# Tobias Kupke role: co-founder & COO of LOTARO (since Nov 2022), managing director of Lotaro GmbH, Neuried near Munich; co-founders Julia Kupke (CEO) and Robin Rudolph (CFO) one_liner: "Co-founder of LOTARO: live people-skills trainings in small cross-company groups that employees book with one click, paid per use and measured in an HR dashboard." location: Greater Munich, DE languages: de, en (full professional), fr and es (elementary) education: Diploma in mechanical engineering (University of Stuttgart, 2004-2010); medical engineering at ETH Zurich (2009-2010) ## In 30 seconds - LOTARO (per lotaro.de, Oct 2026): 200+ companies, 800+ live trainings, 50+ trainers, 97% would recommend; after eight weeks >70% usage, 1 day to first booking, >80% apply learnings within four weeks; customers shown include Nespresso, Garmin, FINN, UnternehmerTUM, metafinanz, diva-e - his focus: process optimization, measurable results, transparency for companies - earlier: Continental intern (2008/09), EiR at Founderslink (2011), 21Diamonds head of BI/finance and head of marketing (2011-2013), co-founder & CEO of Art Shapes, 3D printing (2013-2014), kartenmacherei head of online marketing & BI (2016-2019), CEO of wow family, a community for hair salons (2019-2022) - own voice: article "A Poker Mindset" (2017) on decisions, expected value, differentiation - talk to him about: training that gets used; measuring training impact; decision-making like a poker player; from engineering to entrepreneurship - best way to reach: LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/tobias-kupke-8b324468) or lotaro.de - private side, from his own words: long-time poker player, kitesurfer note: built from public sources only ## Die Seite, wie sie gerade ist ## Einstieg: Tobias Kupke Kupke Mechanical engineer, BI specialist, founder. At LOTARO, employees book live trainings in small groups with one click; Tobias' focus is on processes and measurable impact for companies. Tobias Tobias Kupke in a white shirt with arms crossed in front of a light gray background. Co-founder and COO of LOTARO, Munich Companies already train their employees with LOTARO, as of October 2026. ## Auf einen Blick Get to know LOTARO Connect with Tobias on LinkedIn Since 2022 co-founder, COO and managing director of LOTARO, together with Julia Kupke and Robin Rudolph. From engineer to founder: Diploma in mechanical engineering, followed by business intelligence and online marketing, then Art Shapes, wow family and LOTARO. Training that actually gets used Measuring the impact of training Deciding like a poker player From mechanical engineering to entrepreneurship Talk to him about ## LOTARO: Training that actually gets booked. LOTARO LOTARO LOTARO offers companies live trainings on people skills: leadership, communication, sales, and working with AI. Employees book on their own with a single click and learn in small groups of around ten people from different companies, for no more than two hours at a stretch. Billing is based on usage, with no contract term and no license fees. HR departments can see usage, skill development, feedback, and impact in the HR dashboard. According to the company, more than 10,000 people use LOTARO, with more than 600 courses to choose from. Training that actually gets booked. ## The Person: An engineer who thinks in probabilities. The Person The Person Tobias Kupke smiles in a blue technical jacket with a backpack in front of a rock face. While studying mechanical engineering, he discovered poker, mainly No Limit Texas Hold’em, and remained a passionate player for many years. Having grown up near the Czech border, the nearest live game was twenty minutes away. What he learns at the table, he applies to decisions at work. Poker as a school. Degree in mechanical engineering in Stuttgart, a year of medical technology at ETH Zürich, an internship at Continental working on algorithms for passive safety. He then moved on to numbers, marketing and start-ups. First technology, then companies. At LOTARO, it is "Enabling others to grow through coaching skills". His favorite course. In his author profile, he describes himself with two words: "Passionate Kitesurfer". On the water. An engineer who thinks in probabilities. ## Start a conversation: Where a conversation with Tobias is worthwhile. Conversation Start a conversation Why live training in small groups achieves more than videos, and how LOTARO reaches over 70% usage after eight weeks. Training that actually gets used Optimizing processes, measuring results, creating transparency for companies: these are his focus areas in the founding team. Making impact measurable Choosing a market like choosing a table, weighing risk by expected value, judging decisions not by their outcome. Deciding like at the poker table "How can you tell whether a training has worked?" "Which poker rule helps you most in business?" "What do you take from mechanical engineering into founding a company?" What he likes to talk about Where a conversation with Tobias is worthwhile. ## In