"I couldn't cook! I started an Internet Company but had no money and couldn't code!" — Mengting Bönsch

Mengting Bönsch is the co-founder and former CEO of Kitchen Stories, a global cooking platform with over 22 million users. Kitchen Stories was initially bootstrapped for several years by Mengting and Verena Hubertz, who is now part of the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, Mengting is now an investor and founder of a healthcare company called Leni's Lab. They had no programming or even cooking skills when they started building Kitchen Stories, which makes their story extremely unique. It quickly became a leading cooking platform in 150 countries and even caught the attention of Apple CEO Tim Cook, who visited their Berlin office.This episode is hosted by Nour Idelbi and Ahmad Zandnia.Timestamps:0:00 Intro – Welcome to Roots 2 Disrupt Podcast with Mengting Bönsch1:03 Meet Mengting Bönsch – Co-founder of Kitchen Stories1:38 From China to Germany – How immigration shaped her journey3:35 Biggest Challenges as an Immigrant Entrepreneur7:45 How Kitchen Stories Started – From a crazy idea to reality11:00 The Initial Struggles – No money, no coding, no cooking skills14:11 Breaking into the Startup Scene – Feeling like an outsider?16:29 How Apple CEO Tim Cook Discovered Kitchen Stories 18:15 Funding Struggles – Convincing investors without a network22:36 How to Get Early Users – Growth hacks that built 22M users28:08 The Power of Design – Why UX & details made Kitchen Stories win31:45 The Role of Female Founders in Tech – A different perspective?34:38 Scaling a Startup – From Berlin to a 150 other countries37:50 How Kitchen Stories Built a Global Community42:05 Life After Kitchen Stories – What’s next for Mengting?44:45 New Startup: Leni’s Lab – Solving a big problem for parents50:52 Fundraising Advice for Founders – How to win investors55:45 Final Thoughts – Key lessons from Mengting’s journey--------------------------------------------------------------------Music: BensoundArtistLunar YearsLicense code: WNLILNYY3YFTR1VJ#StartupSuccess #KitchenStories #Entrepreneurship #FounderJourney #TimCook #WomenInTech #StartupGrind #ProductDesign #ImmigrantEntrepreneurs #BusinessGrowth #FoodTech #StartupAdvice #roots2disrupt