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Daniel Krauss

Co-founder, CIO and CHRO, Flix SE

Search every verified Daniel Krauss interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Daniel Krauss, co-founder of Flix, discussed the company's expansion plans and business model in a September 2026 interview. He stated that Flix aims to operate between 28 and 30 trains by 2028 to become Europe's largest rail operator. Krauss described the company's approach as "asset right," a hybrid of asset-light and asset-heavy strategies, noting that while Flix had good experiences with partner-operated trains, the train market lacks sufficiently large players for that model. He also mentioned that Flix had prepared for a possible IPO, which was diverted by investments from EQT and Kühne Holding, and said that while an IPO cannot be ruled out forever, it is not a short-term topic. At the Munich Startup Festival in July 2026, Krauss spoke about internationalization and entrepreneurship. He identified two main reasons for expanding abroad: a home market that is too small, as seen in Scandinavia, and the belief that a product could succeed elsewhere. Krauss advised founders to assess their own commitment, saying that entrepreneurship involves dedicating one's life to a company without work-life balance, and that there are other valid career paths for those who do not want that. He also expressed optimism about building large companies, citing existing examples and describing "mission possible" as a general mindset.

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Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“I think asset light asset heavy is a very black-and-white view. Internally we call it asset right, so to speak, whatever makes sense. If we had had the opportunity, we would probably have continued to operate the trains in this partner model with mobility partners because we have good experience with that, without buying the trains ourselves. But in the train market there simply aren't many sufficiently large players”

“We had prepared for a possible IPO and then it was preempted, so to speak, diverted by EQT. That's a Swedish private equity house, the largest in Europe, and the Kühne Holding, the holding of Klaus Michael Kühne and Kühne + Nagel. Top investors, very long-term oriented. We are very happy with them. And that's where we are now. Can you rule it out forever? No, certainly not. Given our size and the nature of our compan”

“Entweder gibt's dir Gas oder gibt's nicht Gas. Und wenn nicht, es gibt auch ganz viele andere tolle Jobs und Berufungen. Ist doch super. Es gibt ja eine Auswahl. Ähm, deswegen würde ich da als allererstes bei mir selbst anfangen und würde mich fragen, will ich durchziehen? Will ich bis zur Rente mein Leben einem Unternehmen widmen, meinem Unternehmen, weil dann gibt's kein Work Life Balance, ist alles Quatsch. Du bis”

“Wir messen und erzeugen Transparenz und adopten. Und was Impact angeht, ist es quasi nur cost to revenue ratios, also Operation leverage. Wie viele Techkosten habe ich, um diesen Revenue zu machen? Und wenn ich AZ, kommen Kosten dazu, aber insgesamt müssen die Kosten im Verhältnis zum Revenue senken, weil sonst ist es ja nicht besser als zuvor, sondern eher schlechter und dann sorge ich nur dafür, dass von den Techbr”

“Wir messen und erzeugen Transparenz und adopten und was Impact angeht, ist es quasi nur cost to revenue ratios, also operational leverage. Wie viele Techkosten habe ich, um diesen Revenue zu machen? Und wenn ich AI einsetze, kommen Kosten dazu, aber insgesamt müssen die Kosten im Verhältnis zum Revenue senken, weil sonst ist es ja nicht besser als zuvor, sondern eher schlechter und dann sorge ich nur dafür, dass von ”

“Bei den Kosten ist es bis Weilen gar nicht so einfach, weil wenn du nämlich sozusagen stumpfe Items mit AI ersetzt, dann schaffen die nicht so viel Wert und ja, dann kannst du vielleicht zwei Leute rausschmeißen, aber vielleicht waren es günstige Leute und dann hast du plötzlich ein Cloud Max und der kostet dich ein Arm und ein Bein, ne? Also ist es kein echter Deal, das vergessen die ja. Dann hast du zwar keine FTE ”

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