Mostly Awesome – a podcast by cdtm

Daniel Metzler is the co-founder and CEO of Isar Aerospace. Daniel studied mechanical engineering at TU Wien and aerospace engineering at TUM. During his studies in Munich, he joined the rocket technology initiative WARR, where he worked on special rocket engines and met his later co-founders - Josef Fleischmann and Markus Brandl. In 2018, they founded Isar Aerospace Technologies GmbH. Isar Aerospace builds satellite launch vehicles that are smaller, cheaper, and more sustainable than existing ones. In the first block, Daniel tells us how he got into the aerospace industry and when and how he realized that he wanted to start a company in this field. In the second block, Daniel speaks about Isar Aerospace. Daniel shares what his founding experience was like and what fears and challenges he faced. He also talks about what he learned from other companies and what the rocket prototyping process looks like. The third block is about the importance of space technologies. Daniel explains how space technology improves life on Earth and what functions satellites perform. He also tells us what the challenges and opportunities of a hardware start-up are.

Daniel Besendorfer is the CEO of Allianz Technology, the IT service provider of the Allianz Group. He studied economics in Freiburg and Boston and holds a PhD from the University of Freiburg. He started his career as an executive assistant in the German life insurance division of Allianz. Daniel quickly took on leadership responsibilities and progressed through many different positions at Allianz for almost 17 years before taking on his role as Chief Executive Officer of Allianz Technology earlier this year. In the first block, Daniel speaks about his role as CEO of Allianz Technology. He tells us how he got into this position and what it means to set the right guardrails as CEO of a large corporate. The second block is about working at Allianz. Daniel speaks about Allianz’s corporate values and how Allianz understands its social and environmental responsibilities. He also shares what Allianz is doing to bring women into leadership. In the third block, Daniel talks about innovation in the corporate world. He shares how innovation is driven at Allianz and why an entrepreneurial mindset is necessary also in the corporate context. He also speaks about how decisions regarding the adaption of new technologies are made at Allianz Technology.

Alev Canoglu is the founder of the Munich-based non-profit organisation Female Tech Leaders, which aims to empower women in STEM and leadership positions and mentor tech-savvy girls. After graduating and working in the documentary film industry, Alev decided to change fields and studied computer science at LMU and TUM. Alev has previously led product initiatives at Siemens, Microsoft and Autoscout. In the first block, Alev talks about her career path. She tells us why she moved from the arts to the tech industry. She shares the challenges she faced and talks about the differences between these two fields. Alev also tells us why and how she founded Female Tech Leaders and what projects she is pursuing with it. In the second block, Alev speaks about women in the tech industry. She shares her opinion on the status quo and speaks about what she thinks needs to be done next to achieve equal opportunities. Alev also tells us what she would advise every girl who wants to start a career in the tech industry.