From corporations to startups: a first-hand report
Did you know that 1,6 million small and medium-sized companies in Germany want to invest in digitisation but don’t know where to start and what to do? We help these companies to quickly develop a digital agenda and to find the external expertise they need, with a platform.
To make this vision a reality, we gave up our careers at large corporations such as Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Bitkom — which resulted in numerous changes and a break with previous habits:
First of all, as we start out with small financial funds, we ignore the well-known corporate paths and restrictive rules and instead follow the Lean Startup Method. This means that we start with little more than assumptions and test them step by step. The cliché of two friends working on the new, big business idea with their laptops in the former child’s room of their parents’ house is therefore quite close to reality.
In order to be able to grow quickly in a short period of time, flexibility is extremely important to us. The classic corporate model of searching for the perfect business location for many years is neither necessary nor beneficial. The start at APX is therefore ideal: we start with one table and 4 chairs and share the conference rooms and kitchen. Our young start-up thus saves money, the infrastructure for productive work is already in place and the leases are flexible so that it can move quickly and easily if it expands.
In addition, there is the often mocked equipment: the ping-pong table in the lounge, armchairs for relaxing and a coffee bar for refreshments in between. In fact, all these things are not just fun games: they turn the office into a second home! We feel good in an environment with many creative, purposeful and achievement-oriented humans — as well as an office dog -, which promotes the own attitude massively positively.
Even though more and more established, traditional companies are copying this approach, the big differences prevail. In addition to those already mentioned, another important factor is the different working approach. Agile and fast acting start-up teams stand in extreme contrast to strict hierarchical orders, which paralyse and slow down processes.
The sheer endless number of meetings that are far too long also hampers corporate productivity. Of course, we still have meetings. With potential partners, developers, IT pros, etc., we have a lot to talk about. But these meetings are much rarer, most things are discussed quickly in between or — above all — on various online tools and chats such as Asana, Trello, GSuite and Co. This means more time for the actual work and less time-consuming meetings.
From the very beginning, we also try to avoid the long decision paths and elaborate bureaucratic processes that are common in corporate groups — without becoming unprofessional and chaotic. “Just do it” is not an option. It is crucial to define how certain tasks are to be handled and completed and to carefully document all tasks and results. If not, new employees or co-workers who take over other areas will have to start all over again!
So there’s at least one thing that startups can learn from corporations! Who would have thought that!
