Vertical Fintech
With Marcel Meitza, founder & CEO of Getmomo.
Marcel Meitza grew up in Düsseldorf—the “little Paris,” as Napoleon called it. From a young age, the world of finance fascinated him, so it was only natural for him to pursue studies in finance, starting with an apprenticeship at HSBC Germany's private bank.
After his apprenticeship, Marcel went to New York, where he discovered the real estate industry. He enjoyed working in Manhattan's property management and project development market but had to return after a year. First, because he didn’t have a visa. Also, because he was determined to study, which was a bit too expensive in the US. So Marcel returned to Germany and joined WHU-Otto Beisheim, a prestigious school I’ve already mentioned in this newsletter, known for producing many entrepreneurs, including the founders of Zalando or HelloFresh.
“The first big lesson was to take the time to find the right banking partner—or even multiple partners—so you’re not dependent on just one.”
Despite the strong entrepreneurial culture at WHU, Marcel started his career in consulting at BCG. Little parenthesis. After two years of speaking with entrepreneurs every week, I’ve noticed that many of them began their careers in large consulting firms—Bain, BCG, McKinsey. Working closely with CEOs sparks an entrepreneurial mindset in some, and they see it as a valuable learning experience before going into entrepreneurship.
It taught Marcel how to work in a structured way: "I think this helps when approaching big problems. ‘How do you eat an elephant—One bite at a time!’ It sounds easy, but seeing the big picture and breaking it down is key when you're in it, in the weeds." This doesn’t surprise me, as his answers were clear and well-structured during our discussion. You know, starting sentences by stating the number of points that will structure his answer.
However, there is one major difference that Marcel only discovered later when he launched his first company: execution. "As a consultant, the big thing is you advise. You say, ‘These are the pros, these are the cons, this is how we would do it,’ but you never actually do it. As an entrepreneur, it’s about execution—and it doesn’t matter if it looks nice on a slide."
After four years of learning, Marcel’s desire to start his own business grew. At 30, he felt it was the right time—now or never. The longer he waited, the higher the opportunity cost. His conversations with colleagues only reinforced this idea. And in the end, he didn’t have that much to lose. If it didn’t work out, he could always find another job.
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In 2019, Marcel launched simplo with a close friend. The two young entrepreneurs aimed to create a transactional messenger to simplify communication between craftsmen and their suppliers. This first venture lasted only two years, but Marcel learned a lot from this experience.
First, building a marketplace is complex because you have to solve a problem on both sides. With simplo, the two young entrepreneurs quickly won over the suppliers. But just as they started envisioning millions in GMV, they realized they couldn’t convince the craftsmen, most of whom preferred simply picking up the phone to place their orders.
The second lesson was the importance of iterating quickly to find product-market fit. Cash isn’t unlimited, and the faster you iterate, the better your chances of solving the right problem in the right way. At the same time, you also need to know when to stop and cut your losses—which is exactly what the startup did.
Despite this first failure, Marcel had no intention of returning to consulting. He wanted to keep building. So, in 2021, he launched Getmomo.
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Getmomo was inspired by the two main experiences in Marcel’s career: real estate, which he discovered in New York, and banking, where he had done his apprenticeship, completed several internships, and worked with clients at BCG. This time, Marcel launched the company on his own—a very different experience, where he quickly realized the importance of being challenged regularly.
From his first startup, he learned a crucial lesson: to find product-market fit, you must keep things simple and focus on solving one fundamental problem. He identified a clear pain point for property managers—they were stuck using outdated, inefficient software that cost them a lot of time.
On top of that, one strong signal convinced Marcel that this was the right niche: Competitors were barely innovating but still generating high margins. This reminds me of a recent newsletter edition, "Don’t Reinvent the Wheel," where Camille Tyan explained that he wasn’t reinventing something—he was fixing something that didn’t work well and focusing on improving the user experience.
As its first solution, Getmomo allows property managers to create legally compliant security deposit accounts easily. To make this possible, Marcel partnered with banks. “For marketplaces, you need two sides. It’s the same in fintech. You need customers, but you also need banks for regulatory reasons. What was special in the beginning, and sometimes frustrating, was the speed at which banking partners operated. The first big lesson was to take the time to find the right banking partner—or even multiple partners—so you’re not dependent on just one. The second key learning was something we completely underestimated—how our customers would feel about our choice of banking partner. At one point, we worked with a non-German BaaS provider. And even though Germany has had its share of financial crises, Germans still believe that only German banks are good banks."
Despite some challenges in building and rebuilding infrastructure partnerships—which caused a few slowdowns in growth—Getmomo expanded quickly. The company raised a €3.5 million seed round in 2023, led by 13books, and broadened its offering. For Marcel, listening to customers is key to shaping the roadmap. His prioritization method is simple: he puts a euro sign next to each new development. "How much will this new feature contribute to our revenue?" Today, Getmomo provides a wide range of banking services—payment automation and security deposit management—tailored to the real estate industry.
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The company's top priority is to remain capital efficient. I’ve heard this term before, but I wanted to dig deeper. The first building block of capital efficiency seemed aligned with how Marcel plans his roadmap. But for him, it also means “you don’t need an army of people to scale.”
Banking service providers benefit from strong network effects and operating leverage. The more satisfied customers are, the more they use the solution, driving up transaction volumes and revenue for Getmomo. Another key lesson—one Marcel learned the hard way—is to be efficient in hiring. It’s crucial to generate additional revenue before expanding the team. “Hiring someone only to let them go a few months later is not a pleasant experience.”
Getmomo continues to move fast, and it is currently operating in Germany. But Marcel sees Europe as the next step, with inbound interest already coming from Austria, a neighboring country that shares the same language. In the long run, his vision is to establish Getmomo as the operating system for European real estate.
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Thomas