School of Dreamers – Gabriel Giesen and the importance of communication

Gabriel Giesen is an International Business Schiller alumni and a successful entrepreneur. As the founder of Chapnik & Giesen, he grew from a 55,000 euro company with 2 people to a 15 million euro company with 150 employees in 3 years, with the pandemic in between. But the road to success wasn’t easy, and multiple rejections and an emotional breakdown were part of it. He shared his learning curve with our students in Madrid in the latest School of Dreamers talk organized by Professor Jose Pinto.  

His company specializes in real estate investments with yearly returns of 20%, extremely low risk and liquidity within 4 months. Hard work, knowledge of the market and competitive advantages are key. But as he shared with the students, the most important thing was a change of mindset in the way he approached business.  

After facing situations where his ideas were rejected time and time again, and where he couldn’t convince people to invest in his business plans, he realized that he needed to do something different if he was to achieve what he wanted. Taking full responsibility of his mistakes and learning how to communicate effectively were his turning points. 

These were his top 10 lessons to succeed: 

1. It all depends on yourself 
2. Never accept NO  
3. Don’t ask for advice, only hear experience 
4. Mental health is above everything else 
5. Put EGO on the side 
6. Hire people better than you 
7. Progress is made when nobody is watching 
8. Plans change. Shit happens 
9. Be and look like 
10. You will fail. Failure isn’t your enemy. Your enemy is the fear of failure 

On the importance of communicating effectively, he said, “Investors will support you when they believe in your project, believe in you, and believe in your ability to move the project forward.  They think they make rational decisions but they don’t. Every little detail counts when trying to pitch your idea”.