Marcus Diekmann and Johannes Kliesch launch live show for founders

Six start-ups, three jurors and live feedback via chat: That's Founders League. With the format, Diekmann and Kliesch want to give founders more reach.

Digital entrepreneur Marcus Diekmann and Snocks founder Johannes Kliesch have launched a live show for founders from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. For this purpose, they have jointly founded the company "Founders League". The managing director of the content production studio BDX Media Benjamin Diedering and Julian Rauch support them in the management.

In the live show, six selected start-ups pitch their business ideas to a jury of three. Viewers can participate in the show via chat. The series will start on June 1, 2022, and will be broadcast on LinkedIn and YouTube. As of now, startups can apply to participate in the first episode on the Founders League website. There will also be 75 audience seats during the production in Leipzig.

With the first pilot episode, Diekmann and Kliesch already want to reach more than 100,000 viewers. The team is then planning a first season of eight to ten episodes for the fall. With Founders League, Diekmann and Kliesch want to give new founders more reach. "From my own experience, I can say that your idea can be as good as it is, but if you don't have the right contacts and can't build up reach quickly, you'll struggle," says Johannes Kliesch. "That's exactly what we want to change with Founders League and create a platform where bold Founder:s can build access to a network that's relevant to them."