StartUs Presents: LINKILIKE

Describe LINKILIKE in 50 words or less.

LINKILIKE is a tool for social content distribution. We distribute videos, pictures & apps via our influencer crowd.

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

We decided to be entrepreneurs because it represents freedom and a way of having a more direct impact to create solutions. Miro, our CTO, and me were working for a bigger company and we learnt a lot about processes and how to do business. Nevertheless in bigger companies it is difficult to realize your dream as the organization is run under a certain framework in which it can be difficult to implement the ideas you have.

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

LINKILIKE will be the European market leader for content distribution. Every content or marketing campaign will use our influencer crowd to distribute videos, apps and weblinks in order to gain reach and engagement. We will be the biggest influencer crowd with the best data quality.

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

About 50% of my time I am actually out of the office visiting clients. A normal day starts at 7.30am with a cup of coffee and checking the analytics of our running influencer campaigns. The rest of the day is flexible: meetings with the team, brainstorming, phone calls, Skype chats and so on. A short lunch in the fish-store right beside our office is being followed by a table soccer match to free the mind. We are not the kind of team who stays in the office until 10pm every day – of course we would do so if it was necessary. But nevertheless we are hard working and also want to have fun outside of the company with our families.

Already pivoted? Did customers use the service like you imagined it in the beginning?

Yes, and this is making me a bit proud: The service we designed in the beginning is still working as it is supposed to. Of course we made some changes and improvements – quite a lot actually – but the basic idea we had is still the core of our business.

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

Happy clients! The most important indication for us, is that our clients use our service multiple times and that the number of clients base is constantly growing. Whenever we develop new features we do to offer better services for our clients and increase our value to them.

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

A bit of both. We – the founders – have some years of experience and a good sense for realism. We started the company in its first versions using our own money and work power plus some funding we got from the Austrian state – in 2014 we got a 6-digit investment for expansion. We expect to reach our break-even point in the beginning of 2016. We are not seeking for more funding now as we will grow our company organically.

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

Actually we see that there is a lot of competition. There are plenty of contests, startup-battles or even TV-shows competitions. We are convinced that the best way to be successful is to have a hard working team that is having fun together and is following the goal to being successful – as a team.

What do you look for in team members?

We are looking for people who fit into our existing team well and are eager to learn new things every day. We need reliable, realistic people with a good sense of humor and excellent table-soccer skills – but that too can be learned 😉

Why would a talent join your team?

Because we know what we do. We are not developing a dream anymore, we are developing an actual company that is serving the European Champions-League of clients, such as BAYER, SKY and Remington among others.

What was your most memorable moment so far?

Probably the first christmas celebration with the team, it was when I realized that these people love to work for LINKILIKE and that they are the best people to move the idea farther.

What advice would you give fellow founders for their startup?

Listen to the market! The best idea is not worth a cent if nobody is willing to pay for your service or product. Talk to people – talk to specialists and see your startup as a process rather than a product. Don’t waste your energy on dreaming about an “exit” every day – if your startup is successful and you are willing to sell the exit will come by itself.

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