Hi there, my name is Lorenz.
I am a Shanghai-based
Founder, Investor & Advisor.
Hi there, my name is Lorenz.
I am a Shanghai-based
Founder, Investor & Advisor.
Hi there, my name is Lorenz.
I am a Shanghai-based
Founder, Investor & Advisor.
Hi there, my name is Lorenz.
I am a Shanghai-based
Founder, Investor & Advisor.
Started Rimagine, a creative production studio in Shanghai in 2004, managed it for 12+ years before selling it to YFYJupiter. Co-founded KingKho in 2018, Vietnam's first self-storage company, operating a facility in Hanoi.
As a friendly-activist investor, my starting point is usually a five year model. Aiming to only make investments in companies I can enjoy collaborative partnerships, active dialogues and mutual respect with (and have a bit of fun as well).
Having started, managed and sold a business makes me not your average sparring partner. As business coach and M&A advisor, I provide business owners with honest, straight-forward & non-intrusive advice.
Rimagine is a Shanghai-based creative production studio I co-founded in 2004 and sold in 2012 to YFYJupiter. In 2018, I helped to sell it a second time to a private investor.
YFYJupiter is an integrated packaging design, printing, and global brand management firm with 600+ associates in 10+ countries. I am a partner since the acquisition of Rimagine in 2012.
KingKho Mini Storage is Vietnam's first self-storage company, providing individually-lockable units, housed in our clean and secure storage facility. Co-founded the company in 2018.
hogan Industries is an Asia-based injection moulding contract manufacturer, serving global Consumer Packaged Goods companies. As a partner, I work on Strategy, Marketing, and M&A.
Appinio is a mobile-first market research firm based in Hamburg, aiming to democratize market research. Investor since 2015. Titled as one of Germany's fastest-growing businesses in 2021.
NoblyPOS is one of the UK's leading customer-rated POS system, aiming to help quick-serve venues to manage their business. Investor since 2017. Acquired by Revolut in Nov, 2021.
Co-founded Artifesto in 2012 in Shanghai, aiming to build China's leading art print lab, creating large, beautiful gallery-quality prints for your home or office. Unfortunately, we were only able to grow the B2B but not the B2C side of the business. We decided to close shop in 2014..
At Rimagine, we often had the need to find creative freelancers in a time- and cost-efficient manner, that's why we created Juju - China's first directory of creative professionals. As we treated it just as a side business, it didn't get the attention it deserved. R.I.P. in 2010..
Co-founded Packshot China as a side business of Rimagine. Our aim was to offer the most cost-efficient product photography solution for companies requiring simple, straight-forward packshots. Learned the hard way that competing on price is never a good idea, especially in China. Hence, we closed the business.
Celsius Network was a CeFi platform paying between 6-12% interest on deposited digital assets. I took part in an equity round in 2020. It filed for Chapter 11 in July 2022 🪦🤦🏻♂️. Without informing its 1,7 Mio customers, the management has changed its investment mandate by investing customer funds into risky DeFi projects, losing billions dollars. Lesson learned: Avoid incompetent and criminal liers.
Having started, managed and sold a business gives me a unique understanding of what's important. I try to share this experience when working as a business advisor in Shanghai, acting as a bounce board or sparring partner when make-or-break decisions have to be made.
At Rimagine, I was responsible for sales and marketing, where I saw the company grow from zero to 15+ Fortune500, 500+ SME and 50+ agency customers. This provided me with the insight how firms of all size source and validate new vendors.
I call Shanghai my home since 2002, and one of the benefits of living in this vibrant city is that you meet tons of interesting people and companies from all over the world. Let's chat - I'm always happy to share connections and make introductions!
As business owners, we often lose sight of the forest for the trees, particularly when we’re deep into the woods! Via a 2hr meeting, I can help you to quickly assess where you are at the moment, and help you separate the vital few from the trivial many.
In a one-on-one session, we'll deep-dive into the world of M&A and talk about what you can do today to increase your shot to sell your business. I will share what I did to increase the chance to be not found and ultimately acquired by a large organization.
Let a set of fresh eyes look at your marketing (1.5hrs), followed by a one-on-one chat, yielding a minimum of 5 actionable items for you to implement right away. This session often leads to identifying the areas limiting your company's potential.
Copyright © Lorenz Wagener. Images by Mark Lipson / Simon Migaj / Micaela Parente / Rasmus Gundorff Sæderup / Johan Rydberg on Unsplash.