The European Pirate Summit - Cologne, September 10-11th 2012

16 Feb 2012 // Blog

GruenderBus recently added GruenderJobs to the “GruenderFamily”. Reason enough to speak with CoFounder Fabian-Carlos Guhl, who also attended the EPS ’11, about the new startup, plans for the future and of course the Pirate Summit!

Tell us a bit about you and your background, especially why you consider yourself a pirate!
I’ve always been curious about a range of things and launched a pretty crazy fashion label before I started working in the tech industry in 2010. In 2011 I was asked by investors to build up an early stage internet startup, which failed with a big bang. It was tough, but I learned a lot and it just made me even more hungry. Right now, I’m working on several projects to combine my two passions: Tech startups and “doing good”. This is why I’m working on an innovative mobile app which allows users to save money on the products they buy on a daily basis, while donating a part of it to local charities. I see myself a pirate, because I do what I wanna do.

Please describe your position/tasks at GruenderJobs!
I’m running gruenderjobs.de together with the team of gruenderbus.de I’m currently focussing on the growth of our userbase and spreading the word about Gruenderjobs.

How did your team members found each other?
We are a group of five people and we all met through different paths: University, friends and former colleagues. It’s an awesome, fast moving and powerful team with the goal to celebrate the startup life in Germany and Europe as well as create some sustainable connections.

Many founders collapse under the weight of running one startup! You also carry on a second: GruenderBus – Do you want to keep pace with twitter’s Jack Dorsey or what is your motivation?
All members of the Gruenderbus are either founders or employed in entrepreneurial positions in internet startups. My motivation is intrinsic as it’s the work itself that I am enjoying: growing a network, organizing events and building strategic partnerships on an international level. That makes it easier…

Can we expect another product of the “GruenderFamily” in the near future?
Hell yeah! We are receiving enthusiastic feedback from our participants, partners and the press on a daily basis. That kind of reaction keeps pushing us further. We are on fire and we want to celebrate entrepreneurship. We are already working on some, even more reckless, experiments. 2012 is going to be nuts!

VC money or cadging doubloons from family, friends and fools?
Gruenderbus is an initiative developed out of passion and the will to contribute to entrepreneurship. We are supported by sponsors and don’t have any investors on board.

What is your monetization approach?
We are slowly starting to monetize with gruendersjobs.de through quite a disruptive approach: The newsletter is free for recipients. Companies that want to post an ad, pay per click (cpc) on the job ads. This pricing mechanism is perfect for performance driven startups. We think that the traditional model of recruiting sites is outdated and expensive. As soon as the clicks reach a certain point, all further clicks are free for the startup.

Did the EPS ’11 added value to GruenderJobs – If, how?
The EPS ’11 was the best internet event I attended in 2011. It showed me that large parts of the entrepreneurial scene are driven by passion. I met some amazing people who where very helpful when setting up GruenderJobs.

Your “magic pirate moment” at EPS ’11?
The magic moment was the burning of the copycat man in the end. Even though I’m kind of fed up with the copycat debate, I really felt like being part of a very unique community.

What are your coming steps ’til EPS ’12?
We will be fostering the impact of GruenderBus
and GruenderJobs on an international level.
There is a lot to come! We’ll keep you posted. Arrr!!!