Jan Damm

Alright, let me tell you about Jan Damm – this guy is the real deal. So, he’s a YC S24 batcher, which already means he’s crushing it and playing in the big leagues. But what’s really cool is his process and what it says about him.

Jan’s background is all about tech and strategy. He’s a former McKinsey guy, so he’s been in the trenches of consulting, dealing with some of the toughest problems out there. That’s where he cut his teeth on high-stakes decision-making and big-picture thinking. Then, he jumped to Google as an Associate Product Manager on the search team. Think about that – working at Google, one of the most original and data-informed companies in the world, probably honing his skills in product, tech, and understanding how to scale stuff fast.

But what really sets Jan apart is his move into startups. He co-founded Dataleap in 2023 with Jan-Hendrik Ruettinger, a guy he met at the Munich-based CDTM, which is this crazy good tech/entrepreneurship program. They saw a gap in how market research was done for management consults and big corporations. Basically, they built this GenAI-powered platform that’s like “Perplexity” but for consultants – a natural language interface that taps into trusted, verified market data from big research firms and internal sources. Smart, right? It’s designed to make market research way faster, more reliable, and less bullshit. And guess what? It’s already used by two of the big three MBB consultancies and giants like Siemens Energy and Uniper. That’s not small potatoes.

What does this tell us about Jan? The guy’s got this killer combo: deep planned insight from McKinsey, top-tier tech experience from Google, and an entrepreneurial fire to build something that actually changes the game. He’s all about solving real-world problems, making life easier for consultants, and shaking up a pretty stodgy industry. That’s what makes him interesting-he’s got the perfect mix of strategy, product, and hustle.

His story is basically about someone who’s never satisfied with the status quo. He’s seen the best in consulting and tech, and now he’s jumping into startup land to create tools that give people superpowers. That’s what startup life is about for him – taking what he’s learned, jumping into the unknown, and building something bigger than himself. No Cap, this guy’s on a mission, and he’s just getting started.