Michael Adersberger, who holds a PhD in physics, moved from CERN to the Munich-based software company QAware, where he not only learned software engineering but also gained experience in the corporate venture and startup environment. Nicolas Olberg has many years of experience in the IT sector. He has worked for the IT service provider MaibornWolff for over seven years, initially in software development and later in collaboration with startups. Twip is a Joint project of the two software houses QAware and MaibornWolff.
Munich Startup: Please briefly introduce Twip!
Michael Adersberger: Both of our parent companies have a strong background in project management for large companies, including DAX-listed corporations. However, it's becoming increasingly important for our companies to generate meaningful and innovative ideas for our employees. Twip was founded to contribute to the exciting and innovative topics we see emerging from startups. Twip was born out of conviction.
And why do we believe that we Startups We have access to nearly 900 software developers who cover all technological areas: from UI, UX, backend, cloud topics, DevOps, AI, you name it. With this wealth of engineers and our experience, we can provide startups with targeted support. For example, by reviewing the architecture and offering tips in an early phase. Or by providing a complete development team in a later phase. We also support startups with recruiting.
“Our support is like a scale”
Our support is like a scale: We build up to gain speed, but then scale back as the internal team grows. Finally, we hand over responsibility to the internal team and exit again. This gives the startups a real boost.
Munich Startup: You offer startups "engineering for equity." What exactly does that entail?
Nicolas Olberg: Engineering-for-equity (software engineering paid in shares) is one option we see for collaborating with startups. Of course, we know that it's not always easy for a startup to spend the usual daily rates on IT services, recruiting support, and the like. It makes much more sense to find a collaboration model that shares the risk. Engineering for equity is a great way for us to give a startup this boost with our software developers.
We don't always aim to close such a deal. We observe that startups' starting situations vary greatly. Therefore, other risk and collaboration models, such as convertible loans, can also make sense.
How other investors perceive Twip
Munich Startup: What is your relationship with other investors?
Michael Adersberger: We're currently engaged in numerous discussions in which we're trying to build trust with potential co-investors. We're raising awareness among investors that we give startups a development advantage, especially in early stages. Another important aspect of our relationship with investors is that we can't acquire too many shares in the early stages in order to keep the startup attractive for follow-on investments. This indirectly limits the effort we can put into individual startups. Therefore, we're currently planning for a ticket size of €200,000 to €300,000.
Nicolas Olberg: Investor feedback is mixed: Some are skeptical because they don't want to bring in external expertise too early in the startup's development. On the other hand, there are also VCs who immediately come up with several cases that might require our support in the short term to get the startup on track even faster and thus significantly increase its potential for success.
“We have made 'Positive Impact' our mission”
Munich Startup: You've already mentioned that you're looking for startups that need you and offer exciting projects for your developers. What else are you looking for?
Michael Adersberger: We've embraced the theme of "Positive Impact" because we believe it's the central theme of our generation. Concrete problems are already looming, such as climate change and overpopulation. This is also evident in the virus that has been with us for far too long. We see it as our duty to actively contribute to solving these challenges.
Munich Startup: Do you work with the definitions from the UN Sustainable Development Goals?
Nicolas Olberg: We considered whether there were three or four of these Sustainable Development Goals that play a special role for us. But that wasn't easy, because each of these goals is highly relevant in its own right, and we don't want to consciously exclude any of them. However, there are topics—such as health, education, resource conservation, energy, and CO2 reduction—where we believe we can deliver significant added value. One thing is clear to us: If a startup doesn't contribute to any of the 17 goals, then investing in it is a no-go for us.
From the first meeting to the final negotiations
Munich Startup: How are your investments going?
Michael Adersberger: We start with an introductory session, where we take half an hour to talk with the founders and understand their idea. Then we proceed with a pitch to the Twip team. We've developed a dedicated questionnaire that covers all areas. The next step is a detailed analysis, where we delve deeply into the technical and market-oriented solutions. We also exchange ideas with industry experts. Following this, there is the decisive second pitch event. This is where the final decision is made: Do we invest? Then we move on to the final negotiations. Often, there will be smaller introductory projects beforehand, where we can highlight our added value.
Munich Startup: Which startups have you worked with?
Michael Adersberger: We didn't start from scratch, but were already actively collaborating with startups as MaibornWolff and QAware. On the QAware side, for example, the alliance Syncier is worth mentioning. Another example is the online event platform Magnid, which QAware transformed from a WordPress prototype to a scalable cloud solution with 250,000 users in six months.
Nicolas Olberg: With MaibornWolff, we have worked very successfully with Green City Solutions from Berlin, among others. We had excellent experiences building the startup's development team – in addition to jointly developing the technical solution.
Twip recommends coopetition – also from personal experience
Munich Startup: You've already mentioned that Twip was founded by two companies that are essentially competitors. Are there any lessons learned from this process that you can pass on to startups?
Nicolas Olberg: Of course, MaibornWolff and QAware are competitors in some ways. Nevertheless, we've had a very friendly, close relationship for a long time and exchange ideas on a wide variety of topics across the company. With Twip, we've realized once again that we're much stronger together. And that's exactly what I would recommend to startups. Try to think in terms of partnerships and, where it makes sense, learn from each other and achieve greater effectiveness together – embrace coopetition and find better answers together than alone.
Startups need passion, commitment and self-discipline
Munich Startup: To be successful, a startup must…
Nicolas Olberg: Bring passion and commitment. I'm always particularly impressed by a startup when the team is passionate about its solution and I notice that it can tell a compelling story about why it needs to solve this particular problem.
Michael Adersberger: Truly customer-focused. What always worries me most is when founders pursue their ideas with tunnel vision and think about features, but then lose sight of who they're building the product for. Of course, you need ideas, but you can't give in to every idea; you have to validate what the customer needs. This requires total self-discipline. Really good startups manage this.
Munich Startup: How have you experienced the Munich startup scene so far?
Michael Adersberger: We launched in the middle of the pandemic, when you couldn't really meet anyone. I miss that direct contact, especially when it comes to determining whether things can work on a human level—which is necessary if you want to collaborate and invest. But there were also virtual events that impressed us. One example is the UnternehmerTUM Demo Day, which took place in December. It was fantastic and worked really well.
“The Munich startup scene has always been really welcoming to us”
The Munich and German startup scene in general have always been really welcoming to us and have repeatedly put us in touch with excellent people who have helped us refine our ideas.
Munich Startup: Who can interested startups contact?
Nicolas Olberg: The easiest way is via our website twip.de, via LinkedIn or directly by email (michi@twip.de or nic@twip.de) Just contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!
