Who this is
Johannes Kliesch is co-founder and co-CEO of Snocks from Mannheim. What started with socks on Amazon is now a group with 130 to 140 million euros in revenue and around 150 employees that has been profitable for ten years and has acquired three brands: femtis, Le Lune and OCEANSAPART, with a fourth not yet public at the time of recording. As of this season he sits on the panel of Die Höhle der Löwen, Germany's Shark Tank, after Snocks itself had been rejected by the show three times for being too boring. He also runs the Inner Circle, a community of 70 e-commerce brands, holds 40 percent of the Shopify app company Hero Software, spun the AI agency Rewired out of the Snocks Coffee café in Mannheim and offers paid consulting hours for e-commerce founders.
Episodes
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FAQ
Who is Johannes Kliesch?
Johannes Kliesch is co-founder and co-CEO of Snocks from Mannheim, a group with 130 to 140 million euros in revenue and around 150 employees that sells socks, underwear and basics. As of this season he is a new investor on Die Höhle der Löwen, Germany's Shark Tank. He also runs the Inner Circle, a community of 70 e-commerce brands, holds 40 percent of Hero Software and is involved in the AI agency Rewired and the Snocks Coffee café. To the episode →
Why did Johannes Kliesch donate his fee from Die Höhle der Löwen?
The fee is paid by the broadcaster, and Johannes received an offer by email. Relative to everything else the sum wasn't decisive for him, and he didn't want both sides to throw expensive lawyers at the negotiation. So he suggested donating the amount jointly to a good cause. He is not allowed to name figures. By his own account, he benefits from the show in other ways. To the episode →
How much revenue does Snocks make?
In the episode Johannes says the Snocks group will make between 130 and 140 million euros in revenue in 2026, depending on how Q4 goes. The company is growing around 20 percent this year, has been profitable every year and is more profitable than ever. In retail Snocks makes 3 million euros in net and around 10 million euros in gross revenue, and 200,000 to 300,000 euros a month on TikTok Shop. To the episode →
What is Johannes Kliesch's Inner Circle?
The Inner Circle is a paid e-commerce community that Johannes launched three years ago within 24 hours via an Instagram story, starting with 20 people at 500 euros a month. Today it has 70 brands with 2 to over 100 million euros in annual revenue, two full-time staff look after it, and every Friday from 10.30 to 12 there is a call with Johannes. Everyone has signed NDAs, and the members knew about his Lion deal since February without it leaking. To the episode →
Quotes
„Ich bin kein so bekanntes Gesicht, aber Leute, die ein Unternehmen gründen wollen, die pitchen es mir.““I'm not that well-known a face, but people who want to start a company pitch it to me.”
„… du kannst nicht so Umpositionierung machen. Das ist viel zu teuer. Dann gründe lieber eine neue Marke.““You can't do a repositioning like that. It's far too expensive. Better to found a new brand instead.”
„Und wenn jetzt auch hier jemand zuhört und irgendwie ein Euro einsteckt und drei bis fünf rausbekommt, dann weißt du … Dreh das Ding auf, weil es ist eine tickende Zeitbombe, weil die Konkurrenz kommt im Markt. Das ist ein Fenster von zwei bis drei Jahren.““If anyone listening puts in one euro and gets three to five back, then you know: turn it up, because it's a ticking time bomb, the competition is coming. That's a window of two to three years.”
„Das heißt, per Definition kannst du nur Geld verdienen über Retention. Also nur wenn der Kunde ein zweites Mal kommt, dann verdienst du überhaupt Geld.““So by definition you can only make money through retention. Only when the customer comes back a second time do you make any money at all.”
„Ich würde jede andere Firma, die ich habe, echt verkaufen, auch Snocks bestimmt zu irgendeinem Zeitpunkt … Das ist das einzige, was ich mir echt vorstellen kann, bis zur Rente zu machen.““I would honestly sell every other company I have, Snocks too at some point for sure. This is the only thing I can really imagine doing until I retire.”