Who this is
Lea-Sophie Cramer founded Amorelie, the online shop for love toys that, according to her, was sold at around 60 million euros in revenue. Her career started around 2010 at Rocket Internet and Groupon. In 2022 she founded Ten More In, a female leadership coaching company that now grows without her as managing director. Together with Verena Pausder she hosts the business podcast Fast & Curious, which she says will make more than one million euros in revenue this year. Her main job is Epix Sports: with three co-founders she is building a holding company that takes stakes in operator brands running padel clubs, bouldering gyms and reformer pilates studios. She also holds a mandate with KKR and sits on the supervisory board of Wella. She lives in Berlin and has three children.
Episodes
Numbers from the episode
FAQ
What is Epix Sports?
Epix Sports is Lea-Sophie Cramer's fourth company and her main job. Four founders hold 25 percent each: Lea, Oliver Roskopf, Lukas Brosseder and Johannes Kreibohm. Epix is a holding company, not a fund, and is building a house of brands for sports operators, an LVMH for sport. Epix holds stakes in Mitte (padel clubs), Element (bouldering gyms), YTTP (reformer pilates and strength) and Pace Race (a running event). It also runs an AI platform with white spot analysis for new locations. To the episode →
How does the sample calculation behind Epix Sports work?
In the episode Lea uses an operator brand with three studios, 5 million euros in revenue and a 20 percent EBITDA margin. At six to eight times EBITDA the company is worth around 6 million, and Epix buys 15 percent for roughly one million. The goal is to double revenue every year: from 5 to 10 to 20 million. At 20 million in revenue and a 24 million valuation Epix buys another 35 percent for 8 million, so it holds half for 9 million. If the company grows to 40 million in revenue with around 10 million EBITDA and a nine times multiple, it is worth 90 million and half of it 45 million: five times the money in three years. All the money goes into growth as primary capital. To the episode →
Which sports does Lea-Sophie Cramer go long and short on?
Long: ultra runs (as a media phenomenon, not a mass sport), boxing, pilates, bouldering and padel. Short, or not yet right for Epix: pickleball in the German-speaking market, recovery such as ice baths and sauna, indoor golf and e-sports, mini golf and other leisure sports with low frequency, as well as table tennis. She finds dance exciting but too teacher-dependent, as the Zumba crash showed. What matters to her is how often people practise a sport per year. To the episode →
Why wouldn't Lea-Sophie Cramer found Amorelie the same way today?
Because the market was too small. At launch the German market was around 400 million according to Lea, and Amorelie was sold at about 60 million euros in revenue, a large share of that market. On top of that, 95 percent of investors weren't allowed to invest because their statutes excluded gambling, weapons, alcohol and sex. Today she wants a market of more than a billion in Germany, following the motto: the market is big enough. To the episode →
What is Ten More In?
Ten More In is the coaching company for women that Lea-Sophie Cramer founded in 2022 after a CEO lunch on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum where around 40 men and not a single woman sat at the table. The name comes from the line: if you have a seat at the table, let ten more in. The company is bootstrapped, profitable, still below 10 million in revenue and growing 40 percent this year, even though Lea handed the management over to her co-founders Lia and Helly. Every November it hosts a summit with 750 women. To the episode →
How much revenue does the podcast Fast & Curious make?
Lea says in the episode that Fast & Curious will make more than one million euros in revenue this year, with a large share going to OMR and teams being paid. The podcast with Verena Pausder comes out three times a week, the Thursday format with the two of them is the most successful, and growth is at 70 to 80 percent. Originally one season of twelve episodes was planned, and Lea wanted to quit from the start. A voice message from Philipp Westermeyer changed her mind. To the episode →
Quotes
„Ich habe gegründet, weil ich selber meinen eigenen Kuchen backen wollte.““I founded companies because I wanted to bake my own cake.”
„… quasi das Backpulver in deinem Kuchen. Also wir sind eine Zutat, die deinen Kuchen zum Wachsen bringt …““We are basically the baking powder in your cake. We're an ingredient that makes your cake grow.”
„Du hast also 20, 40, 60 Absagen hintereinander, bevor dann drei Zusagen. So läuft Fundraising.““So you get 20, 40, 60 rejections in a row before three yeses. That's how fundraising works.”
„Weil der neue Luxus sind keine Handtaschen, sondern Sport und Gesundheit.““Because the new luxury isn't handbags, it's sport and health.”
„Also du kannst, glaube ich, gar nicht so richtig was von Wert kreieren, wenn du dich nicht auch binden lässt.““I don't think you can really create anything of value if you don't let yourself be tied down.”