At the second Gründerszene × The Delta Campus edition, Anna Alex opened the evening with a message that cut through the usual founder playbook: if you want real impact, you have to combine scale and purpose, not choose between them.
Anna has built three companies across very different eras of European tech: Outfittery, Planetly, and most recently Nala Earth, which has just moved into The Delta Campus. She knows what it means to build fast. She also knows what it means to build with intention.
Her opening talk was a framework for how to think about a founder's career as a long game, especially when the world is asking for more than growth.
Learning 1: It is a numbers game
Anna’s first point was simple and slightly uncomfortable: success is not only about which company you build, but how many times you are willing to build.
From an investor’s perspective, founders are an undiversified bet. You put your entire life into one basket. Investors spread risk across dozens. Founders rarely do.
Her takeaway was not to chase shiny projects. It was to be honest about when something is not working, and to give yourself permission to start again.
Fail fast is not a slogan. It is a strategy for compounding learning.
Learning 2: Be stingy with your time
Anna’s second learning was the most personal. The most valuable thing a founder invests is not capital, it is life time.
She described how easy it is to forget this in your twenties, and how the question becomes sharper as responsibilities grow. Who do you spend time with? What problems are worth your attention? What do you want to have left at the end of the day for your family, your health, your own joy?
For Anna, the answer is clear: nature, animals, the planet. She shared that purpose is not something you add later when the company is “stable.” It is the filter that makes the work sustainable.
And she challenged a belief many founders still carry: that meaningful work cannot also be financially successful.
Her experience was the opposite. She became financially successful once she stopped trying to separate passion from business.
Learning 3: Follow your intuition
Anna admitted she used to be ashamed of relying on gut instinct. She thought business decisions had to be fully rational, fully defendable, fully backed by perfect numbers.
Over time she realised something that many leaders quietly know but rarely say out loud: huge decisions are made every day on intuition. The key is learning to listen to it and trust it.
She called intuition a founder superpower, especially when the path is uncertain and the data is incomplete.
Why she said yes to this event
Anna closed by explaining why she agreed to speak at this second edition. The main reason was Lawrence Leuschner.
To her, Lawrence represents a rare combination: willpower, energy, and purpose. The kind of founder who can build at scale without losing the reason why it matters.
That combination, she said, is exactly what the world needs more of.
Founder Learnings
- Building one company can change your life, building multiple companies can compound your judgement
- Protect your time more fiercely than your funding
- Purpose is not a luxury, it is what keeps the work sustainable
- Intuition is not irrational, it is pattern recognition built through experience
