Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,

Sometimes it is good to do things just differently. And building a brand of trust for children and their parents might just be the right place to try out new stuff.

Today, we sit down with Nils Feigenwinter, founder and CEO of Bling, Europe's first family fintech. Nils is a serial entrepreneur. He started out as a children's presenter on Swiss television at the age of 10 and later founded ‘Tize’, the largest school and student newspaper in Switzerland. The story of Nils is a story on how to turn underestimation into your advantage, how to make others ambassadors for your brand. Exclusively for our newsletter subscribers, Nils has shared additional insights below.

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🫶🏼 Melanie & Christian

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How to build a brand of trust

What you will get out of this episode

In our conversation, Nils shares:

• How Bling engages families early to drive long-term retention

• The power of organic growth through network effects and community marketing

• Why authenticity in branding (like the "Child Executive Officer" concept) sets Bling apart

• How to expand a fintech startup beyond payments while maintaining focus

• The importance of resilience and surrounding yourself with a strong team

• and much more!

Our main take away’s

1. Leverage organic marketing and network effects: Parents introduce Bling to their kids, and kids proudly share their Bling cards at school, driving word-of-mouth growth.

2. Authenticity beats traditional branding: Instead of polished family imagery, Bling focuses on real-life moments and appoints a “Child Executive Officer” to make the brand more relatable.

3. Stay focused while scaling: Rather than becoming a generalist super app, Bling concentrates on solving pain points for families, ensuring strong product-market fit before expanding.

4. Turn underestimation into motivation: As a young founder, Nils uses skepticism as fuel to prove results. His leadership philosophy centers on learning quickly and hiring people smarter than himself.

Additional material on the topic

The book Nils mentions below: Building a StoryBrand

How to reach out to Nils

• LinkedIn

• Bling

Exclusive from Nils

What are books, podcasts or thought-leaders that you can recommend that help you be a better founder?

Moving from a small town in Switzerland to Berlin was a game changer for me. Suddenly, I found myself surrounded by creative minds, entrepreneurs, and inspiring leaders. While I prefer personal conversations with remarkable individuals - such as our Business Angels, Verena Pausder (entrepreneur and president of Startup-Verband Germany) or Ben Tellings (former chairman and CEO of ING Germany) - I also love expanding my perspective through books. Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller, for example, is one that I would highly recommend.

What are three specific, low-cost ways to test if your product resonates with multiple decision-makers in your target audience (like Bling does with parents and kids)?

Many new founders hesitate to share their ideas, fearing that someone might steal them. However, good ideas are bound to be copied sooner or later, and an idea alone doesn’t build a business. That’s why I take the opposite approach - whenever I have an idea, I pitch it to as many people as possible (no matter if my parents or a potential competitor). It’s a simple yet highly effective way to refine and validate concepts.

What are things startup founders can do today to attract and retain highly motivated Gen Z employees who are committed to the mission?

Communication is key. While older generations are used to just doing whatever their bosses tell them (often with frustration), Gen Z team members want to understand why a company does what it does. Explain your thoughts and decisions. Not everyone on the team needs to agree, but everyone should understand why we’re doing this. This also applies to the broader company strategy and mission: clearly communicate the impact each team member can have.