We sat down with Friedrich Hubel of Lendico to hear his views on pivoting from B2C to B2B, preparing the team for acquisition and building a sustainable business.
Lendico was founded in December 2013 by the incubator and venture capitalist, Rocket Internet. The team are rethinking financing in Germany by offering companies an easy, fast and good value product. Together with ING, they are helping SMEs realise their full potential by not having to focus on the hassle of raising funds in the traditional way.
What motivates you to come to work everyday?
In 2018 you were acquired by ING. Tell us about that experience.
What motivated you to move from Rocket Internet to Lendico?
Other than to make money, for what reason does Zego exist?
How much of your success would you attribute to good luck?
In 2018 you were acquired by ING. Tell us about that experience.
What motivated you to move from Rocket Internet to Lendico?
How did you prepare the company for sustainable growth?
Last year you switched roles, from CEO to Executive Chairman...
What has the take up been like in the EU?
If you could have a conversation with your former self, what would you say?
Tell us about the rebrand.
If you could have a conversation with your former self, what would you say?
Tell us about the pivot from your earlier product.
What motivated you to start your own business?
How much market share do you plan to capture?
Why does Plentific exist?
When and why did you decide to fundraise?
Tell us about one risk that paid off and one that didn't?
“Communicating hard evidence and being confident in our decision to pivot has helped us to scale successfully”.
“Growth itself is a challenge that needs to be addressed at every step. Everything we learned would work for us as a team of 20 didn't work once we were 40. And everything that worked when we were 40 did not work once we were 80”.
“We focus a lot on culture, trying to make sure we’ve got the right balance of transparency and team work. That means we think less about ping-pong tables and more around things like a mental health programme for the whole company”.
“Communicating hard evidence and being confident in our decision to pivot has helped us to scale successfully”.
“As a software engineer I was missing the bigger picture. I wanted to be at the intersection of business, technology and creativity".
“If we’d been stuck doing what we were doing, unwilling to make changes, then we would have missed opportunities that were better than what we started out with".
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“We want to build a global company. It’s the only goal we have. We're in London because there's better access to (B2B SaaS/ specialist) talent here".
"People say it’s 20% inspiration, 80% perspiration. You have to be out there to find the lucky breaks and opportunities".
"I wanted to get back to the product getting to market, to see people enjoying and imagining the next big thing. So, I jumped".
“The real reason Lendico exists is to change SME financing. Our users can access a simple and fast product that delivers value. Delivering value leads to success thereby a sustainable business model that allows us to support more SMEs".
“We exist to serve micro-entrepreneurs and build a sustainable business ourselves. I think that every entrepreneur wants to make the world a little bit better. So we set out to serve a market that was previously underserved and help entrepreneurs fulfil their potential”.
“One of Zego’s values is that if it’s important then it’s important enough to be challenged. That’s something that I think has helped us a huge amount over the last couple of years, just constantly challenging, iterating it and striving to be the best”.
“Crowdfunding is a component of what we do, but ultimately we want to be a full-service marketplace for big and small investors, so that people are able to invest in the business as they like".
“When you want to disrupt an industry you cannot talk as though you are the same kind of creature.“
“I recognised that if I didn’t give up control we wouldn’t grow. The only way to scale is to give others more responsibility".
"At first we did not have any plans to go international. The focus was on finding clients and securing sales. We got a lot of nos but we kept going and all of a sudden it took off".
"I wanted to get back to the product getting to market, to see people enjoying and imagining the next big thing. So, I jumped".
"I’ve been in the insurance sector for my whole career; I became tired of ghastly experiences customers were having and in the end, I thought it’s probably about time to do something about it".
