The only way to create great things is with great people who truly enjoy their job. We, as Heroes, are enthusiastic and take pride in doing the best work we can. Recognizing opportunities and achieving our goals together is what connects us all.
Want to find out more about us? Let’s talk!
Meet the team of Speedinvest Heroes
Maria Baumgartner
MA., Founder/ Managing Partner
Maria’s diverse and successful professional history has one common denominator: a desire to truly get to know people. This curiosity has driven Maria from her early days as a startup founder and young political activist up until today as general manager of Speedinvest Heroes.
“The moment when you connect with another person and challenge him/her towards a new set of possibilities is what I love the most!”, says Maria.
This social skillset, practiced over many years in various leadership positions and professional trainings (such as a Master degree in Mediation) is a crucial asset for Speedinvest Heroes. Building out our network of talents and then quickly matching the potential of a given candidate with the right opportunity in our portfolio, is where Maria excels like no one else.
Maria’s personal working history starts 1992 in the early internet area. As the GM of one of the first big dot.com success stories coming out of Austria (Datenwerk/Blue-C), she saw her company grow to an agency group with more than 200 employees across Europe, including an IPO at the “Neue Markt”. Having sold her stake early enough before the bust, Maria continued her entrepreneurial path that included managing a research think tank on Artificial Intelligence (long before the hype), spending time in Silicon Valley and, eventually, helping to found Speedinvest as the first business angel fund in Austria.
With this sort of CV, Maria does not need to believe all the hype we see today around startups. At the same time, she is highly aware of the massive disruption digitalisation brings to our personal and business live.
Heroes is a natural platform for Maria’s skills, combining her appetite to rethink old business sectors such as HR with her focus on the human element in business. Building healthy companies will always be built on finding exceptional talent. And as we all know, this talent is spread thin and wide, so a true commitment to diversity, low entry barriers and continuous education will be a crucial element of any HR strategy.
For Maria, having gone through many diverse roles and businesses, this approach comes natural. as does her positive attitude towards people in general.
This social skillset, practiced over many years in various leadership positions and professional trainings (such as a Master degree in Mediation) is a crucial asset for Speedinvest Heroes. Building out our network of talents and then quickly matching the potential of a given candidate with the right opportunity in our portfolio, is where Maria excels like no one else.
Maria’s personal working history starts 1992 in the early internet area. As the GM of one of the first big dot.com success stories coming out of Austria (Datenwerk/Blue-C), she saw her company grow to an agency group with more than 200 employees across Europe, including an IPO at the “Neue Markt”. Having sold her stake early enough before the bust, Maria continued her entrepreneurial path that included managing a research think tank on Artificial Intelligence (long before the hype), spending time in Silicon Valley and, eventually, helping to found Speedinvest as the first business angel fund in Austria.
With this sort of CV, Maria does not need to believe all the hype we see today around startups. At the same time, she is highly aware of the massive disruption digitalisation brings to our personal and business live.
Heroes is a natural platform for Maria’s skills, combining her appetite to rethink old business sectors such as HR with her focus on the human element in business. Building healthy companies will always be built on finding exceptional talent. And as we all know, this talent is spread thin and wide, so a true commitment to diversity, low entry barriers and continuous education will be a crucial element of any HR strategy.
For Maria, having gone through many diverse roles and businesses, this approach comes natural. as does her positive attitude towards people in general.
Lukas Rippitsch
MSc., SCPM, Managing Partner
As a managing director, Lukas aims to help his team to constantly outperform stakeholder expectation with a clear focus on making processes more efficient and to guarantee client satisfaction.
Having started his career in the investment banking sector, Lukas discovered his passion for combining big chunks of data, econometrics and his social skills to solve complex solutions. A set of forensic skills, translation skills (software engineering team vs. normal people) and a good sense of diplomacy are the pillars of this professional career.