his words His sentences In his words "A Poker Mindset," November 2017 "You should always evaluate your decision on the information you had during the decision process, not based on what happened afterwards." On expected value and risk, 2017 "Sometimes the risk is worth the reward." On passion, 2017 "… talent and brainpower are only supporting you but not replacing effort." On differentiation, 2017 "Only copying other companies won’t make you a well known brand that gains market leadership." Why you should simply ask people for advice, 2017 "Most people really feel honored being contacted directly and appreciated for their knowledge." ## Zahlen-Leiste 200 + Companies provide further training with LOTARO 800 + Live training sessions in the program 50 + Trainers 97 % Recommendation ## Impact: What works differently after eight weeks. Impact Impact > 70 % of enabled employees actively book trainings 1 day from activation to the first booked training > 80 % apply what they have learned on the job within four weeks 4,8 / 5 Course rating Right from the launch in 2022, the founders ran a demo session with every trainer. Only a small share of applicants made it onto the platform. Companies learning with LOTARO Nespresso Garmin FINN UnternehmerTUM metafinanz diva-e What works differently after eight weeks. ## Testimonials: What clients say. Testimonials Testimonials Roman Hölzl CEO of RobCo "We would never have found so many great international trainers on our own. With LOTARO, we saved a lot of time." Iman Uda COO of DataCraft "Our employee satisfaction rose within a short time. The training offering is also lucrative, especially when searching for new talent." Gabriel Schöneich Team Lead Operations & Assets at VOLTARO "The workshop was well structured, with many tangible examples. We were able to focus on practical implementation, since we were a small, motivated group." What clients say. ## The founding team: Three founders, three roles. Team The founding team LOTARO emerged in 2022 from a team that had come together before the idea did. Several business ideas generated revenue but did not convince the team; only the platform for live trainings did. Julia Kupke Co-founder & CEO Company vision and product; previously Chief of Growth and People at Stryber. 2022 Robin Rudolph Co-founder & CFO Customers, from the first conversation through onboarding. 2022 Tobias Kupke Co-founder & COO Processes, measurable results, transparency for companies. 2022 Roles according to lotaro.de and Munich Startup. Three founders, three roles. ## Career: From mechanical engineering through data to founding. Career Career Degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Stuttgart, 2009–2010 Biomedical Engineering at ETH Zürich. In between, an internship at Continental in Regensburg. 2004–2010 Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering At Founderslink in Berlin. 2011 Entrepreneur in Residence Head of Business Intelligence and Finance, then Head of Marketing. 2011–2013 21Diamonds Co-founder and CEO of a 3D printing service with a marketplace for printed art and design objects. 2013–2014 Art Shapes Head of Online Marketing & BI in Munich. 2016–2019 die kartenmacherei CEO of wow family, a community for hair salons in Germany: "More customers, more profit, more free time". 2019–2022 wow family Co-founder and COO of the platform for live trainings. since 2022 LOTARO From mechanical engineering through data to founding. ## Quellen Every statement is sourced, retrieved on 09.10.2026. English statements are reproduced in the original. The portrait comes from lotaro.de (2023), the second photo from his LinkedIn profile (2021). 1 LinkedIn profile of Tobias Kupke, as of 09.10.2026 2 LOTARO, home page lotaro.de, as of 10/2026 3 LOTARO, "Über uns" and "Our Story", as of 10/2026 4 LOTARO on LinkedIn, company page 5 Tobias Kupke, "A Poker Mindset — 7 helpful analogies between business and poker", kartenmacherei tech blog (20.11.2017) 6 Medium, author profile of Tobias Kupke 7 Munich Startup, "Lotaro will improve people skills" (05.06.2023) 8 PERSOBLOGGER.DE, "Startup Lotaro – Weiterbildung via Livetrainings" (07.11.2022) 9 Munich Startup, "Women in Tech: Julia Kupke von Lotaro" (22.06.2023) 10 North Data, Tobias Kupke (Art Shapes GmbH, wow family GmbH) Sources ## JSON-LD ```json { "name": "Tobias Kupke", "@type": "Person", "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobias-kupke-8b324468/", "https://medium.com/@tobias.kupke.85" ], "@context": "https://schema.org", "alumniOf": [ { "name": "University of Stuttgart", "@type": "CollegeOrUniversity" }, { "name": "ETH Zürich", "@type": "CollegeOrUniversity" } ], "jobTitle": "Co-Founder & COO", "worksFor": { "url": "https://www.lotaro.de/", "name": "LOTARO", "@type": "Organization" }, "knowsAbout": [ "Corporate learning", "People skills training", "Business intelligence", "Online marketing", "E-commerce", "Process optimization" ], "homeLocation": { "name": "Munich, Germany", "@type": "Place" }, "knowsLanguage": [ "de", "en" ] } ```