Smiling man which is Xaver Lehmann and woman in aprons with "Forestaria" logo, standing on green grass

AI Startups, a $60m Exit and Burnouts.

Over the past decade, I’ve built two AI startups. The first, e-bot7, scaled to 130 employees across five European offices and was acquired by LivePerson Inc. (NASDAQ) for $60M. It was an incredible ride but also the one that led to my first burnout. After taking time to recover, I jumped into my next venture: Vidlab7, an AI avatar company backed by EQT Ventures. It grew fast, but by the end of 2024, I had to step away again. This time, to protect my health. I spent four months in South Africa, working on social projects, helping local families, and rediscovering what really matters. That’s where The Honest Founder was born. A desire to help ambitious founders build great companies without losing themselves in the process.
Xaver Lehmann
The Honest Founder
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Podcast Features
Book me as a Keynote Speaker
If you want a speaker who brings honesty, real founder experience, and zero fluff - I’m your guy. I’ve built and scaled companies from a student apartment to a $60M exit. I’ve led teams across Europe, raised millions, burned out, rebuilt myself, and now help founders do the same with more clarity and less chaos. My talks are not theoretical. They’re lived experience, distilled into simple frameworks your audience can apply immediately.
Past audiences: Forbes, Web Summit, UN, Microsoft, Deutsche Bank
What Your Audience Will Walk Away With:
Why scaling without systems leads to burnout (and how to avoid it)
The honest truth about founder mental health and what actually helps
Real frameworks from raising millions and exiting for $60M
Send Inquiry
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Previous Speaking Gigs
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My Journey.
2000
How it all began.
I wasn’t the smartest, nor the most skilled. At 9, I was diagnosed with dyscalculia - numbers made no sense. Because of my grades, I ended up in one of Germany’s lowest‑ranking schools "Hauptschule".
2004
The Turning Point.
At the age of 11 I dreamed of becoming an investment banker. The only problem? My grades.
I pushed myself and became one of the top students at my school, then made the leap to Gymnasium where I completed my Abitur.
Warren Buffett smiling in a suit and tie, with a green circle and stock chart lines in the background.
2016
The start of my first company e-bot7
During my Master’s, I founded e-bot7.
I had no real skills, no knowledge, and no experience. Just a crazy idea and the determination to make it happen.
Two smiling men (Fabian Beringer and Xaver Lehmann), one with dark curly hair and one with red hair and glasses, stand in front of a black wall.
2016-2021
Day and night hustle.
The startup grew. We scaled.
Some highlights: Dinner with the French President, speaking at the UN, Offices in 5 countries, expansion to Tokyo, Abu Dhabi. 30+ Awards including Forbes 30 under 30 Europe.
Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe article with portraits of young people, including Xaver Lehmann, Greta Thunberg and Magnus Carlsen.
2021
Sold e-bot7 for $60m to NASDAQ-listed Liveperson Inc.
130+ employees, 5 offices and 100+ Enterprise clients later we got acquired by Liveperson Inc.
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2021-2022
Burned out.
I felt exhausted. Mentally drained. My mother died during this phase. What I thought was important didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was life. Real life. Connection. Purpose.
Spent time in Sri Lanka for Ayurveda and later climbed Kilimanjaro, plus a few more adventures along the way.
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2023-2024
Doing it again.
After taking time to recover, I jumped into my next venture: Vidlab7, an AI avatar company backed by EQT Ventures. It grew fast, but by the end of 2024, I had to step away again.
This time, to protect my health.
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2025
The Honest Founder
I spent four months in South Africa, working on social projects, helping local families, and rediscovering what really matters.
That’s where The Honest Founder was born.
A desire to help ambitious people build the life they always wanted without losing themselves in the process. (I learned that the hard way.)
I'm building The Honest Founder solo: no employees, no investors, no co-founders. Just me, my experience, and a commitment to helping founders build smarter, not just bigger.
Two men walking across a grassy field, with other people and trees in the background.
Xaver Lehmann is a founder, speaker, and investor from Munich.
He built e-bot7 from a student apartment to a $60M exit, scaling to 130+ employees across Europe. After burning out twice building AI startups, he created The Honest Founder to help ambitious Founders scale without losing themselves in the process.
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