In this episode of the EU-Startups Podcast, host David Cendon Garcia sits down with Friedrich Schwandt - founder of Statista and CEO of ECDB - to unpack nearly two decades of building one of the world’s most trusted data platforms, and why he decided to step back as CEO to start again. Friedrich founded Statista in Hamburg in 2007 with a simple idea: make reliable data accessible. Seventeen years later, it had become a global data and business intelligence platform with over 1,400 employees, millions of users, and customers ranging from media giants to global enterprises. In 2024, he moved into a chairman role and turned his focus to ECDB, a company built to bring clarity to the fast-moving world of eCommerce data. We talk about: • The early problem Statista was really trying to solve • The hardest moments of scaling that never make it into success stories • What corporate life at Deutsche Telekom and BCG prepared him for - and what it didn’t • Letting go of control as a founder, and knowing when it’s time • What young SaaS and data founders get wrong • How AI is changing the way data companies are built • And our shared connection to Ireland (and his fondness of card games) This episode is about data, yes - but also about leadership, timing, and the long game of building something that lasts.