StartUs Presents: Avrios

Describe Avrios in 50 words or less.

Many businesses, like engineering, service or consulting firms need to operate vehicles to install their products or to reach their customers. Managing these vehicles is a big pain and expense. The Avrios platform completely automates data management and cost allocation for these vehicles and thus saves significant costs.

Why did you decide to pursue your own dreams rather than someone else’s?

I’m an entrepreneur.

7 years from now: How did your startup change the world?

Managing a fleet of 15 or 15.000 vehicles will be as easy as managing servers through Amazon Web Services.

In what ways do you measure your success and how do you make sure you don’t lose track?

If customers keep coming, that’s a pretty good sign of success. We use a CRM to keep track.

Describe your typical working day from coming to the office to leaving it.

I’m a morning person, so I get to the office early. I have lately started using my commute time to catch up with old classmates from abroad. That’s the perfect timing for those who live in different time zones. Besides personal things we often end up talking about business. It’s always interesting to hear perspectives of entrepreneurs from other geographies because they often see problems in a very different light. I usually spend the day talking to customers, partners, potential employees and sometimes potential investors. I use the evenings to log everything I’ve done, think about concepts and set priorities for the next day.

Bootstrapped or financed: What fuels your startup now and what will in the future?

Our startup is presently financed by the founders, as well as a couple of angel investors namely Dominik Grolimund, the founder of Wuala and Silp as well as Ankit Gupta, founder of the News platform Pulse (sold to linkedin). We will also surely raise Venture Capital at some point.

With ferocious competition and a booming trend to build new companies: How do you make sure you don’t get lost in the shuffle?

Focus on the customer.

What do you look for in team members?

Commitment, focus and an ability to learn extremely fast. I believe a startup is an organization which simply learns faster than any of the competitors. It is everyone’s job to translate those learnings into actions and product. I guess our feedback cycle is about 12-24x faster than our competitor’s. Being able to strive in this kind of environment requires a special kind of person. In the long run a fast learning organization with a rigorous focus on its customers will win the game.

Why would a talent join your team?

In my opinion, people join startups because they want to learn fast and take important decisions from their first day at work. I see myself as a coach who helps each member of the team grow as a professional and as a person. From my own experience of working at fast growing ventures, I can safely say there’s no faster way to learn.

What was your most memorable moment so far?

For me each and every single time when I can feel a customer getting excited about our product is a thrill. We have an amazing product team which really kicks it.

What advice would you give fellow founders for their startup?

Choose an industry you like, go talk to at least 50 people in this industry about their problems, but come up with your own solution. Then just get going and learn fast.

Are you hiring?

Yes.

_________________

Sharing is caring so please share this post. Thank you!