 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#8 - David Frei - Head of DACH at Swan - The European fintech's success formulaJoin Andrea in episode 2 of season 2 for an insightful conversation with David Frei, Head of DACH & Eastern Europe at Swan. David joined the European fintech early 2022 as their first employee outside of France and is running the Berlin office.
Swan’s Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform is the easiest way for companies to embed banking features. Via its simple APIs, European companies can integrate banking services (accounts, cards and payments) quickly and easily into their own product. Founded in 2019, Swan processes around 300 million euros of transactions per month, for 100+ companies across ten European countries.
Swan has over 150 em...
2023-10-1946 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#7 - Dominik Drechsler - Country Manager Germany at Yousign - Making it in EuropeIn this first episode of season 2 of Go-to-Germany Stories, Dominik Drechsler, Country Manager Germany at YouSign, shares his insights on successfully launching the French e-signature startup in the German market during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yousign is a major European player in electronic signature, document management and identification services. Founded in 2013 by Luc Pallavidino and Antoine Louiset, Yousign has more than 15,000 customers and over 4M monthly signatories, as well as a team of over 200 employees. Based in Caen and Paris, Yousign has offices in Germany and Italy.
Dominik and Andrea discuss the importance of product adaptation, t...
2023-09-1452 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#6 - Torben Rabe - Global Director of Partnerships at Qonto - European through and throughAs the first season of Go-to-Germany Stories is coming to an end, Andrea Vaugan invites Torben Rabe, Global Partnerships Director and formerly Country Director Germany at Qonto. Qonto is one of the most successful French fintechs, providing an all-in-one business finance solution for European SMEs and freelancers. Torben, who is a German native, explains how Qonto's European DNA made the early market launches an almost natural step and how it helped drive collaboration across international teams, especially after Qonto joined forces with German fintech champion Penta. As this season's recurring theme, Torben further shares how Qonto forged strong local...
2023-07-1357 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#5 Philippe Chonion - Head of Go-to-Market Germany de Planity - Entre synergies et localisation des marchésL’épisode 5 vous invite à écouter une conversation entre Andrea Vaugan et Philippe Chonion, responsable de l'expansion internationale chez Planity. Planity est une entreprise SaaS qui permet aux coiffeurs et instituts de beauté de numériser entièrement leurs services de réservation. Lui-même franco-allemand, Philippe aborde l’importance de structures d’équipes interculturelles efficaces. De cette manière, les expériences acquises sur le marché français peuvent être utilisées pour aider la croissance de l'entreprise sur le marché allemand, sans négliger l’aspect essentiel de la localisation du marché.
Philippe Chonion sur Linkedin
2023-07-0654 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#4 Bettina Proft - Little Cigogne - La mode française - l'USP du e-commerce en Allemagne ?Dans l'épisode n° 4, vous pouvez entendre Andrea Vaugan discuter avec Bettina Proft, Head of International Development et Country Manager pour l'Allemagne et l'Autriche chez Little Cigogne. Little Cigogne apporte une solution simple, efficace et économique pour vêtir les enfants, de la naissance à l’âge de 14 ans. Bettina, native d'Allemagne mais vivant et travaillant en France depuis plus de 10 ans, parle des spécificités du lancement d'un e-commerce en Allemagne et de la façon dont le fait d'être français peut être utilisé comme un USP.
Bettina Proft sur Linkedin
Little Ci...
2023-06-2958 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#3 Moritz Himmelreich - Head of Sales Dach de Matera - Choisir les bons profils pour la vente et créer la cohésion dans les équipes inter...Dans l'épisode n° 3, Andrea Vaugan invite Moritz Himmelreich, Head of Sales - DACH chez Matera, à raconter son Go-to-Germany Story. Matera est une Proptech start-up qui permet aux copropriétaires de gérer leurs immeubles sans faire appel à syndics traditionnels. Moritz, qui vit aujourd'hui à Berlin, explique comment son séjour à Paris l'a aidé à comprendre les différentes cultures d'entreprise et souligne l'importance de la communication interculturelle pour réussir sur le marché allemand.
Moritz Himmelreich sur Linkedin
Matera sur Linkedin
Andrea Vaugan sur Linkedin
Wyngs sur LinkedinHosted...
2023-06-221h 04
Go-to-Germany Stories# 2 Carolin Marschall - Head of CS de Evaneos - Convaincre les clients allemands : La confiance est la clé !Dans ce deuxième épisode de Go-to-Germany stories, Andrea Vaugan discute avec Carolin Marschall, ancienne Country Manager Dach + Nordics et maintenant Head of Customer Satisfaction chez Evaneos. Evaneos est la plateforme en ligne leader du voyage responsable en Europe, présente sur 7 marchés. Tout comme Andrea, Carolin est originaire d’Allemagne, mais vit en France depuis plus de 10 ans. Carolin explique pourquoi il est important en Allemagne de créer une relation client et une notoriété basée sur la confiance et nous fait découvrir l’équilibre entre l’aspect central et l’aspect local.
Caro...
2023-06-1558 min
Go-to-Germany Stories#1 Vincent Huguet - CEO de Malt - L'importance du temps, de la confiance et d'être sur placeDans cet épisode, Andrea Vaugan s’entretient avec Vincent Huguet, CEO de Malt, pour explorer le sujet captivant de l’expansion internationale. Vincent partage ses connaissances et l’expérience acquise grâce à l’expansion réussie de son entreprise de la France à l’Allemagne. Malt est une plateforme qui met en relation des freelancers et des entreprises. Des différences culturelles aux défis à surmonter, Vincent et Andrea parlent des stratégies, des leçons tirées et des facteurs clés de la croissance et du succès de Malt en Allemagne. Il souligne l’importance de passer du temps sur le ter...
2023-06-061h 02