Guiding Principles
We condensed our experiences and best practices into six central guiding principles. We apply them throughout all our projects and stick to them — even if our customers try to soften them up. Get to know them in this article.
Bernhard Doll
Business Design Maverick
Dream Big, Act Small:
We aim high but always start with small steps. We learn under real conditions in an iterative development and learning process.Customers First:
We strive to understand the world of our customers (and their customers) — better than they do themselves. Sometimes we focus more on today's world. Sometimes we envision the future of customers.Think Business, Not Product:
We don't rest until we have found a promising Business Model — technology is never enough.Demo or Die:
We don't talk about ideas; we show a "demo" that visualises the value or benefits of the idea. If you can't demo your idea, don't waste others' time.Facts Over Opinions:
Believing in your own opinions on how the future might be is a risky bet. We replace opinions with facts to make better decisions. No facts = no decision.#GOOTFB... stands for "Get Out Of The F*** Building":
New business is never built in workshop rooms. The magic usually happens "on the street" — when you are with customers or in a workshop building prototypes.
Other important principles are:
Action beats intention:
Creating innovation is more about doing than thinking. The best intention to someday find a world-changing idea is great — but building something and improving it passionately and deliberately is way better.Be visual:
Creating something new means dealing with ideas that are hard to imagine. Making the intangible tangible is essential in Business Design.Plan do. Plan do. Plan do:
This is the essence of development and learning processes. We don't plan the perfect business — we build it in iterative cycles.Learn and earn:
In an "agile" world, it is easy to end up in never-ending learning cycles. We strive to earn real money as quickly as possible — which is also good for learning and your discussions with VCs ;-)No bullsh*t:
Hollow phrases and buzzwords are a sign of ignorance. We use language that is clear, decisive and unambiguous.