While working with data throughout his career - from investment banking (RCB), data analysis (Google) and growth hacking & people management (Improove) - he always followed a simple rule (Winston S. Churchill) - “I only believe in statistics that I doctored myself” - pointing out that working with data can be as creative as painting a portrait.
As he is known for his consistent good mood and his high energy level, he thrives in a fast-paced digital environment as well as in his local climbing gym. Cooking, wine, wine again and lots of sports are the basis of his personal life. You will always find him looking for an excuse to move your regular Jour Fixe outdoor or trying to convince you to go for a quick 10k run with him instead of your weekly 1:1.
Charlotte Paech
Dipl.-BW, Partner/ Co-Founder
Heroes don’t need capes or spider bites. It’s the combination of head, heart and attitude that unleashes super powers. As a Senior Partner, Charlotte has a trained eye for heroes and a gifted ability to transform them into teams as powerful as the Avengers.
Charlotte has a decade of experience in Human Resources (HR). As a fast learner and high achiever, she has supported demanding clients across a wide range of industries and at varying different stages of development. By combining her academic background in HR with a hands-on attitude she has developed a rich set of methods to support start-ups, founders and new team members on a personal level. Here is how Charlotte can help:
Matching the right people is like solving a puzzle. The edges (skills) need to be appreciated in order for each piece (talent) to fit the gaps (road blocks) in the larger picture (start-ups). During her professional experience Charlotte has found many missing pieces – under the sofa, during stealth mode, in the valley, across the pond, before beta – you name it.
Running a start-up is tough. It takes blood, sweat and luck to get it right. But many teams fail under stress when they don’t treat their start-up as a living organism. Charlotte knows how to get through all the code and business lingo to identify your personal kryptonite.
Charlotte is light-hearted and empathetic; in negotiations determined but fair. She gets excited by the spirit of the teams she mentors and is thankful for the positive change she can achieve with her work. Charlotte loves good food, which is somewhat surprising considering her cooking skills; she’d rather break her fingernails boxing than wrestling in the kitchen.
Matching the right people is like solving a puzzle. The edges (skills) need to be appreciated in order for each piece (talent) to fit the gaps (road blocks) in the larger picture (start-ups). During her professional experience Charlotte has found many missing pieces – under the sofa, during stealth mode, in the valley, across the pond, before beta – you name it.
Running a start-up is tough. It takes blood, sweat and luck to get it right. But many teams fail under stress when they don’t treat their start-up as a living organism. Charlotte knows how to get through all the code and business lingo to identify your personal kryptonite.
Charlotte is light-hearted and empathetic; in negotiations determined but fair. She gets excited by the spirit of the teams she mentors and is thankful for the positive change she can achieve with her work. Charlotte loves good food, which is somewhat surprising considering her cooking skills; she’d rather break her fingernails boxing than wrestling in the kitchen.
Jennifer Roth
MSc., Senior HR-Consultant
Working as a Senior HR Consultant, Jennifer has been part of Speedinvest Heroes from the very beginning. Her primary tasks involve supporting startups with recruiting by finding suitable team members and advising them about any process related questions.
Jennifer describes herself as a very open, communicative and curious person who enjoys exploring the unknown and facing any challenges that come with the territory. For this reason, it has always been clear that she wants to work with people to be inspired by their individuality and diversity.
Studying Psychology was the first important step she took towards developing her future in this direction. In her Master’s studies, she focused on work- and organizational Psychology and subsequently entered the field of HR. In order to achieve a holistic picture of HR Management during her studies, Jennifer worked for various national and international companies offering services for Compensation and Benefits, Human Resources Development, Recruiting and Executive Search.
It was in cooperation with Roland Wadl (QMC), one of the managing partners, which finally enabled her to enter the startup world and brought her to Speedinvest Heroes. Setting up this new HR Company has been an incredible experience for Jennifer. From the start, it has been an absolute pleasure for her to be a part of the founding team and build a unique company that focuses exclusively on the needs of startups.
