Unlocking Financial Education with Gerold Muhr

Kick off Investling Insights with Gerold Muhr, Investling's founder and EduTech veteran. From his 1967 birth in Austria to studying philosophy and literary studies in Graz, Gerold's path led from art curation (collaborating on SCHLAUCH's mid-1990s sound/media projects) to AI in finance in Frankfurt in the late 1990s. Gerold then served as Program Director for the EU-funded, seven-figure R&D project 'eCulture' at the ISNM International School of New Media at the University of Lübeck. At Steinbeis Hochschule, he led the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research)-funded, six-figure R&P project 'SALT', focused on developing and applying an online learning platform for the education of bank employees. He then founded Brand University of Applied Sciences in 2009, leading it for 15+ years in applied branding learning. Now, Investling offers AI-driven, structured financial education for beginners.

In this episode, Gerold shares his journey from rural Styria's blue-collar roots through art and finance in Frankfurt to today's dynamic AI world. We explore his evolving mindset on finances, markets, and risk—contrasting Austrian 'safe' savings/real estate norms with broader lessons from home and university.

Highlights:

• Early investing's power: Compound interest examples plus the host's personal mentoring story.
• Mentoring's impact: Gerold on his mentors and lessons applied today.
• AI evolution: From 1990s finance to today's advancements in exploratory learning.
• Success factors: Degree vs. skills vs. networks in financial education.
• Investling's motivation: Creating jargon-free online experiences for beginners.
• Resource gaps: Why structured content is rare, and how Investling fixes it with clear curricula.
• Self-education: Steps for safe learning without experts, building self-efficacy.
• Beginner strategies: Balancing certainty (fundamentals) and uncertainty (market moves).
• Life hacks: Failure as success setup; lifelong learning (Gerold's recent Machine Learning Engineer degree) and habit-building for busy lives.

Recurring wisdom:

• How has failure set you up for later success?
• In the past 4 years, what new belief, behaviour, or habit has most improved your life?
• What is one of the best investments you've ever made?
• Advice for young students entering the real world—and what to ignore?
• Who to invite next?

Aligned with Investling's sincere, no-guru tone, this episode reduces anxiety on investing topics, sparks curiosity, provides competent tools, and fosters agency & belonging.

Start learning today via Investling's free courses at learn.investling.org

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Disclaimer: This episode is for financial education purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always consult a qualified professional for personalised guidance.