Who this is
Björn Keune built Berlin-based Invincible Brands, home to direct-to-consumer beauty brands such as HelloBody, Mermaid+Me and Banana Beauty. In summer 2020 Henkel acquired 75 percent of the business, which had generated around 100 million euros in sales over the previous twelve months. By his own account Björn never celebrated the exit: financial success was followed by a double life with alcohol and cocaine, then a meditation retreat in late 2019 and a breathwork retreat in 2022 that set his turnaround in motion. Today he lives on a houseboat in Berlin, has completed a three-month training in Conscious Connected Breathwork and, together with his partner Sophie, offers breathwork circles, one-on-one sessions and mentoring under the name onoera. With Louis Morgner he co-founded ACTA, a company-building venture with a hacker house in Cape Town that aims to invest in people and their calling rather than in pitch decks.
Episodes
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FAQ
Who is Björn Keune?
Björn Keune co-founded Invincible Brands, a Berlin-based direct-to-consumer company with beauty brands such as HelloBody, Mermaid+Me and Banana Beauty. In summer 2020 Henkel acquired 75 percent of the business. Today he is co-founder of ACTA and onoera, invests in founders and facilitates breathwork sessions himself. He lives on a houseboat in Berlin. To the episode →
What did the exit do to Björn Keune?
In the episode Björn says he did not celebrate the sale in summer 2020 and did not look at his bank account for a year. The financial success landed on years in which he had never admitted that the pace, the pressure and his ex-partner's illness were too much for him. As an outlet he turned to alcohol and cocaine and, in his own words, lived a double life. To the episode →
What is ACTA?
ACTA is a company-building venture Björn co-founded with Louis Morgner, with a hacker house in Cape Town. Instead of pitch decks, ACTA invests in people and their calling, builds tools that help with the question of what you really want, and develops products from there. Everyone on the team has a one-on-one meditation trainer, and there are weekly meditation circles and sharing circles. Björn looks after finance, gives breathwork sessions and mentors team members. To the episode →
Why does ACTA pay employees 10,000 euros to quit?
At the annual kickoff, ACTA offered everyone on the team 10,000 euros net to leave. Björn and Louis wanted to make sure that the people who stay are truly committed and consciously carry the risk that the experiment might not work. One of eight people took the offer. Björn says that was a good thing: better to know now than later. To the episode →
What is onoera?
onoera is the company Björn founded with his partner Sophie. They offer breathwork circles, one-on-one sessions, coaching and mentoring and also work with the ACTA team. The vision is to make breathwork accessible to more people, for example through centers where nurses could offer the method, rather than only solopreneurs serving the market at a minimum of 250 euros per session. To the episode →
Quotes
„… als wir die Company damals verkauft haben … im Sommer 2020. Ich habe das nicht gefeiert. Also es hat einfach nicht mehr viel mit mir gemacht.““When we sold the company back then, in summer 2020, I didn't celebrate. It just didn't do much for me anymore.”
„Breathwork ist für mich die Brücke zur menschlichen Erfahrung.““For me, breathwork is the bridge to the human experience.”
„Ich habe mich drei Monate lang inkompetent gefühlt.““I felt incompetent for three months straight.”
„… ich habe keinen Bock mehr in Pitchdecks und irgendwelche Konstruktionen und Modelle, die dann weggelegt werden, wenn sie nicht laufen zu investieren.““I have no desire anymore to invest in pitch decks and constructions and models that get put aside when they don't work out.”
„Wir sind nicht hier auf der Erde, um alle krasse Unternehmer zu werden und viel zu erreichen. Das haben wir uns ausgedacht. Das ist Conditioning.““We are not here on earth to all become badass entrepreneurs and achieve a lot. We made that up. That's conditioning.”
„Zum Status-Game bin ich komplett raus, wirklich vollständig.““I'm completely out of the status game, really and truly.”