She says: “Working with startups has given me an entirely new perspective. I am inspired daily by the huge amounts of creativity and commitment involved. At Speedinvest Heroes, we want to find the best possible employees so that the startup founders are relieved of this task and can focus on other key aspects of growing their companies.”
As a Psychologist, it is in Jennifer’s nature to want to work with and get to know different people and to recognize and promote their potential.
Speedinvest Heroes is a brand new and exciting chapter. Let the journey begin…
Studying Psychology was the first important step she took towards developing her future in this direction. In her Master’s studies, she focused on work- and organizational Psychology and subsequently entered the field of HR. In order to achieve a holistic picture of HR Management during her studies, Jennifer worked for various national and international companies offering services for Compensation and Benefits, Human Resources Development, Recruiting and Executive Search.
It was in cooperation with Roland Wadl (QMC), one of the managing partners, which finally enabled her to enter the startup world and brought her to Speedinvest Heroes. Setting up this new HR Company has been an incredible experience for Jennifer. From the start, it has been an absolute pleasure for her to be a part of the founding team and build a unique company that focuses exclusively on the needs of startups.
She says: “Working with startups has given me an entirely new perspective. I am inspired daily by the huge amounts of creativity and commitment involved. At Speedinvest Heroes, we want to find the best possible employees so that the startup founders are relieved of this task and can focus on other key aspects of growing their companies.”
As a Psychologist, it is in Jennifer’s nature to want to work with and get to know different people and to recognize and promote their potential.
Speedinvest Heroes is a brand new and exciting chapter. Let the journey begin…
Nele Weyens
MSc., HR Consultant
Nele joined Speedinvest Heroes in February 2020 and is happy to help start-ups in their recruiting activities. Previously, she gained work experience in an agency, Randstad Sourceright, covering EMEA and as an Internal Recruiter at Danone for Eastern Europe.
The combination of a Master degree in Clinical and Health Psychology, curiosity for different cultures and a positive attitude, is what makes her passionate about recruitment in an international market.
If you want to know more, Nele is always happy to have a chat over a cup of tea!
Milica Spiric
MSc., HR Consultant
Milica joined SpeedInvest Heroes as an HR consultant in August 2020.
She is passionate about people, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship and is thrilled to be able to help startups grow healthy, by finding the right, bright and talented people for them.
Before joining the Heroes team, she was part of the WeAreDevelopers Talent Management team, where she specialized in Tech positions, and also joined Medicus.ai’s HR team. Milica likes to think of herself as a positive, open, and intuitive person who loves being around and working with people. Her biggest motivator for Recruiting and HR comes from the belief that magic, in any company, happens at the intersection of people, purpose and culture.
Prior to starting her career journey, she studied Business Administration in Milan and Strategy and Innovation at WU in Vienna.
Prior to starting her career journey, she studied Business Administration in Milan and Strategy and Innovation at WU in Vienna.
Elma Musa
HR Consultant
Before Elma joined Speedinvest Heroes she worked in an advertising company as an office manager but since she has an energetic personality and isn’t always able to sit at one place, she decided to take an office break to pursue her passion - Sports. Therefore she led various sport courses such as HIIT or problem-zone trainings.
Since she has known Maria Baumgartner for quite a long time - Maria introduced Si Heroes to Elma. It did not take much convincing for Elma to join the Heroes Team in 2017 as an HR Assistant.
“Speedinvest Heroes has given me a new direction and the opportunity to develop myself in many ways. What I enjoy the most is working with such an ambitious and diverse team”
To keep herself fit she occasionally goes out for a run, what doesn’t really excites her, therefore she finds her drive playing volleyball.
Elma adores eating, sleeping and drinking beer and if possible all of that at the same time ;)
Sebastian Hofmann
Project Manager
Sebastian joined Speedinvest Heroes as a Project Manager in October 2020. In his past he gained lots of experience through working in Project Management, Consulting and Legal Support for companies. Additionally, he acquired useful knowledge from studying law at the Juridicum in Vienna.
