Anyone founding a company in a crisis can become very successful

On September 15, 2008, the US investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy – the global financial crisis had reached its peak and the consequences were felt for years to come. The following year, four young men founded a company that is still one of the most successful start-ups in Upper Austria: Runtastic. This was taken over by Adidas in 2015.

One of the Runtastic founders, Alfred Luger, advises people who have a good idea to be courageous despite the currently difficult economic times: “Anyone who founds a company now is already a few steps ahead when things start to pick up again economically. Many too Companies that emerged during the financial crisis have become very successful.”

Luger is part of a high-level panel that will discuss the future of start-up investing at Digital Days. As reported, these collapsed in the first half of the year, which is due to the economic uncertainty. The gold rush mood seems to be over. “You have to look at what phase the company is in. In the very early phase, people still invest. In the later phase, when larger amounts are involved, venture capitalists slow down and wait and see,” says Luger. This has a lot to do with the currently uncertain economic situation. Funding has always come in waves. The question is how long the phase of uncertainty will last. Young companies should not spend the money too quickly, avoid one or the other risk and focus on profitability instead of blind growth.

The 41-year-old Luger, who comes from Sankt Valentin, is now active as a “business angel”. He invests in companies in the early stages and also advises: there are currently 40 investments.

Together with the other Runtastic founders, he runs the holding company “8eyes”, which has also invested in around 40 start-ups. Since last year, he has also been a partner in the Calm/Storm fund, which invests in digital healthcare companies at a very early stage.

• tickets for the OÖNachrichten Digital Days on September 27th and 28th in Linz and further information about the event can be found at www.nachrichten.at. With the OÖNcard you get a 25 percent discount: Enter promo code OOENCARD_DD23 and save.