Startup Founder: Daniel Gebler, Picnic
Startup Grind Amsterdam
The Startup Founder series is about sharing the stories of founders in Amsterdam. It’s about the ups and downs, the beginnings, the milestones, the lessons learned and everything in between during the entrepreneurial journey.
Every month the Startup Grind Amsterdam community gathers for a networking event and invites an entrepreneur from the Amsterdam startup scene for a fireside chat. This month, Startup Grind Amsterdam will have the pleasure of speaking to Daniel Gebler, CTO at Picnic on the 24th of April.
This short article is a compilation of excerpts from the actual interview article with Daniel. Stay tuned for the whole piece which will be posted later this week.
Hey Dan! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I grew up in Germany, fell in love early on with technology and got excited about its impact to business and society. After spending some time on the hardware side, etching wiring boards and assembling computers from scratch, I got enthused by the software and media side and had a great time in the demo scene of the 90s.
PICNIC
Can you explain what Picnic is and how it works?
Picnic is a new online supermarket that delivers groceries for the lowest price possible to people’s homes, without delivery costs. Picnic is the most sustainable supermarket with 100% electrical delivery vans and no food waste.
You benefit from a huge range of products at your fingertips, with lowest price guarantee and free next day delivery. The Picnic App saves you time and money, and removes the hassle of carrying your weekly goods home from the store.
Why do you think Picnic became the success it is today?
Clear vision, relentless focus and continuous progress. Living these principles day in and day out, allows you to learn exponentially faster. Combined with a strong team, it is only a matter of time until you find that hidden convexity.
STARTUP
How much should a startup take their customers’ feedback into account while building their company in the early days?
Customer feedback is the most essential feedback to achieve product-market fit.
Even if you have just a small set of customers, take every single piece of feedback into account and understand why somebody gets excited or why he or she is not happy with your product.
Besides that, you should always blend this feedback with your own vision about how you wanna serve your customers in the long run.
INSPIRATION
Do you have any habits or beliefs that have helped you significantly throughout the years to reach this level of success?
Let me keep it simple: Work hard, play hard. Embrace the future, but don’t forget your roots. And finally, reserve time for reading and thinking since these activities have the highest compounding impact on your future business.
Every month Startup Grind Amsterdam organizes an evening during which people gather to listen to an Amsterdam-based startup founder talk about his entrepreneurial journey and to network with one another.
Don’t miss the upcoming SG Amsterdam event on the 24th of April, 2018 with special guest Daniel Gebler, CTO at Picnic. To find out more about the event, the guest speaker and to get your ticket, click here. Come say hi — we’ll see you there! ;)
