Munich Startup: What motivated you to start the company?
Ulrike Jehle: Our planning tool, Goat, was developed and developed through several academic projects. While testing the software with various municipalities and consultants, we received such positive feedback that we decided to spin off the tool from academia to practical application. I've always wanted to make a positive contribution to the sustainable design of our cities – and now I can do that with Goat.
Munich Startup: What would you have liked to have known before starting your first business?
Ulrike Jehle: The diverse tasks that come your way. This forces everyone on the team to be a jack of all trades. While I used to work primarily on content-related projects, today I'm responsible for a wide range of different areas, particularly operational management.
City of Freiburg as first major customer
Munich Startup: How has your company been financed so far?
Ulrike Jehle: Through bootstrapping, public funding, and initial customers. Our largest project currently is "Goat 3.0," which is funded over three years by the mFUND innovation grant from the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV). Together with well-known partners such as TUM, MVV, the Institute for Ecological Spatial Development Dresden, and Prof. Schaller UmweltConsult GmbH, we are developing numerous new Goat functions in a co-creative development process with various municipalities, districts, and regions in Germany.
We are also particularly proud of our first major customer, the city of Freiburg, with whom we recently signed the contract (before Marktlauch).
Munich Startup: When and where do you get the best ideas?
Ulrike Jehle: I'm most creative when I'm on the move. Often, new ideas come to me while cycling, either on the way to work or home. It's fitting that at Goat, we're also particularly focused on active mobility infrastructure.
Munich Startup: What are your 3 favorite work tools?
Ulrike Jehle: I love all tools that enable digital collaboration. I use MS Teams the most often, allowing me to communicate with others, organize upcoming tasks, and collaborate on documents. GitHub is the equivalent of this in our software development. The third tool I would mention is QGIS, a very useful open source software that we use to analyze spatial data.
Munich Startup: Your top tip on pitching?
Ulrike Jehle: Practice, practice, practice.
Improving mobility sustainably out of conviction
Munich Startup: Does this seem like a good time to start a business? Why?
Ulrike Jehle: Absolutely! Firstly, there's not much else you can do because of the coronavirus pandemic, and secondly, there's currently a huge shift in policy toward more innovation, digitalization, and sustainability. Accordingly, there are many funding programs, networks, and opportunities for founders in this field.
Munich Startup: Which technology or industry would you focus on for your next startup?
Ulrike Jehle: To be honest, I haven't thought about my "next" startup yet. If I had to give up my current one and start something new, I would probably pursue something in the same direction – out of conviction and passion for sustainably improving mobility. Regarding technology, I would definitely continue to focus on smart, digital solutions! This is the only way we can enable fact-based decisions and a systemic transformation toward sustainable cities.
Munich Startup: In your opinion, what could be improved at the Munich startup location?
Ulrike Jehle: I think it's great what the City of Munich and public networks like Baystartup have already achieved! Through the numerous online events and also the on-site contacts in startup centers like the Munich Urban Colab, where we were just based for 6 months, we were able to build a good local network and benefit from various coaching sessions. In mid-February we will move to WERK1 I'm really looking forward to that. Finding affordable office space isn't easy as a startup. Therefore, I would like to see more affordable startup offices – perhaps even clustered by topic to facilitate ideal networking.
Munich Startup: Which founder would you like to meet in person? And what would you ask them?
Ulrike Jehle: There are two of them. Katja Diehl from 'She Drives Mobility' and Raul Krauthausen, founder of 'Sozihelden'. I find it remarkable how much enthusiasm and charisma both of them are committed to important mobility issues. If the opportunity arises, I would like to discuss current professional topics and present what we are doing at Plan4Better and ask if they could imagine a joint project with us – that would really be a dream.
