“I do own beautiful cars. I want them to shine and be secure.”
Where are you based in what is your background? (Nikita Fahrenholz, Co-founder of Fahrengold, co-founder of Delivery Hero) I am a Berlin-born kid and grew up here most of the time. I graduated from Lancaster University in the UK with a degree in European Management Studies. After a short stint at Citigroup Investment Banking in London, I started my career as a consultant at Mckinsey in their Berlin office. Shortly after I co-founded Delivery Hero.
Why is Berlin a great city for start-ups? (NF) Berlin used to be great for start-ups, but it is not anymore. Berlin was comparatively cheap to find talent and office space. This has changed. Berlin has become stupidly expensive. But, it is still attractive since the ecosystem has grown immensely and the city still attracts due to its historic heritage and nightlife.
Please tell me about our first entrepreneurship journey, what made you want to build your own company? (NF) I was not suitable for a corporate career. Got easily bored and could not fit well into existing bureaucratic structures. So I needed to create my own way. Back in 2009, after 1 year as a consultant, I left McKinsey to build my first company – Delivery Hero.
How did you first get to build Delivery Hero? (NF) I met my co-founders of Delivery Hero by chance. Claude Ritter and I were introduced through Markus Fuhrmann. So we met at a bar in Berlin. Had a few beers and said: Let’s do this. The rest is history.
“What I loved was the process of building the company.”
And what was it like to find out it has the largest market cap in the food delivery sector? (NF) Well, it did not come overnight. To be honest, it is surrealistic. Large numbers tend to lose their meaning and only feed your Ego. What I loved was the process of building the company. Not so much the management process later. I still have strong connections to some of my team members. A bond for life I guess.
“Fahrengold is so simple: We want to build the most beautiful garages in the world.”
Fahrengold seems uniquely different to the other business you built; how did you first come up with the idea? (NF) Fahrengold is so simple: We want to build the most beautiful garages in the world. I just realised that most of the garages (not at the very top end of the market) look horrible. We are going to change this. I do own beautiful cars. I want them to shine and be secure. And I think there are many other car aficionados out there who think the same way.
Where are the places we can see Fahrengold now? We have customers around the globe. In Miami, in Geneva, in Australia, in Germany of course. But these are private customers. You can see us at different auctions where we support RM Sotheby’s. If you are in Berlin you can see our “Stages” at Porsche Berlin Franklinstraße. Porsche Hamburg just got one as well. A good example would be to start with our Instagram Account. We are in talks with Shelby Museum Los Angeles. So let’s see.
“We wanted our products to be timeless adhering to architectural principles of proportion and form.”
How did you come up with the uniquely beautiful look of this solution? (NF) My co-founder Micki Schultz is a renowned architect. He co-created the look with me. We wanted our products to be timeless adhering to architectural principles of proportion and form. Materiality and production quality needs to be unparalleled.
How did your passion for cars begin? (NF) With Matchbox cars as a child, I guess. My first car was an Audi TT 3.2. It looked great, but it was old and not really useful.
What motivated you to build a company in a certain sector? (NF) I build companies based on a product vision. I do not look after trends or “business opportunities”. This would be lame and uncreative.
What are your next 5 years goals? (NF) Fahrengold has the chance to become a global category leader. This is my goal.
