With miitya, Johannes F. Woll and Roland Oehen-Kanzow have developed an instant meeting app. We wanted to find out what it's all about with our 7 questions.
1. Who are you and what do you do? Please briefly introduce yourself and your product!
We – Roland Oehen-Kanzow (40, business information systems specialist) and Johannes F. Woll (46, philosopher and work and organizational psychologist) – met over ten years ago at a XING event organized by Jo in Munich. In the summer of 2014, we put our heads together more intensively and developed the idea for miitya. Today, we are a small and diverse (and international!) team passionately building the network of the future. Our technology, miitya, is the first mobile customer management and community building tool that contextually orchestrates people, brands, or media in real time based on location and user interests. This turns a company's portfolio, a publisher's publication, the (employer) brand, membership in a professional association, or an event into social glue. In short: Tinder for business.
2. But that's been around for a long time!
Sure, social networks exist. But they lack location-based services and contextual relevance. There are countless dating apps on the market, but none are professionally focused. Finally, there are countless tools that are either tied to an operating system (Apple's Friend Finder) or membership in a social network (Facebook Friends Nearby). We confidently say: What Google is to searching and WhatsApp is to chatting, we are to meeting people. And that doesn't even exist yet—which, incidentally, doesn't make things any easier for us. In other words: We don't cultivate a market; we still have to prepare one.
3. What has been your biggest challenge so far?
First, things turn out differently, and second, not as expected. Our biggest challenges are actually three:
1) We chose the wrong people. Both when we founded the company and with our technical partners. Today, after almost two years, we have the perfect team.
2) We chose the wrong technology. We wanted it to be fast and hybrid. But our software is deeply embedded in the DNA of the respective operating systems. It requires native development. We're not actually building an app, but rather a highly standardized technology consisting of a core and various modules. We had to learn that the intelligence has to be in the server, the middleware, algorithms, and the databases.
3) We initially pursued the wrong business model: First, acquire users, then acquire investors. We had a functioning prototype very quickly. This surprised many VCs. But we simply didn't have the burden on the system. At the beginning of this year, we completely reorganized ourselves and now speak exclusively with corporates and institutions. Basically, everyone who has what it takes to be Social Glue and who has their own communities. It's just that these communities aren't yet visible and don't reinforce each other. We are putting our energy into further development and sales and no longer into funding. But that also needs to be financed. And as long as strategic partners are more important to us than Money for Equity, bootstrapping is another daily challenge!
“Munich is more personal, more focused and more efficient”
4. Let’s get down to business: How is business going?
Our test version, miitya.com/dl, is running great. We have several hundred users who are actively helping us improve the technology. Some of them are averaging over 10 hours per session. We've been active in B2B sales, which is new to us, for six months now and are having very interesting discussions with major trade fair companies, national associations, trade media and portals, as well as major (employer) brands. We can't reveal anything yet, but our first major projects will be going live soon!
5. What does Munich mean to you?
Munich is our home (Jo) or rather our adopted home (Roland is originally from Lucerne). Munich is the capital of founders, Berlin that of funders ;). This is where things happen. We have a sensational network here (Jo is the founder and moderator of the XING community Munich, which has almost 100,000 members), and we have been supporters of the Bits & Pretzels, strengthen and accompany the Munich Web Week and much more. The Munich VC scene is remarkable. Despite all this, things aren't as loud in Munich as in other hubs, but they're more personal, integrated, focused, and efficient.
6. How can your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we see you soon at Epic Fail Night? Unicorn?
We're not working toward an exit or an IPO. We're focused on the entrepreneurial values we want to build. We're focused on teams we want to give space to. We're focused on innovation and change. The market for location-based services, marketing automation, bots, and smart data is just beginning. And we're getting involved. Today, we enjoy the gold rush more than counting nuggets...
7. Fish on a stick or pork knuckle?
Both. As often as possible. But always depending on quality and season. The best grilled fish can be found in Ammerland on Lake Starnberg at traditional festivals like Roßwoad or the St. John's Day celebrations. For us, pork knuckle is a must for a successful Oktoberfest visit. We recommend the one at Schottenhamel. Whether grilled, smoked, or barbecued, they're all very good! And just the right start to a boozy evening!
