Victor Büchner has just founded. In the most unusual founder interview he told us about vacation, Loki Schmidt and the next big thing.
Founders are asked a lot about numbers, pitches and sometimes failures. After the personal or philosophical, not so often. That’s why in the new “None Of Your Business” format, Gründerszene asks everything that doesn’t normally come up in business interviews. And maybe not in any other interviews either.
Victor Büchner founded Re_source Intelligence in January. With data analysis, the startup wants to make packaging more circular and also cheaper.
The naive questions
GS: How’s it going?
Büchner: I wear rose-colored founder glasses and am highly motivated. And summer starts.
Where can we reach you now?
On the way to vacation. We are currently in Tuscany. 27 degrees. I make a few more calls on the way.
Actually, I should ask about pasta now… But if you were a potato, how would you like it to be prepared?
As a fried potato. Fat is a flavor carrier. But without bacon, I’m a vegetarian.
What should people know about you that they mostly don’t?
I really care about the people. I don’t think I can do many things. But networking suits me.
What did you read last?
Anger is a gift by Gandhi’s grandson. There are many activist-motivated people who believe that the system must be destroyed. But anger at things as they are today can also be motivating.
The curious questions
What can you laugh about now that really hurt back then?
About the fact that I didn’t know what to start for a long time. I was unsure. Today I can laugh about it because it is part of the process.
What criticism of yourself did you implement?
That you think about what you can say cleverly instead of listening calmly. To be the quieter person in the meeting. The criticism came from myself. But confirmation from colleagues.
What were you once completely convinced of – but no longer?
I never thought that as a founder you would have so much support. You think 9 out of 10 startups fail. But I feel a lot of support. Not just competition.
What would you do if you no longer had anything to do with startups tomorrow?
Impact VC. Or save an old abandoned farm and look after animals and grow vegetables and do carpentry.
The local questions
What is your city?
Hamburg. But I come from the edge.
What restaurant tip would you give to someone visiting your city for the first time?
Mangia e Bevi in Winterhude.
Most overrated spot in HH?
Mönckebergstrasse, Spitalerstrasse and Co all the way to the Reeperbahn.
Most underrated spot?
The Loki Schmidt Garden.
The literary questions
Jane Austen: Do you have to disappoint expectations in order to be happy?
Yes, I think both your own and others’. There’s this saying: Misfortune requires expectation. If I always expect perfect weather, I can easily be disappointed.
Ayn Rand: Is selfishness good for everyone?
There is the crucial difference between egoism and egocentrism. Egocentrism is not good. Selfishness, on the other hand, is the reason why humanity is the way it is. But my appeal is for holistic egoism. Then, out of selfishness, you have to preserve the planet, with air to breathe, clean water and food.
Annie Ernaux: Do you lose something when you are successful and move up the social ladder?
Yes, that always has its price. During my studies I experienced that I had to work more than others and that has advantages but also disadvantages such as not being able to go to every party or constantly sitting by the lake. The question is whether success owns you or vice versa.
Franz Kafka: Is power scary?
Yes, I would say. When power is concentrated in one person, things get scary.
Kafka II: You wake up in the morning and are transformed into a beetle. What are you doing?
If I could fly, I would see the whole world from above. The same as as a human. First into nature.
The prophetic questions
Who will be the next chancellor?
I hope someone who works fact-based and scientifically and gets advice from people in the real world.
When will the AI bubble burst?
Economics would say when we least expect it. This is the Wall of Worries. If everyone thinks it will burst, then it won’t burst.
What will be the next big thing?
I could say quantum computers. Underrated. Not as easy to try out as LLMs. But what’s even more important to me: circular economy. The hunger for material is too great.
What comes after capitalism?
Good question. Eco-capitalism. More holistic, more transparent; and please also quantify anything that we miss today. As Hirschhausen says, a jar of honey would have to cost 300,000 euros if you paid the bees minimum wage. You also have to calculate the equivalent value of the ecosystems.
How will the weekend be?
Always good because the weekend is so important to let things sink in. Especially in summer. Sam Altman, who I’m not the biggest fan of, once wrote a list of productivity hacks. One is: Summers are the best.
Well then, buon viaggio!
