What is the best thing that I love about my work? I love the fact that I can be part of so many people’s professional and personal growth path.

What is my idea of perfect happiness? Going through challenging and difficult situations in life to gain a new perspective on how I see the world.

What is my greatest fear? That one day my inspiration and drive to discover the world will weaken and I become frustrated with the world and cynical about my curious and adventurous young self.

What is the trait that I most value in myself? The ability to reflect my own behaviour and throw myself into new – mostly uncomfortable – adventures  in order to be able to personally grow.

Which living persons in my profession do i most admire? I admire people that continue to stay curious and excited no matter what they have achieved – some people I met that really have this trait: Marc Benioff, the founder and CEO of Salesforce; Solina Chau, the founder of Horizons Ventures. They are not indifferent as many people that have “made” it in their professional career.

What is my greatest extravagance? Allowing myself to get enough sleep.

On what occasion would I lie? There are lies that are told for unethical reasons and there are lies that are told simply to allow the achievement of a greater good. It is always about detecting the true motivation behind a certain behaviour.

What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work? The fact that there are too many amazing people and opportunities around me that would deserve my sincere attention – but I am unable to dedicate enough time to these people and opportunities.

When and where was I the happiest, in my work? When I witness a sincere and substantial change in how somebody around me views the world. I feel a lot of gratitude and excitement if the environment I supported to create leaves a positive impact in a person’s life.

If I could, what would I change about myself? I want to be more present in the here and now – fully experience all aspects of the moment I am currently in and feel a sense of peace.

What is my greatest achievement in work? Having been able to create sustainable businesses that enable people to finance their lives, build something great and at the same time enable them to become stronger and better versions of themselves.

What do the words ‘The Financial Freedom to Create’ mean to me? I think you can create without having anything. I have not had anything – I stopped taking money from my family at a very early age. I even sometimes think that financial freedom can destroy your drive to create anything.

Where would I most like to live? I really like Berlin – i feel much more free here than in New York or London.

What is my most treasured possession? I don’t own anything valuable as I would probably lose it somewhere. The one thing I am most thankful for is that my wife is part of my life.

What is my most marked characteristic? I think that people like my energy when I go into brainstorming mode – I take a whiteboard and a pen and I am able to create holistic solutions for complex problems in a very short period of time.

What is my most inspirational location, in my city? Our office in Berlin on weekends. Sitting in our office – seeing all of the empty seats. Working in peace – knowing I do it to grow this place and the opportunities for the people in this place.

What is my favourite place to eat and drink, in my city? My favourite place is a little Italian place around the corner of where I live. They make the best spaghetti meatballs in the world.

What books influenced my life and how? The book that probably had the largest impact on me was “Reinventing organisations” by Frederic Laloux. It opened up a whole new perspective for me on the role of organisations in society and many of the areas I investigated afterwards – like purpose, self management and wholeness – caught my interest only by reading this book.

Who are my favorite writers? When I want to switch off I read Ken Follett – I love the level of detail with which he describes his characters and the historic setting of his books.

You Only Die Once. What music would I listen on my last day? I have this playlist on Spotify that I put on all the songs that I like – it is the most random selection of styles. If I had to look for something that unites all of these songs I’d say: Authenticity and real emotions.

Who is my hero or heroine in fiction? I don’t like fiction that much – I cannot relate that well to fiction heroes.

Who are my heroes and heroines in real life? People that have clear principles for living their lives and put their energy into supporting a greater good. People like the Dalai Lama.

Which movie would i recommend to see once in a lifetime? Two problems: I usually fall asleep when watching a movie and I would watch a movie only once – so it is very difficult for me to build up a emotional relationship to a movie. But there is one movie we watch quite often at comfy family occassions and that’s why I like it: “Cool Runnings”.

What role plays art in my life and work? I think it plays a big role – I would actually consider the way that I approach my business very similar to the way an artist approaches his art. I try to listen to signals around me and then I dive deep into new worlds in order to come up with concepts that unite the environment around us and the internal challenges. Also I experience what many artists experience when looking at previous work – I have a sense of incompleteness.

Who is my greatest fan, sponsor, partner in crime? I actually think that it is my dad – I think he is very proud of me.

Whom would I like to work with in 2018? I want to work with the people that are already around me.

Which people in my profession would i love to meet in 2018? I am constantly meeting amazing people – if I look back the last few years I have met amazing start-up entrepreneurs, CEO’s, investors, artists. I know that destiny will bring the right people into my life in 2018.

What project, in 2018, am I looking forward to work on? Developing a new way on how wefox and ONE can access contextual data from consumers in order to improve the insurance experience while at the same time honor the right of the consumer to own and protect his data.

Where can you see me or my work in 2018? On your phone: Go to the appstore and download wefox to manage all of your insurance policies and ONE to experience the future of insurance.

What do the words “Passion Never Retires” mean to me? It means everything – passion is what makes us human. If we are not passionate we will be replaced by machines.

How can you contact me? Instagram: julian.teicke