The Viennese startup Smart Assistant is probably one of the biggest domestic success stories, which are far too rarely told. The company, which was founded by students in 2006, has meanwhile become an international company headquartered in London under the name Zoovu. With a growth rate of over 100 percent, co-founder and CEO Markus Linder decided to give up the company’s leadership and withdraw, as he reveals in a conversation with trending topics.
From 100 to 1,000 employees with Rob Mullen
It had reached the point of “bringing a company from 100 to 1,000 employees”, explains Linder, who founded Smartassistant more than ten years ago together with Martin Schliefnig, Christian Weiss (retired in 2014) and Svetlana Hollerer , For this next step in corporate development, Zoovu is now bringing an experienced CEO on board, Rob Mullen.
The Briton, who has worked long in the US, came over a headhunter to the original Austrian scale-up. Mullen himself is the founder of British blockchain startup Clearmatics, has worked for private equity firm Francisco Partners and has “a long track record in the growth of SaaS business,” as Linder points out. “He also has two IPOs with a combined market capitalization of over $ 2.5 billion.”
Whether Zoovu now also an IPO stand up? The co-founder, who claims to be involved in the double-digit percentage range, remains dare in the answer. He does not want to give the company good advice “from the Founder’s Balcony”. Co-founder Martin Schliefnig, who also remains operationally active and takes over the R & D agendas, takes his seat on the board.
Help other startups and maybe start again
Linder himself is now on vacation. For about a year he has planned for his break, in which he wants to spend a lot of time with his family. What comes next is not certain yet. But he could well imagine rebuilding: “I personally had a lot of fun developing a vision and inspiring people for it.” There are still many challenges that would scream for solutions. “When the right idea comes, I can well imagine doing it again: this stress and this wild life”.
Anyway, the fix is that Linder wants to help other startups in their early stages. “There are now more startups and I often get intros. It’s getting around that I’m back in the country, “says the entrepreneur, but he has not yet accepted concrete projects as a business angel.