“The only way to find out how something goes down is by testing, failing and winning” with Dustin Fontaine, founder of Sternglas

Many people, including myself, think it is smart to make estimates about customer behavior and the future. But that’s not possible. The only way to find out how something goes down is by testing, failing and winning. A brand or product only becomes perfect when it is adapted to customer feedback.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Dustin Fontaine. Dustin founded the Hamburg-based Watch Label Sternglas in 2016. The design of the young brand is characterized by simplicity and elegance in the Bauhaus style and distributes quartz watches as well as high-quality automatic watches at affordable prices.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I developed my first interest in watches when I worked for a watch brand when I was 16 years old. I loved it and got on the nerves of all my friends at that time with the subject of watches and their production. It was then that I first thought about starting my own watch brand and since then I have never been able to let go of the idea. But it wasn’t until 2011 that I really considered it. At that time, however, it failed because of my perfectionism and my fear of making the wrong decision. Until I finally took the step and founded the company, it took me another 4 years.

Can you share your story of Grit and Success? First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?

When I started, I was a web designer, but I didn’t have a clue about online marketing and I didn’t realize how important it was to get quality traffic onto the website. If you don’t do marketing, nothing happens. I had to learn that in the beginning, of course, but now I can benefit from this experience.

Another example was the discovery of the sapphire glass that we use today for all our watches. In the beginning, with the very first batch, I chose mineral glass and had to painfully determine that it almost always broke due to a faulty construction. This led me to choose the best available watch glass to compensate our customers and create a durable and quality product for the future.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

I just know pure persistence is a big help. I keep the vision in my head, imagine the desired state and stubbornly approach it, while I block out everything negative. Because only in crisis do you learn what really matters.

So, how are things going today? How did Grit lead to your eventual success?

No matter how hard it is, I emerge stronger and can take the important steps for the future. Example: sales are going down, what do I do? If I learn during and from this situation, I take something indispensable for the future from it, for example how I can increase sales even further in good times and then perhaps even make higher sales. So actually I would say, Grit can always lead to success — it depends how you use it.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

We understand how important marketing and reach are and are constantly working to improve. What makes us unique, however, is the decision to leave out everything unnecessary and search for the right design and features until there is only what people really want. We let ourselves be guided by customer interest and look very closely at what customers want. Not everyone does that.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

When you start your business, keep your luggage small. Start with a lean infrastructure. It can lead to extreme pressure to have to downsize. Besides, differentiation is important. You have to take negative criticism seriously, but not personally. The more haters you get, the more successful you are as a brand. We don’t feel like arguing with anyone, but some things just come from the outside. Let everything that distracts you bounce off you, or imagine you are a lotus leaf from which everything that disturbs simply slips off. Do the right things, don’t waste your time with unimportant things. Keep the balance between delegating and keeping the overview.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

There are so many! Every single person who works at STERNGLAS makes us better. My girlfriend always supported me, no matter what, and always helped when I needed it, without asking for anything. There was my partner in my first office, which I shared at the beginning with another online shop, who always inspired and pushed me. He asked clear questions to show me where I should have acted instead of pondering.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I have learned over time that my ambition to build a good product that lasts is the most important thing to be sustainable. I don’t do greenwashing and find it extremely dishonest for companies to do so. For me, the longevity of our watches is the most sustainable thing that can be done. A Sternglas watch is durable, consists of good materials, can be repaired easily and has a high quality finish. Sternglas watches have no built-in obsolescence. Basically we try to work as resource-saving as possible, that is our mission. This is how we set ourselves apart from many other companies that are looking for fast sales figures, and it allows us to set an example for many others.

5 things I wish someone told me before I started my company

1. Don’t kill anyone’s ambition.

People are always ambivalent, we are never 100% sure what to do. It’s not easy to always keep your mood and ambition — that’s why you shouldn’t badmouth other people’s business ideas.

2. Rome wasn't been built in a day.

Things take time. I love to seed things and watch them grow. Give your business time to develop.

3. Learn how to market your product.

I had to learn a lot about marketing here. I know this is a super boring piece of advice, but you have to put all your efforts into marketing your product. How to win customers, which channels do you use to reach your customers? A nice shop and a good product is completely irrelevant in view of the fact that a customer cannot find you.

4. You only learn through experiences.

Many people, including myself, think it is smart to make estimates about customer behavior and the future. But that’s not possible. The only way to find out how something goes down is by testing, failing and winning. A brand or product only becomes perfect when it is adapted to customer feedback.

5. Make it simple.

My most important advice. I didn’t understand at the beginning that the brain has to be reprogrammed, from fears & musings to productive success thinking. Today there is much more content on such topics, for example podcasts, Youtube, etc. Take advantage of that. Complex products and processes, dependence on problematic or unreliable partners take all your energy and ambition away from you. Make it easy for yourself and use simple tools to run your business. Instead of implementing expensive and complicated software into your business, use Excel and other easy-to-use programs that everyone understands. This saves time and reduces the error rate.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting?

I didn’t hire people and I did it all by myself. So I packed parcels and worked for hours every morning in customer service. In the end, I wasn’t even able to manage the further development of the company. Hiring people would have helped me grow faster and focus on what was important.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Development aid is great, teaching reading and writing in developing countries is nice, but what about vocational training? You have to give people the opportunity to play a role on the world market and to impart knowledge that enables them to provide a service at eye level. Specifically, I would have IT outsourcing jobs in mind — incredible how much potential and how many smart people there are in the world, and we have so much to do. Even independently of the world market, you can work independently from home, provided you have an Internet connection, without always being directly dependent on the local job situation.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

We have a Facebook page and of course Instagram, where you can view our models on different wrists. You can also find me on LinkedIn.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!