| Capital: | € 15 million |
|---|---|
| Age: | 44 |
| Born: | 10/10/1975 |
| Country of origin: | Germany |
| Source of wealth: | Entrepreneur, author |
| Last updated: | 2020 |
Short introduction
Frank Thelen is a German businessman, writer, and venture capitalist for young companies. Thelen became known as the general public through his participation as an investor in the VOX program “Die Höhle der Löwen”.
Thelen has been an integral part of this since 2014 and has invested in various companies in the food sector and technology.
In addition to its entrepreneurial activities, Thelen also became more active politically in recent years. The main topic is digitalization and Germany must be more competitive and innovative.
Early life
Frank Thelen was born in Bonn in 1975 and also spent childhood and youth in former federal capital. He grew up in the middle class, but quickly felt called to be bigger. So he ended his studies in computer science to start his own company.
Career
Frank Thelen’s career is, like the norm in the technology industry, roller coasters rose full and down.
Since establishing his first company in the late 1990s, Thelen has gone through all emotional nuances. However, it is always clear for him that defeat will only be temporary. The first company Twisd AG tries to market the router type that connects local networks to the relatively new internet. The idea looked brilliant and sometimes also on the road to success. However, the outbreak of the Dotcom bubble destroyed the financial base, and Thelen suddenly debt. However, he did not let this discourage and immediately develop software for a digital photo platform, which can then sell to Fuji and may receive a two-digit number of dollars for it. The financial situation has been completed again and in the following years, Thelen established and participated in various well-known companies such as SmartLane, Wunderlist, and MyTAxi.
Through his involvement in “Die Höhle der Löwen” in Vox, Frank Thelen also found a new business field and apparently very interesting outside the usual environment: the food industry.
Over the years, he finally invested in a variety of start-up foods such as ankerkraut (spices), a little lunch (soup), or pizza (low carbohydrate pizza). Thelen also uses his growing awareness to publish several books and engage in politics.
However, at the end of 2019, he announced that he would retire from TV and concentrate on his business activities.
His career spotlight
1994: Foundation of its first company
2012: Chancellor Angela Merkel Present “Innovation 4 Society Award”
2014: first participation in “The Lion’s Den” in Vox
2015: sales of “Wunderlist” to Microsoft
2018: Publication of its biography “Startup DNA – Fall, Build, Change the World”
Quotes from Frank Thelen
“If you want to go forward, pain and fall are part of it. You must learn to get up and keep going.”
“As an entrepreneur, you must experience hard criticism from investors and continue to struggle.”
“As a founder, I must be able to say what I did in three to four sentences. It should happen even if I wake up in the night.”
An impressive quote shows the attitude used by Frank Thelen. In his view, there is no reason or reason that can permanently prevent success. However, founders and entrepreneurs must be patient and persistent. If an idea is rejected, it shouldn’t be handed over immediately. Instead, hard work to improve so you can convince the next presentation. The absolute focus of the founder must be all the time in the company. Because interference directly endangers long-term success.
Amazing facts
Frank Thelen has not only been a computer fan since the early young man, but also a passionate skateboarder and snowboarder. To this day, he felt very related to this scene and therefore supported several social projects in this field.
As mentioned, Thelen is also politically active. He is a CDU member until 2017 but was summoned to the Federal Assembly by FDP in the same year as representatives nominated by North Rhine-Westphalia Parliament to choose a federal president.
Frank Thelen said he had never operated a vacuum cleaner. He revealed this in the presentation of the “The Lion’s Den” show..
Net worth 2020
As of 2020, his estimated net worth is around $1 Million – $5 Million
