Reber: Selling Wunderlist to Microsoft felt like selling to the enemy
Christian Reber · 20VC: Wunderlist & Pitch Founder, Christian Reber on His Personal Relationship with Risk, Money, Whether the Sale to Microsoft was a Mistake, What Great Product Designs Means Today & Why Founders Investing External Capital is a Distraction · Feb 15, 2021 · at 21:50
Christian Reber, founder of Wunderlist and CEO of Pitch, reflects on the emotional toll of selling Wunderlist to Microsoft and how it reshaped his approach to founder health.
0:00 / 0:10exact quote · 10.9s
720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“When I sold Wanderlust, it felt like I'm selling my child to the enemy. I didn't want to get bought by Microsoft. I viewed Microsoft as the enemy, and it was just stupid.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Christian Reber
Reber: Microsoft screwed up its acquisitions of Yammer, Skype, and Wunderlist
“I think Microsoft has Screwed up multiple acquisitions like Yammer or Skype, and they promised me when we sold it that they will try their very best not to screw up Wunderlist, and I think they did.”
Reber: Running a seed fund while building a startup is a distraction
“So angel investing absolutely is a distraction. I think if you as a founder, like run your own like seed fund and raise capital on the side while you are building your own product and business, I think it's a massive distraction.”
Reber: Tech will replace the auto industry as Germany's economic backbone
“Like, especially in Germany with the car industry, if that might be gone at some point, I think the tech industry will take over, and it will be the backing bone of Germany in the future.”
Reber: Pitch can become a multi-billion dollar business
“I think it's a massive market. It has growth built in, because every presentation is meant to be shared with someone else. So if I'm able to build this tool and a platform around it, I think this can be a multi-billion dollar business.”
Reber: Angel investments rely on instinct rather than product understanding
“When I'm looking at investments as like angel investments, I ask myself that every single time I look at something, I only trust my instinct. Do I get along with the founder? Do I believe the founder understands the market? I don't necessarily have to understa…”