I am Alexander Hecking. I started my own business in Germany the way I now help others start theirs: with founder coaching, the Gründungszuschussthe start-up grant: your unemployment benefit plus €300 a month while you launch, and a lot of questions I did not know who to ask.
Before that I had worked in Canada, done a Master's in marketing and finance in the Netherlands and spent an exchange semester in Singapore. In Germany I joined an Insurtech early, one that built its own BaFin-licensed insurance carrier and was later acquired by Allianz. I ran operations and marketing there. I know what it is to be the international in the room and to read a German letter three times.
When I set up my own freelance business, I was travelling Europe in a van with my dog. Founder coaching gave the start a structure: validate first, then the plan, then the paperwork. After the grant came through, I kept paying my coach for a year, for one accountability session a month. We are still in touch. That is the model I offer after the program, as an option, because it worked for me.
Two years ago I co-founded Financemate with former colleagues from my first job. I also run financial-decision.de, fee-based financial guidance for internationals; a separate thing, mentioned here so you know it exists.
What I bring to your start is the route I walked, in English, with the German admin translated on the way. Not a startup accelerator, not a motivational speaker. One coach, start to finish, and honest about odds and limits.
My route
Four stops, one founder.
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Before
Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore
Work abroad, a Master's in marketing and finance, an exchange semester.
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Then
Insurtech, early employee
Operations and marketing at a startup that built its own BaFin-licensed insurer, later acquired by Allianz.
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Then
My own business
Founder coaching, the grant, a freelance practice built from a van somewhere in Europe.
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Now
Financemate, and founder coaching
Co-founder of Financemate, and founder coach for internationals who are where I was.
Twenty minutes, and you know where you stand.
A free call about your situation, your timing and the next step. No pitch; I take on at most two new founders a month.