Interview with Datapine Founder Martin Blumenau
Datapine is a highly scalable SaaS tool that revolutionizes database analysis by making even complex functionalities available to non-technical persons. From the heart of Berlin, we show customers around the world how to make better business decisions faster.
Who is your startup aimed at?
We currently work mainly with web-based SME’s, and we are making some test-runs with enterprise companies to evaluate the fit.
How does your startup stand out against it’s competitors?
Our ease of use and quick implementation really sets us apart from our competitors. With most other tools, you need an IT department to set up the system and BI experts to operate the tool. datapine sets up in minutes and, with our drag and drop tools, everyone on the team, from COO to intern, will be able to analyze data and come away with insights.
Where did the idea for your startup come from?
My co-founder, Jakob, and I were working on a different startup. We were confronted with a lot of decisions based on our company KPI’s, including CLV and product behavior. The underlying data we needed was saved in a database but, since we are not developers ourselves, we could not extract and analyze the data on our own. Instead, we had to engage the IT staff to pull every single KPI and recurring monthly report. The problem of not being able to extract, analyze and visualize data, without involving the IT department, is the problem we are solving with datapine.
Did you have any concerns when starting your business, if so what were they?
Of course. We saw a need, and we started with online market research, but as with any startup we needed to make sure there was a problem out there that we could solve. Once we talked to real companies and saw how their businesses worked, and how we could significantly add value to their daily decision making, we were motivated to dive in.
What is your business background, and what got you interested in startups?
I have a background in consulting and Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch. I founded appropo, a web agency, and was the first hire of startup gigalocal.
How did you initially raise funding for your startup?
Datapine was founded with the incubator Rheingau Founders as a partner. They led the first round of funding, and we currently have raised over $3M.
What has been your greatest achievement with your startup so far?
Seeing how many companies have integrated datapine into their daily business and decision making processes is a great feeling. Knowing that we are solving a problem and helping other companies to be more successful is what pushes us every day to make the product even better. We also, as of September, saw six digit revenue.
How do you keep your business relevant, and engaged with your audience?
Listening to feedback to from customers keeps us relevant. From day one we focused on solving their problems, and we continue to do so. Whether it is adding a new feature, or creating content around our most frequently asked questions, everything we do is about serving our customers.
How long has the your startup been in the making, and who is the team behind the business?
There are three Co-Founders. As I mentioned, I have a background in consulting and investment Banking.
Jakob Rehermann has an investment banking background at Deutsche Bank and strategy consulting at Deloitte. He was also a EIR at Hanse Ventures.
Kenan Deniz is the CTO. He brings strong database skills and software knowledge.
What has been your biggest challenge so far as a startup owner?
Hiring the right people at the right time, and finding the balance between growth/push and patience, is always a challenge.
In the coming year, what would you like to achieve with your startup?
This year we are focusing on entering the US market and increasing the number of large enterprise and Fortune 500 customers. We have recently expanded our staff and hired a US sales team. Our objective is clear: In 5 years datapine is the first choice for small teams around the world when it comes to data visualization software. We will have positioned datapine as part of every business department’s “standard toolkit”, replacing Microsoft Excel when it comes to data discovery, analysis and reporting.
What has been your most valuable lesson so far since starting your business?
The team should be priority number one – Hire people that fit the entire team spirit, have the right attitude and commitment and can show a strong learning curve.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone thinking about starting a business, what would it be?
Take your time to perform deep market research and generate insights in order to make sure you are actually solving a problem and generating value for your customers.
