Post by Dieter von Holtzbrinck Ventures

This week, our colleague Yasemin Sezer joined Apple’s International Women’s Day event in Berlin as a panelist on “𝗩𝗖 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀.” ✨ The room was filled with female developers, operators, and builders across the tech ecosystem, all coming together around one question: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺? In a very practical conversation, Yasemin shared perspectives from the investor side on how founders can approach fundraising more strategically, what truly creates conviction, and why finding the right investor matters more than simply getting funded, alongside Alena Redeker from Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund. 🤝 Beyond the panel, the event brought together a strong set of voices across the ecosystem, including Rhiannon White, CEO of Clue, who opened with a powerful reflection on leadership and decision making, and Christina Barleben, CEO& CD at Thoughtfish GmbH, who shared insights from building and scaling in practice. One theme that carried through the afternoon: 👉 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲. 👉 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. And perhaps most importantly: More women in the room should also mean more women building companies. 🚀 A special thank you to Magdalena Przelaskowska for organizing such a thoughtful event and for moderating the panel so seamlessly🙌 Thank you to Apple for hosting and creating a space that brings together the next generation of founders and operators. ✨ #WomenInTech #VentureCapital #Startups #Berlin #IWD