„SWEET & SOUR“ #6:
GALACTIFY
HOW TO START YOUR BUSINESS & AND HOW TO NOT START YOUR BUSINESS
Starting your own business can be the best and worst thing happening to you. Potentially even at the same time. „Sweet & Sour“ is a series about Wayra start-ups. Learn from other’s mistakes. Benefit from their experience.
Meet: Max, founder of Galactify, a software that helps engineers to save time and frustration by better understanding complex projects in a visual way.
Galactify is a software that helps engineers to save time and frustration by better understanding complex projects in a visual way.
Max, why did you start your own business and what has been your biggest challenge so far?
I think creating a startup requires a certain personality. I always liked the idea to build my own business, I didn’t want to work for a goal that wasn’t my own. Before founding Galactify I worked as a Freelancer and I loved being able to manage myself, my time and the way I work.
Secondly, I think it’s strongly based on my drive to be creative. I like building new stuff that helps others. I guess “inventor” would be a job description I could identify most, but founder is as close as it can get nowadays.
And of course, I had an idea that I thought was worth realizing. It would have haunted me forever if I hadn’t set about trying to make it come true. And exactly this idealism about my idea was my biggest challenge, because as a founder, it’s dangerous to be too focused on your solution. “Fall in love with the problem, not the solution” is an advice I often heard and it took me a while to accept it and change my thinking accordingly.
What’s your personal advice for starting a business?
Another advice I heard very often: “Understand your customer”. That means: Don’t take the picture of the startup built in a garage too literally. You have to go out, talk to people and most importantly: listen to them. Find out which problems they really have.
What’s the most annoying advice you get over and over again?
Because startups are always built on uncertainty, it’s good to listen to others who already made the journey. There’s a lot of advice you don’t want to hear as a founder. I think the advice “Fall in love with the problem, not the solution” annoyed me most and yet had the biggest impact, that’s why it’s probably the first annoying advice I would give myself.
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Galactify is currently searching for interview-partners from various industries to validate their problem solution fit. Currently they are still looking very broadly: So if you have worked in a project with more than 10 stakeholders involved and want to help a start-up or know someone who wants to help: Get in touch with Max and Gregor on Instagram, LinkedIn or find more information on their Website.
P.S.: The best preparation for an interview is no preparation, they tell you what they do afterwards anyway!