Knowledge and experience paired with innovative ideas and the willingness to cooperate are his prior ambitions when it comes to business.
Speedinvest-HeroesAs a dog owner and passionate athlete, he spends lots of his leisure time in nature doing sports. Furthermore, he supports Hungarian animal welfare organizations.
Simon Neugebauer
BSc., Project Manager
Simon is all about high performing teams and ideas. The former originates from his time as a player agent, where he consulted professional footballers and coaches, while also scouting the best young talents. Thereby always wearing the scientific glasses which he had acquired during his Psychology studies in Vienna.
After a short interlude at a Innovation Consulting firm, Simon started as a Hr Consultant at Speedinvest Heroes, where he now focuses on project management, especially for grant applications where he especially loves the ideation part.Simon is always eager to talk about ideas and generally very open minded – unless it’s about the serious matter of food. Besides, in his free time he loves to go surfing and of course play football.
Speedinvest-Heroes
Linna Morgan
Team Assistant & Office Management
Linna joined Speedinvest - Heroes mid-October 2019 as Office Manager & Team Assistant. Always eager to learn she worked in different positions while studying, broadening her horizon and trying to figure out her true passion. On her journey she discovered HR & Recruiting for herself. Prior to joining Heroes she already worked as a recruiter in a fundraising agency, managing a team of three people.
While gaining valuable work experience she is finishing her bachelor’s degree in Communications. In her free time Linna enjoys going to the gym, meditation, doing illustrations & designs as well as adding to her extensive book collection.
Federica Viviani
MSc., Marketing Associate
Federica joined Speedinvest Heroes in June 2020 to support the marketing team. She acquired in-depth marketing knowledge during her MSc at WU Vienna and she gained practical experience in different working environments. With commitment and enthusiasm, she is ready to rise to any challenge!
She is particularly interested in digital and performance marketing and working with startups is where she sees herself since her experiences at Das Packhaus in Vienna and Studocu in Amsterdam. During her free time she loves to bike around and express herself with watercolor and colored pencils.
Karin Levy
MA., Marketing and Strategy Analyst
A company without a comprehensive and professional marketing foundation is like a tree without its roots. That’s the main reason Karin joined our marketing team in February 2020, to support marketing activities and strategic development of any kind.
She has diverse work experiences from Digital Marketing and Management Consulting to Customer Service, therefore she can leverage her skills from a wide range of fields and look at a project from many different angles. She also considers herself a creative mind, amongst many things she likes to indulge her passion in poetry or online creative design.
Susanne Jaensch
MSc., Junior HR Consultant
Susanne joined Speedinvest Heroes as a working student in March 2020. With her Bachelor’s in Business Psychology, she has always been intrigued by HR and its crucial, yet challenging role in any business.
She is about to finish her Master’s thesis in International Business Administration, dealing with the implementation of psychological insights in HR recruiting measures in order to increase diversity. She is happy to help the team with any recruiting activities while gaining considerable insights into the dynamic Start-up world.
Clemens Dirisamer
BSc., Junior HR Consultant
Clemens joined Heroes in March 2020 to support the recruiting team as a working student. He always tries to connect the dots and put the learnings of his business studies into practice. Before his studies, he helped job seekers to find the perfect job at the national job agency.
At Heroes, he tackles the challenge the other way round by finding the perfect candidate for every position. When he’s not on the campus or in the office, there’s a high chance you’ll find him whether doing crossfit, yoga or drinking wine.
Anna Überbacher
BSc., Working Student - HR
Anna joined Speedinvest Heroes as a working student in August 2020. She’s excited to put her previously acquired knowledge from her business studies to use by supporting our recruiting team. She enjoys the comprehensive challenges of HR, is always eager to connect people with their next opportunities to grow and to thrive in their new work environment.
Before coming on board, she gained practical experience through various internships and working as an assistant manager for a local gym.