The founder and CEO of Megadev, Robert Maroschik, says he is in a position to start offering angel investing

Robert Maroschik is the founder and CEO of Megadev, a tech company that is changing the rules in the gaming industry. I met him in May 2019, at the VentureCon Bavaria event where he pitched his unique 100% legal trainer software and gaming assistant, which helps players customise the gaming experience to their preferences. A few hours later he pulled out the controller games, turned on the PC, and showcased it during a fun and memorable Demo Night. Such was life in the old normality.   

That evening two years ago Robert attracted everyone's attention. Young, not so young, curious, and also that of many investors. What happened next is a long story, but he knows how to summarise it in a few lines:  

“It has been a rocky road, but we are doing well. We’ve reached 7-figure revenues; we’ve grown our team considerably; we’ve opened offices in the USA and we rebranded our product (Plitch). Now we are in the expansion phase. We were lucky enough to be accepted to the German Accelerator of Southeast Asia, so now we have a profound knowledge of the Asian market. We are building our team to prepare the next steps there, as well as expanding to continental Europe too. 

With our new product, we are focusing more on e-sports rather than on casual gamers. Our new investors are very deep into e-sports. We raised €1.6 million Series A last year, and we expect we will continue growing and become a main player in the gaming industry.”  

Today more than one million people in the world are using the software developed by Megadev to improve their gaming experience, which is available on a subscription basis and growing at the rate of more than 50,000 new subscribers per month. 🚀

Starting a new role as a Business Angel

During the pandemic, locked in his home in Munich with his wife, Robert had a lot of time to reflect. “I took my time to think what I'm going to do with the money. I think about investing in myself, building another company, and at the end, I said no, what I really want to do is build ventures, be an entrepreneur still, and reinvest and support early-stage start-ups.”  

That was when he decided to start angel-investing. 

Last Tuesday 16 March, Robert Maroschik attended his first pitch event as an investor. 

“When I told my wife, she said I’m crazy because after so many years working hard I want to go back to start-ups. But that's what I want to do.” 

What are his motivations to start angel investing? He answers: 

1. “Of course, one of the motivations is that I finally have some money to do it,” he starts.  
2. “Another motivation is simply the money I can make,” he continues listing. 
3. Finally, he gets to the crux of the matter: “But the real one is that I’m an entrepreneur at heart. I love what I do, and I have gone through a lot of difficulties. Angel investing to me has nothing to do with traditional investing, where you give your money and you just expect profit back. In fact, when I give my money, I almost don’t expect to get it back. This is about giving back what others gave me years ago, especially in times like these, where I strongly believe the future of the world lies in the innovation of entrepreneurs. It is more important than ever to help these enthusiasts build sustainable businesses, find their path, and help to change the world little by little. I've been very fortunate, so now I’m in a position to offer angel investing,” he concludes.  

Gratitude is a strong motivation for Rob to become a business angel. In fact, he is starting this new role close to the angels who years ago helped him take flight.  

“I’m in touch with the business angels that helped me get started with Megadev. I hope I can learn from them; on the other side I'm also member of the Bay Startup Network in Germany, before just as a start-up founder, and now I'm also involved in their activities as an investor.” 

Asked about which start-ups interest him, Robert says he wants to focus in B2C and especially in early-stage companies. “I’ve been in the B2C space now for more than 10 years. Initially, it feels right to me, I know a lot of stuff there. Also, biggest mistakes you do happen in the first 2, 3 or 4 years of your business, after that your business matures and you may have advisors more focused on growing and expanding, rather than founding a company,” says Robert, who is also interested in the energy sector: “I’m closely monitoring start-ups related with renewable energies.” 

He can speak from the experience of creating, leading, and expanding Megadev within six years. “I want to learn from other angels, I am a total rookie, but I do believe that with the entrepreneurial experience I have, I can already help founders get to their goals quickly, more than just stupid money.” 

3 tips from Robert Maroschik to start-up founders: 

1.  Being a start-up founder hurts, and it if doesn't hurt you are doing it wrong. 
2. When your start-up grows and becomes ‘C-level’, (there is a CEO, CFO, and like that), you should be able to take more frustration than most people you know. 
3. Take less money from the right people, rather than a lot of money from the wrong people. This was super hard to learn, but especially in the first three years of the company, the people getting involved is much more important than the money they bring. Including the right people at the right stage, you’ll reach further and at the end, you’ll make more money.