The magic triangle of technology, product, and business model — Dr. Arndt Schwaiger
Dr. Arndt Schwaiger’s title at Applied Data Incubator may say he’s the coaching expert for Metrics-based Business Modelling, but for the startups he provides much more than this. Using his experiences as a successful founder and entrepreneur, he applies his knowledge to truly take the data-driven teams to the next level. In this interview, Arndt shares interesting insights and why having ‘been there and done that’, is vital for startups learning and growth. We thank Arndt for his time.
Please briefly explain your role and your company.
I currently have several roles (see my Linkedin profile). I am an entrepreneur and sit on several boards as an advisor and/or investor. I also enjoy working as a coach, mentor, and consultant for startups, scale-ups, SMEs, incubators, accelerators, company builders, as well as international corporations.
How did you come to specialize in your field?
I studied both economics and computer science with a focus on artificial intelligence at university. However, I started developing computer games very early (at the age of 17) and have been interested in software and related business models ever since. Over the years, I have worked for several innovative companies and Co-Founded several start-ups with digital business models. I was so interested in understanding the magic triangle of technology, product, and business model that I decided to coach other teams to help them, but also to learn and identify patterns common to the magic triangle myself. Since 2008, I have coached and advised more than 500 teams, so I’ve learnt a lot!
At Applied Data Incubator you provide important Financial Planning for the startups — what do you enjoy most about this coaching?
I like to show startup teams how to understand their business model as a mechanism that can be modeled with specific metrics. These metrics have an individual impact on business goals such as profitability or rapid growth. I love the moment when teams understand this approach and can integrate their own mechanism into a financial plan. With this kind of metrics-based financial planning, they can play with assumptions to better understand their own business and identify opportunities and risks earlier.
You are a founder and an entrepreneur, so can pass on experiences to the teams, what do you feel they benefit from the most when you share your knowledge?
This varies from team to team. Some benefit from learning about best practice methods and tools, others from knowing how to avoid typical mistakes and how other teams have dealt with specific situations. I feel that I can be particularly authentic and helpful during the coaching sessions because I have experienced many of these situations, both good and bad, myself.
You also specialise in AI — how important is this area for startups?
This depends on the particular problem, technology, product, and associated revenue and business model. In some cases, AI can make products and services much more accurate, efficient, and/or scalable and is therefore one of the main keys to business success. However, in other cases, AI doesn’t make sense and/or isn’t very beneficial. Some startups use AI as a buzzword, but they don’t really need/use AI.
What advice do you give to startups when it comes to creating or amending their digital business model?
Ideally, they understand the underlying business mechanism and the individual key metrics associated with it. Given a business objective such as profitability or rapid growth, they can much better understand which part of the mechanism makes sense and where adjustments need to be made. For example, the impact of the underlying metrics on customer acquisition cost (CAC) and customer lifetime value (CLV) needs to be reviewed and understood.
If you were hosting a dinner party, who would be your dream guests and why?
That’s a difficult question. In general, I love meeting interesting people who are passionate about what they do, whether they are already successful or not. The perfect mix would be successful and charismatic entrepreneurs, but also young passionate co-founders who can benefit from their experiences and stories.
