Sophia has worked in product roles in startups such as Navvis and Babbel before co-founding Saiga where she took on the role of Chief Product Officer (CPO). Most recently, she has joined the German SME ⁠Reicat⁠ and taken on the strategic business development of their fast-growing hydrogen product line.

I was eager to get Sophia on the podcast to learn more about the role a CPO has in a startup – in particular, in the very early stages when there might not yet be a product in the first place. And I was curious to hear what she had learned from her recent switch from the startup world to the German Mittelstand.

In this episode of the Entrepreneurship & Leadership podcast, we talk about

• what product management looks like pre product-market fit
• when it makes sense to have a founding designer as part of the co-founder team
• what startups can learn from the working culture in SMEs

Her message for founders: "Don't just copy Silicon Valley Culture. Look around and see what you can learn from the Germany Mittelstand."

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Michael

Learn more about reicat at https://reicat.de/en/

Connect with Sophia on ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/sophiahoefling/

Connect with me on ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/m-froehlich/⁠

If you want to learn more about product management check out Sophia's blog: https://sophiahoefling.medium.com/