Christoph Lukaseder

Expert for Digital Strategies & Turnarounds

Christoph Lukaseder
München, Germany

Experience

Jan 2019 - Dec 2023
5 years
Germany

Managing Director & Investor

Nickis (Nickis Bächstädt GmbH)

Turnaround

  • Co-invested in the German market leader for luxury children's fashion after its 2018 insolvency and stepped in as Managing Director. Doubled revenues to >€20M, 45 FTEs and achieved profitability in core markets
  • Raised >€10M in equity from shareholders, €3M in bank debt and over €4M in working capital financing to fuel growth, investments in technology and international expansion

Company Building

  • Rebuilt the marketing, finance and product teams with a focus on scalable processes and established a new conversational sales team for customer retention, now accounting for 30% of revenues
  • Restructured the marketing approach with a focus on automation and branding to double the number of new customers acquired at 30% lower acquisition cost while achieving first-order profitability
Jan 2016 - Dec 2020
3 years
Germany

Co-Founder & CEO

Soul Zen (Karmafant Internet GmbH, now part of Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG)

Entrepreneurship

  • Started a Direct-to-Consumer brand around yoga and meditation accessories and scaled it to a run-rate of >€2M in annual sales and 20+ employees within 18 months
  • Raised a total of €2M in venture capital from Rocket Internet and selected business angels over three financing rounds. Sold the company to a publishing house after a fourth financing could not be closed

Company Building

  • Established and led a performance marketing team reaching CM III profitability with a marketing mix including paid (social, SEM, influencer) as well as organic channels (SEO, social)
  • Set up teams and processes to manage a portfolio of ~500 SKUs, thereof ~300 private label SKUs based on original designs and sourced from various factories in Germany, India and China
Jan 2014 - Dec 2017
4 years
Germany

Manager

Bain & Company

Post-Acquisition Strategy & Performance Improvement

  • Developed post-acquisition strategies targeting 5-15%pts EBITDA improvement for Private Equity portfolio companies across a range of industries, e.g. Biotech, HVAC, machinery equipment and components
  • Developed a comprehensive SG&A process and cost optimization program for a mid-sized building equipment manufacturer yielding an EBITDA impact of €20M p.a.

Private Equity, Mergers & Acquisitions

  • Advised leading Private Equity funds on potential acquisitions with transactions volumes of up to €6B in the context of various commercial and operational due diligence assessments
  • Developed the carve-out plan for a €2B machinery component manufacturing business and compiled the migration plan for the company's largest site to relocate to a low-cost country location
Jan 2009 - Dec 2015
6 years
Germany

Consultant

Booz & Company

Strategy & Business Development

  • Developed the business plan for an intermodal traffic model of a European rail freight company involving Capex of over €200M
  • Developed the market entry strategy for a leading Russian utilities company based on a comprehensive modeling of European power generation markets with >50,000 plants

Operations & Change Management

  • Reorganized and integrated the power generation businesses of a leading German utilities company with >14,000 FTEs and 50GW in installed capacity
  • Designed and implemented a Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process at a PE-owned manufacturer of PVC-based construction elements reducing inventories and increasing on-time-in-full delivery
Jan 2008 - May 2008
5 months
United States

Intern

SIEMENS Medical Solutions US

Jan 2008 - Feb 2008
2 months

Intern

Booz & Company

Jan 2007 - Mar 2007
3 months

Intern

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants

Jan 2005 - Jun 2006
6 months

Intern

EADS Defense & Security Systems

Summary

Co-invested in the German market leader for luxury children's fashion after its 2018 insolvency and stepped in as Managing Director. Doubled revenues to >€20M, 45 FTEs and achieved profitability in core markets Raised >€10M in equity from shareholders, €3M in bank debt and over €4M in working capital financing to fuel growth, investments in technology and international expansion Rebuilt the marketing, finance and product teams with a focus on scalable processes and established a new conversational sales team for customer retention, now accounting for 30% of revenues Restructured the marketing approach with a focus on automation and branding to double the number of new customers acquired at 30% lower acquisition cost while achieving first-order profitability

Languages

German
Native
English
Advanced
Spanish
Elementary

Education

Jan 2013 - Dec 2014

INSEAD

MBA · Master of Business Administration · Singapore

Oct 2007 - Jun 2009

Dublin City University Business School

B.A. · European Business · First Class Honours

Oct 2005 - Jun 2009

European School of Business

Diplom-Betriebswirt (FH) · Germany

Certifications & licenses

Advanced Open Water Diver