177: Stories create movements. Josef Brunner, Entrepreneur & Investor

“The role of the CEO is to tell stories and make sure that they become true.” Josef, who has two nine figure exists under his belt, is a serial founder, successful entrepreneur, and investor. But success didn’t come easy. Starting out at the age of 16, he dropped out of school to build his first company which he sold only two years later to buy his parents a house. Since then, Josef, who loves to spend his weekends hiking in the alps, has climbed many entrepreneurial mountains. Among others, he is the founder of JouleX, which was acquired by Cisco, and relayr, which was acquired by MunichRE. Recently, he was instrumental in a funding round for StartUpInsider. In his book “Follow the Pain”, he describes his entrepreneurial journey. In today’s episode, Josef gives us insights into the thinking of an exceptional entrepreneur who considers communications and storytelling as fundamental to what great CEOs do. Tune in, and find out: 💊 Why pain is a great driver to success. 🎹 How to scale mentoring 📈 How to distinguish transformations from trends ⚫️ The beauty of simplicity 📣 How to approach thought leadership 🖖 Why personal relationships and trust matter in investing We don’t run ads on Speak Like a CEO, but would appreciate if you support the podcast by sharing it with a founder who may benefit from it or by posting a review on Apple Podcasts.