Nicolas Weber: Who Are You Without Your Company?

Show notes.

There is something in venture capital and entrepreneurship that we rarely talk about and strangely enough, admitting it almost feels selfish.

It’s the moment when you’ve spent years building a company, put almost everything into it, made countless decisions, dealt with endless problems, and suddenly find yourself asking:

Who am I without my company?

We talk about raising capital, scaling businesses, hiring teams, expanding into new markets and eventually exiting. But we rarely talk about what happens to the person behind all of that.

And this was exactly the conversation I wanted to have with Nicolas Weber. When we first spoke, one thing he told me really stuck. He had spent years building and scaling a healthcare business. At its peak, the company had more than 40 radiology centres across three countries and over 550 employees.

But somewhere along that journey, he started questioning something much more personal.

He said: “I was living and breathing the company to a point where I didn’t know who I was without it.”

That sentence stayed with me. Because, honestly, I could relate to it.

While building my own company, I sometimes feel like I’m caught in a loop. Almost every decision starts with the business. Every new challenge leads to another decision, another responsibility, another thing that needs attention.

You finish one mandate, book another, solve one problem, and immediately move on to the next. And somewhere in that process, you rarely stop to ask yourself what all of this is doing to you.

• Are you still enjoying what you’re building?
• Are you still connected to the original reason you started?
• And if you weren’t running this company tomorrow, what would define you?

I think these are questions many founders experience but don’t necessarily feel comfortable discussing. Especially in an ecosystem where ambition, growth and the next milestone are constantly celebrated.

From building a healthcare business to finding a new identity

Nicolas’s journey makes this conversation even more interesting.

His entrepreneurial story started at just 16, when he got involved in his parents’ jewellery manufacturing business. He later studied computer science, built his first IT company and joined Siemens Healthcare.

Eventually, he and his co-founders decided to build something of their own. That became Medneo, a healthcare business built around a different approach to radiology infrastructure and operations.

• They raised €3.5 million initially with just a PowerPoint presentation, backed by detailed process maps, financial models and contracts.

The business expanded across Germany, Switzerland and the UK, growing to more than 40 radiology centres and 550 employees.

But scaling the company wasn’t the end of the story.

After a two-year process of reflection, Nicolas decided to transition out of the Group CEO role and move into a board position. It wasn’t simply about changing jobs. It was about rediscovering who he was beyond the company.

He explored that through self-reflection, sports and his involvement in the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. Eventually, he recognised that what really defined him was being a builder: someone who creates things, adds tangible value and builds high-performance environments.

And that led him towards a new chapter.

What comes after building?

After stepping back from day-to-day operations, he spent time mentoring, advising and making angel investments. He has since made more than 30 investments through specialised investment networks.

But advisory work wasn’t enough. He realised he was still a builder at heart.

Today, alongside his co-founder, he’s working on a consumer brain-computer interface (BCI) platform, exploring the intersection of hardware, AI, neuroscience and human performance.

It’s a completely different frontier from the healthcare business he spent years building. And that’s what makes his journey particularly interesting to me.

Sometimes, moving forward doesn’t mean building a bigger version of what you’ve already created. It means recognising that you might need an entirely different chapter.

What we explored in this episode?

When I sat down with Nicolas in Berlin for Deal Makers (& Fakers), I wanted to go beyond the usual conversation about venture capital and startup fundraising.

We discussed:

• How Nicolas raised his initial €3.5M with a PowerPoint presentation and built a new model for radiology infrastructure.
• What it takes to expand across markets, manage operational complexity and lead an organisation of 550+ employees.
• What happens when your company becomes so much of who you are that you struggle to imagine yourself without it.
• How to recognise when it’s time to move beyond the role you’ve spent years building?
• How Nicolas evaluates startups, approaches investment opportunities and builds in the emerging brain-computer interface space?

But beyond the business lessons, the conversation kept coming back to something much more personal.

What happens to you after you’ve built everything you once set out to build?

I don’t think we have enough conversations about that.

Watch the full conversation

This is exactly why I wanted to have Nicolas on Deal Makers (& Fakers).

If you’re a founder, CEO, investor or someone who has spent years building something and is starting to wonder what comes next, I think you’ll find this conversation particularly interesting.

And I’d love to know: Have you ever found yourself questioning who you are outside the company you’re building?

Because I suspect this is a conversation many of us need to have more often.

About Nicolas Weber:

Nicolas Weber is a healthcare entrepreneur, founder and angel investor who previously built Medneo, a European radiology business spanning Germany, Switzerland and the UK, with 40+ centres and 550+ employees.

Having self-funded the initial R&D and prototyping phase, the venture is now preparing for capital raising.

If you’re an investor interested in the BCI space or exploring potential investment opportunities, feel free to reach out..