Flunder of the month: TortenGlück

20.03.2019 Daniela Musial-Lemberg Founder of the month

Not yet founded, but already winners! Our founders of the month March are TortenGlück, the winners of GROW, the founder competition of the student group PionierGarage at KIT. The business idea: Hobby confectioners can compose their desired cake online and have the ingredients delivered at the click of a mouse. We interviewed the founders about the idea, the founding period, and the future prospects.

What does your company stand for?

With MARA, we help companies better understand consumers by automatically evaluating vast amounts of customer feedback. With the help of deep learning, we analyze online customer reviews, for example, and derive deep insights into the topics that move consumers.

In addition, as a team we stand for open interaction with each other, a strong desire to learn – something you do automatically every day when you start up – and the will to build a company where everyone feels comfortable.

Where and how did you come up with the bright idea to found the company?

Our foundation is essentially based on Tobias’ dissertation. During his doctoral process and even directly in his defense, the point kept coming up that you could “make something out of it”. However, Tobias first joined a top tier strategy consulting firm as a data science consultant right after his doctorate, and that’s where he met Ingo. About one and a half years after Tobias, Max completed his doctorate at the same chair – that’s how the two of them knew each other – and with the support of our joint PhD supervisor and the KIT, we applied for the Exist-Gründerstipendium and were accepted. Now, since April 2020, we are in the process of turning Tobias’ prototypes from the dissertation into a product, have already come quite far on this path and have been able to win our first customers.

How did the founding team come together?

A few days after the aforementioned VWL lecture, I became aware of the start-up competition GROW of the PionierGarage. Over a period of 11 weeks, the progress of the participating start-ups is evaluated and supported by a supporting program of various workshops on topics such as business model or financing. The competition opened with a kick-off where people got the chance to pitch their idea and find co-founders. At this event Tobi and Patrick joined the team. Later we were joined by Katharina, who we got to know through quite a few corners. As a trained pastry chef, she makes our team complete.

What do you see as the advantages of being your own boss?

The biggest advantage is certainly that we can work daily on a project that we are passionate about. Being able to pursue your passion is really a great gift and motivates us to keep going.

What quality should you bring with you as a founder?

On the one hand, the love and belief in the product, the team and the idea is a prerequisite for motivating yourself again and again. On the other hand, every start-up needs a lot of stamina, because there are many obstacles to jump over to get a little closer to the goal.

Where do you see the hurdles on the way to a successful company? Where did you get support?

One of the biggest hurdles is food law, but the PionierGarage offers an excellent network of experienced founders who are always willing to share their experiences. But also by winning the start-up competition GROW, we met many people who support us and believe in TortenGlück together with us.

How did you deal with the increased workload during the start-up phase?

Since we are all still studying or doing an apprenticeship, division of labor is the crucial keyword. This way, you can compensate well when time becomes a bit tighter due to the exam phase. But of course, priorities are also set and certain things are put on the back burner for the time being.

Do you have any tips for other young entrepreneurs?

Don’t be afraid to tell other people about your idea. Through constructive feedback, you can adapt your idea and get many good suggestions and maybe even one or two good contacts. But mistakes are also part of it. Then it means that you look at what the problem was and try to make a different mistake next time. So, just start and see where the journey takes you!

“Coaching for all” is the unofficial motto of evoach, our founder of the month.

Info:

Company:TortenGlück
Founders: Elisabeth Goebel, Tobias Budig, Patrick Theobalt, Katharina Kaiser
Foundation: still pending
Homepage: www.torten-glück.de
E-mail contact: contact@tortenglueck.org
Branch:Food/ e-commerce (consumer and durable goods)

Image source: TortenGlück/PionierGarage e.V.

Flunder of the month: TortenGlück

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