Dr. David von Rosen
Dr. David von Rosen

David von Rosen flickers into life on my screen as he joins me on a video call from another part of the world. Today, he's in Verbier, a picturesque mountain town in the Swiss Alps, which he calls home when he's not enjoying sunnier climes in Dubai.

He's only just got back, having spent the weekend racing in Barcelona as part of the Porsche Sprint Cup. I ask him how it went, and David tells me—with a smile–that it went pretty terribly. He'd been closing in on a podium when he crashed on the last lap, just 80m from the checkered flag.

'It was a tough blow,' he says, 'But you can't let things like that hold you back. You've got to come back swinging and aim for bigger and better.'

David's attitude to motor racing is no different from his approach to business and investing. He's guided by absolute ambition and an insatiable appetite for risk in everything he does.

Growing up in a quaint German town, David's aspirations were always entrepreneurial. Now, at 48 years old, he has a growing empire of monopoly-bashing businesses, from real estate to online lotteries. He appeared this year on Bilanz's list of the 300 Richest Swiss, making him one of the country's youngest billionaires.

David founded his first business, CareerConcept 2002, a fintech startup that helped students fund their higher education journey against a pre-determined percentage of their future earnings. While it went on to become a leader in its market, it all began with a shot in the dark.

'I was trying to launch CareerConcept and had everything in place – but no money to get it off the ground,' says David. 'I felt I had nothing to lose, so I started writing letters to a list of German billionaires, asking them to take a chance on our project.'

'It was a real gamble, and we didn't hear anything back for quite some time – until we got a reply from Susanne Klatten, the majority owner of BMW. She loved our idea and was keen to back us. She gave us our first million and was the whole reason we were able to launch.'

David's innovative breakthrough with CareerConcept saw him join the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders ranks in Davos. 'That was where I got a taste for starting my own business,' David tells me. 'And I never looked back.'

After CareerConcept came to VONROSEN, a high-end, invite-only fashion brand based in Berlin. It prided itself on its high-quality basics – and then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs favoured its black turtleneck.

'It's probably my favourite anecdote,' David laughs. 'We were trying to get the VONROSEN name out there, and we'd all agree that if we could have just one testimonial from anyone, it would be Steve Jobs.'

'We sent him a sweater, and we knew it was a bit of a long shot, but then a few weeks later, he placed an order for three more. It was a few weeks later, sweet. We knew he liked the product enough to order from us, but we did not tell anyone for privacy reasons. We thought for privacy reasons that was it.'

'Until summer rolled around. Steve Jobs came on stage at the annual WWDC conference to unveil the iCloud for the first time, and we could hardly believe what we saw. He was wearing one of our jumpers.'

'Within two hours, we completely sold out of everything. And it all came from a throw of the dice that turned out to be one of the smartest moves we'd ever made.'

David has always lived by the mantra of spotting an opportunity and going for it – exactly how Lottoland was born. Founded by David in 2013, the Gibraltar-based online lottery site was a breath of fresh air in an industry dominated by a handful of industry titans.

'It was the great disruptor of the lottery industry,' explains David. 'It was an underdog, taking on well-established gambling companies many times its size.'

Now operating in over 15 markets, Lottoland holds the Guinness World Record for the highest-ever online win – and has been rumoured to be eyeing up a multi-billion dollar IPO.

Despite its success, Lottoland was David's first foray into the online lottery industry. 'I don't believe entrepreneurs should spend all their lives in the same old industry,' says David.

'It's important to recognise that the skills you develop in an industry are transferable and that experience can give you the edge over someone who's been in the same industry for twenty-plus years. 'It's the same way I go about investing. I enjoy the learning journey. But I also think that with how fast the world moves today, it's a vital skill for investors to have.'

Through his family office, VONROSEN, David invests in various industries, from edtech to renewables, real estate, and AI.

'Investors today need to be adaptable and willing to spread themselves and their capital across different industries, rather than just betting all on one horse,' David explains.

'That also involves investing across diverse locations. I'm still surprised by the number of investors who barely cast a second glance at the Middle East, for example, despite how hot the business scene is.'

When he's not in Switzerland, David spends most of his time in Dubai working on his latest ventures – including 25 Degrees, a super-prime property developer specialising in villas on Dubai's Palm Jumeirah.

Launched in 2023, 25 Degrees erupted onto Dubai's luxury property scene as a challenger to the market monopolists. It's already proven disruptive, with the sale of its first villa making the headlines at a record-breaking $17 million for its size class.

He tells me 25 Degrees has plenty more projects in the pipeline as it aims to sell 100 properties by 2030. Its latest project sees the developer partner with Killa Design, the architects behind Dubai's award-winning Museum of the Future.

'Luxury real estate is another industry I initially knew nothing about,' David says. 'But talking to friends in Dubai, I realised that while the city's luxury real estate sector is skyrocketing, it's primarily dominated by apartments and hotels.'

'There wasn't any focus on top-end villas, which is now proving to be a huge growth area. More and more families are emigrating to Dubai and looking for luxury property on the Palm. And they need more space than an apartment can offer them. We launched 25 Degrees as an answer to that growing demand.'

'I think that perhaps the biggest part of launching a successful venture is to keep your eye on future gaps in the market,' adds David. 'And when you spot that gap, go for it.

'Don't just think about what's working now – you need to anticipate what will come next and how that will impact a given company or industry.

And if David could give just one piece of advice to budding entrepreneurs?

'Whatever you do, be bold, take risks, and trust your gut. You win if two out of five of your ideas or investments fail.'