The German entrepreneurs celebrating their mistakes

Max Riedel has just admitted to losing hundreds of thousands of euros before the age of 30, and he is being enthusiastically applauded.

The Berlin-born business owner is addressing an unusual audience - young techies gathered on a Thursday night to celebrate catastrophe.

With the help of an amusing slideshow, featuring wisdom from TV's The A-Team, Max tells the tale of multiple blunders made in the early days of his events company, Holi Concept, which runs festivals and races in cities across Europe.

"In the last four or five years, I think I made 20 or 25 hard mistakes," he says, barely suppressing a cheeky grin.

"Every mistake cost between 50,000 and 300,000 euros."