Celebration of four years of success and much more ahead!
This year 2022, Nexoya turns four years old, and we are so excited to celebrate and share this joy with our readers!
In this post, we dedicated ten questions for Nexoya-founders that will share the insides of the idea, product, execution, and future plans!
1. Tell us how it all began. When you look back at 2018, what were your motivations for starting Nexoya? What were the main drivers?
Marco: We wanted to start a full SaaS & AI startup from scratch, and when we looked into the marketing technology space, we saw how people struggled with data analysis, interpretation, and especially data-driven actionability. That was the moment we realized we’d be in the marketing field with our endeavor – we found „the problem“ to solve.
Manuel: We both previously worked in professional services firms and wanted to build a product rather than provide consulting services. As staunch cloud and “as a service” supporters, it was obvious that we wanted to create a SaaS platform. In addition, since we are fascinated by the power of artificial intelligence, we were eager to develop an AI-based product.
2. Could you share the first success moments where you felt that your idea and hard work were rewarding?
Manuel: A first and important milestone was the financing of our company. We knew we were on a very interesting path, but the fact that we were able to convince many investors and close our first investment round made me very proud. A second very moving moment was when we were able to prove for the first time that our AI-driven engine is able to dramatically improve the performance of cross-channel campaigns.
Marco: We had the idea to help marketers get their data together and become data-driven. In digital marketing, everybody has the data digitally available per definition – but rarely does someone takes this data and makes sense of it. When we showed the first prototypes to people, and they said, „and when can I have that“ we knew we were in something.
3. And what were the moments of pride; Please share with us those moments when you feel the proudest when it comes to Nexoya?
Marco: For me, this was our first team strategy days – where we tried to have everybody in one place working strategically on the challenges of nexoya. And with everybody, I mean everybody – each freelancer was invited on-site. And in short, it was a blast, and I‘m super proud we kept this tradition, and still now, every 4-6 months, we all meet and get the full power of nexoya on the strategic level.
Manuel: I have these moments all the time. Whenever I see how impressively our product works, when I pitch nexoya to people, when we meet and I realize how strong, diverse, and committed our team is.
4. It is lovely to discuss success and joyous moments. Nevertheless, every success means hard work and dedication with ups and downs. Could you tell us about the challenges and struggles you have faced?
Manuel: Building a startup is a roller coaster ride; by its very nature, founders have to go through plenty of dark canyons and cross many chasms. We were particularly lucky to have our low points at different times, so one could always encourage the other.
Marco: We went bankrupt like 2-3x times or so – laughs – obviously not, but it is challenging to build something we built with all the market hurdles and challenges such as COVID or other aspects to hurt startups. And in statistics, only 4% of all startups achieve €1M ARR (annual recurring revenue) after they were funded – so I‘m proud that we‘re coming there very fast 🙂
5. Is there advice you could give to other entrepreneurs?
Marco: If you think about starting a startup – well, stop thinking about it, do it now. Quit your job and dedicate yourself to the problem you want to solve – 3 months in a startup are like one year in the corporate world, and you will not miss the experience.
Manuel: People are everything, especially in the early stages. So choose your partner(s) and employees wisely because they are your most important asset.
6. Where do you see Nexoya going in 5 years?
Marco: Helping performance marketers across Europe manage their marketing portfolio in the most transparent & efficient way possible.
Manuel: I agree; a thriving and prosperous company that adds real value to marketing teams across Europe, perhaps even beyond.
7. How does Nexoya differ from other competitors? What makes Nexoya unique?
Marco: We grew up with large customers such as CSS or Generali, and that’s why our platform is particularly strong in B2B lead generation & eCommerce areas. Most of our competitors start with optimizations on small budgets around €1’000 ad spend. Our platform starts to make sense at €250’000 per year upwards!
Manuel: Besides the unique value proposition, Nexoya is a no-bullshit company willing to add real value. We follow a high work ethic and very open and honest customer relationships.
8. What were the most important accomplishments during these past four years?
Manuel:
- Climbing the rocky road with a lot of stamina
- Building such a great team
- So many happy customers
- Successful expansion to Germany
Marco:
- Start at all. It wasn’t easy to leave a full-time management job and start.
- First hires
- Find the „real“ product-market fit
9. Can you share your thoughts on the digital marketing industry in the future; How do you see digital marketing will evolve in 5 years? Your predictions.
Marco: The upcoming ePrivacy law will shake up the marketing industry in Europe. I believe many things will not be possible anymore, especially in display advertising, such as retargeting, etc. I see this as a chance for marketing to become more privacy concerned and really data-driven. The deep tracking technology has not only benefits for marketing but also lots of negative aspects, and we see this clearly as we only analyze statistics w/o personalized data.
Manuel: The megatrend of online activities will continue, and thus digital marketing will become even more important. Meanwhile, the ecosystem will become more diverse and fragmented. This will massively increase the need for automation and machine-driven efficiency.
10. And last and not least. Please, describe Nexoya in one sentence.
Manuel: A fascinating AI product developed by a brilliant team to improve digital marketing.
Marco: Amazing talented crew helping performance marketers to manage their portfolio with the best AI tech available!
Thank you Marco Hochstrasser and Manuel Dietrich for this interview!
The only way is up!
