Top Finance Knowledge

Knowledge that not everyone has: To be successful in the financial industry, comprehensive skills in traditional areas such as Corporate Finance, Risk Management, or Business Valuation are considered hygiene factors today. Those who want to gain a competitive advantage with potential employers are well advised to specialize in rather atypical fields away from the mainstream, for which there will be an increasing demand in the future.

Entrepreneurial Finance

Entrepreneurs need solid financial knowledge - not only for raising capital, but also for securing their business idea. Entrepreneurial Finance deals with financing options such as Venture Capital, Business Angels, Crowdfunding, or Bootstrapping. It is crucial to choose the right form of financing at the right time. Studies show that founders with financial competence fail less often. In Germany, only 12% of start-ups with financial knowledge drop out of the market after three years, compared to 21% without such knowledge. A well-thought-out financial concept increases the probability of survival and long-term competitiveness.

Ethics in Finance

Scandals like "Dieselgate" or financial statement manipulations show how ethical misconduct can affect companies - from loss of reputation to falling stock prices. Ethics in the financial world is increasingly recognized as a success factor. Short-term profit maximization can lead to corruption, insider trading, or consumer deception. Therefore, Compliance, Corporate Governance and CSR are gaining importance. Investors, customers, and the public are paying more attention to responsible behavior. Violations not only harm individuals but also endanger entire markets - which is why ethical behavior in financial practice is indispensable today.

The Banking Sector in Transition: From Lending Business to Service Provider

Around new payment services, additional services are also emerging. The banking sector is faced with the challenge of evolving from the traditional lending business to the service sector. The majority of new market entrants and startups are trying to generate new value by focusing on customer relationships, collecting customer data, and creating new business models.

The startup MostlyAI translates customer data into synthetic data and helps companies to act in compliance with data protection regulations.

Data Protection: Synthetic Data as a Solution

One startup that hits the mark is MostlyAI. The startup translates customer data into synthetic data that can be used for model calculations and forecasts towards customer behavior, and are thus compliant with data protection regulations. The co-founder of MostlyAI, Klaudius Kalcher, talked about founding the startup in 2017: "We were the first startup on the market to offer the generation of synthetic data back then. A year later, the GDPR came into effect in Europe - it was an advantage for us." Data security for end customers is now a global trend even outside Europe. MostlyAI has created synthetic data for the Erste Group and their George App. Klaudius Kalcher also saw the changing role of banks as an opportunity for the future: "Banks will no longer be monolithic players in the future. There is currently a trend where platforms offer financial services. Established banks have the advantage of enjoying a lot of customer trust. They can use this position to integrate and offer external services into their platforms."