The Ruffinihaus at Rindermarkt can currently call itself the city's creative hotspot: Over 50 spaces and offices are available to Munich's creative and startup scene until the end of the year. One of the startups that has temporarily found a "home" there: Blitzminds.
1. Who are you and what do you do? Please introduce yourselves briefly!
We are Blitzminds and we build knowledge management tools. As part of a grant from the UnternehmerTUM We founders met in 2015 and founded the company a year later. We are:
Sebastian Erhardt, 26, business informatics, Alexander von Peinen, 25, physics and business administration and Cornelius Filbry, 26, technology and management-oriented business administration.
Based on cutting-edge graph database technology, we develop knowledge management software for companies that want to reduce inefficiencies. We have currently launched our first product: InsideUX – a Design Thinking database for product development. InsideUX enables us to store valuable insights into user experiences on products and make them accessible to other product developers, helping us develop products that are more closely aligned with customer needs.
2. But that's been around for a long time!
No, there isn't! In fact, knowledge is still stored in a disastrously casual manner within organizations, and distributed via network drives at best. Our graph database enables us to map a much higher level of complexity in the data structure, which also reflects the reality of users. Furthermore, we support users with a maximum focus on usability, helping them to master the inherent complexity of their organization.
Trivial, but crucial
3. What are the three main ingredients for your recipe for success?
- We understood the circumstances under which employees share data. This sounds trivial, but it's actually a previously unsolved problem. We invested over nine months of research, prototyping, and user testing into our findings. Only then did we develop our product.
- The graph database enables the application of artificial intelligence. We can present the user with the results of their colleagues while they are working in the database, without that he has to search for it himself.
- With our tool, we bring added value to employees' everyday work. By consistently addressing the five core needs (results from our research), we manage to get people using our tool and collect data almost incidentally.
Focus on customer acquisition
4. Let’s get down to business: How is business going?
We've received an order from our biggest supporter, Bosch Security Technology, which we're currently working on. This will keep us well-funded until next year. However, the next six months will determine our long-term viability. Accordingly, in addition to further product development, our focus is entirely on customer acquisition. We're optimistic that we'll be able to win additional customers in the coming months, having already demonstrated our ability to supply large organizations with Bosch Security Technology.
5. What does Munich mean to you?
Munich, with its major universities and an exploding city with countless interesting, dynamic people and projects, is a fantastic location for us. Of course, the competition for the best people is fierce, but that also motivates us. We're already well-connected in the startup scene and continue to maintain contact with institutions like UnternehmerTUM and others that promote and support startups like us. We have little personal connection to almost any of them, as we moved here to study. However, that also means we consciously chose Munich, and we still enjoy living and working here.
6. How will your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we see you soon at Epic Fail Night?
Statistics should tell us otherwise, but we believe in our product, our capabilities, and the niche in the market. So why shouldn't we establish ourselves in the market? It's too late for an Epic Fail Night; we're already well underway. Now it's all about further developing our MVP and finding more customers. To do this, we need bright minds in IT and are also looking for support on the business side and in customer acquisition.
“The first office motivates us”
7. What do you expect from your time at Ruffinihaus? What do you particularly like about it?
The Ruffinihaus gives our startup even more energy. The first office brings us closer together as we work and motivates us to keep pushing forward. We particularly like the location in the heart of the city. We're especially pleased that we can now invite clients to our offices. While Munich is bustling outside, we're continuing to hone the future of digital knowledge management in the Ruffinihaus.
