Episode Overview

When Laura Katzensteiner joined Keypitt, she asked whether there was room for another founder. The answer was “not currently.” She took the job anyway. She had worked out that she adds the most value once a product exists and there are real problems to solve, not at stage zero with nothing but an idea. Today she’s co-founder and COO, and she’s leading the company’s first fundraise.

Keypitt was founded in Copenhagen by Karla Pitt Winther, with CTO and co-founder André Bergan. It replaces paper cloakroom tickets with the KeyPass, a reusable digital pass for nightclubs, concert venues and conferences. It sounds simple, but investors can’t put the company in a box: it’s not quite SaaS, not quite fintech, not quite hospitality. We get into what it took to grow from employee to co-founder, how Laura is preparing to raise DKK 2.5–3M from angels, building tech simple enough for her mother, and why AI is making every brand look the same.

🔑 In this episode, we talk about:

• Asking for a founder seat, hearing “not currently,” and growing into the role anyway
• Why she didn’t want to join a startup at “stage zero”
• Growing up between two very different parents, and a father who offered to work for free to prove his value
• Learning from Karla’s pivots from NFC to QR codes and from tablets to phones
• Building a product that’s deliberately “not so high tech” so her mother can use it too
• Why Keypitt doesn’t fit neatly into SaaS, fintech, e-commerce or hospitality, and what that means for fundraising
• Raising DKK 2.5–3M from angel investors, and why they’re looking for “smart money” with payments experience
• Why AI is making every brand look the same, and how to put the human back in

🧠 Key Takeaways

Join where you add the most value, not where it’s most glamorous. Laura knew she wouldn’t add the most value at the idea stage, so she looked for a startup where her skills would count from day one.

Simple beats impressive when your users are everyone. A product used across a whole society has to work for the 70-year-old concertgoer as well as the tech-savvy one.

Being hard to categorise is a pitching problem, not a product problem. Investors think in verticals, so if you don’t fit one, you first have to convince them you’re close enough to talk to.

Pitch the vision, not only the proof. Laura noticed she tends to talk about what exists today, while research suggests men pitch what’s coming. Founders need both.

Raise for brains as much as money. With paying customers already, Keypitt is raising to grow faster and to get strategic help from people who have built bigger things.

Let AI build the draft, not the personality. Generate the website or the post, then take the time to add one thing that’s unmistakably you.

🗣️ Sound Bites

“When I joined, I asked whether they were open to having another founder, and the answer I received was not really, or not currently.”

“Most people will be met with a wardrobe in their life. They have received a paper ticket. Why have we not questioned this?”

“For the guest, we want to make the experience forgettable. But for the employee who stands in the wardrobe, that’s their everyday life.”

📍 Chapter Highlights

00:00 – Cold open

01:00 – Welcoming Laura: the software running the cloakroom

01:43 – Growing up in Vienna, and a father who offered to work for free

04:33 – A rainy boat at Tech BBQ, and asking for a founder seat before day one

08:54 – Why Keypitt: the paper ticket nobody questioned

10:16 – Learning from Karla’s pivots, and why resilience matters most

13:02 – High-tech vs. intuitive: building for her mother

15:08 – The company that fits no box, and pitching the vision vs. what exists today

20:07 – Dead phones, lost tickets, and Karla’s origin story

23:31 – A last-minute payments partner over Christmas

26:11 – Preparing for a first fundraise, and raising DKK 2.5–3M from angels

31:49 – “Fundraising is a social game,” and raising as a female-founded team

37:51 – Expanding abroad, and when the business case works for a venue

42:35 – The through line across customers, and backups for guests without a phone

44:11 – Proudest moments: a big nightclub launch, and happy wardrobe staff

49:56 – Branding to guests and venues at the same time

55:17 – Why Denmark, and why AI is making every brand look the same

1:02:49 – The first full-time hire, a team of Leos, and “freedom under responsibility”

1:10:04 – Where to find Laura and Keypitt, and closing thoughts

🔗 Links & Resources

Keypitt: keypitt.com

Laura Katzensteiner on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/laura-katzensteiner

Keypitt on Instagram: instagram.com/keypitt_official

Keypitt on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/100185831

Keypitt on Facebook: facebook.com/keypitt

🏢 Companies / Organisations Mentioned

Keypitt: Copenhagen startup behind the KeyPass, a reusable digital cloakroom pass for venues

Supervillain: one of Copenhagen’s biggest nightclubs and Keypitt’s first major customer

Clue: the period-tracking app whose founder, Ida Tin, called fundraising “a social game” in a past Founders-Meeting interview

Tech BBQ: the Copenhagen event where Helga and Laura first met

SERIOUS.BUSINESS host Helga’s company

🧡 Why You’ll Love This Episode

Laura was told there was no founder seat, took the job anyway, and made herself so useful that the seat came to her. If you’re a founder wondering when to bring in a co-founder, or an employee wondering if you could become one, this conversation shows how it can happen.

📣 Connect with Us

This podcast is brought to you by SERIOUS.BUSINESS. If you’re scaling fast but your messaging, your story, your brand haven’t caught up—let’s fix that 👇🏻 👉 Apply for your FREE Brand Masterplan 🦄