Legacy of Adi Dassler – leAD – is a Berlin based Sports Accelerator with a program focused on funding and supporting innovative early-stage sports startups. Harold recently came on board as one of the shareholders at leAD.
What is Adi Dassler’s legacy in your opinion?
I only recently became acquainted with the Bente family and it was very exciting to hear the story of their grandfather Adi Dassler especially the passion with which he built his business. According to me, passion is the number one element for success and I am very excited to be part of leAD since anything done with passion is worth being a part of.
What does mentoring mean to you and how important was it in your career?
There have been more than a few people in my life who have helped me in my career but more than that they have helped me in the quality of my life. Mentors to me are people who have gone through the experiences in their lives and are now passing that learning onto the ones who now need it. It is similar to your father guiding you – while it might not always be technical, mentoring can help you in far bigger ways.
Why is supporting startups so important to you?
I’ve been a race car driver for more than 17 years. In my career, I was driven by a passion for the sport and to compete. I see the same passion in startups. The desire to make things happen and make things work. Interacting with young founders gives me the same competitive energy that I felt as a race car driver which makes me very excited about working with them.
“Passion for sports” is the leAD claim. Tell us what you are passionate about?
I am passionate about all kinds of different sports. Besides being a race car driver, I love Golf, Skiing – which I’ve done all my life. I’m also a very active runner and my next half-marathon is in Munich in 2 weeks!
