From University Project to Billion-Dollar Exit: SIGNAVIO - Together As One – with Signavio Co-Founder & CEO Gero Decker

<p>On March 5th, 2021, SAP acquired Signavio for a billion dollars – this marks one of the largest Tech Exits in the German market to date.</p><p>How does a university side project become a billion-dollar acquisition? </p><br><p>In this episode, Gero Decker, co-founder of Signavio, shares the incredible journey of building the company – from its roots as an open-source project to bootstrapping, scaling, and eventually being acquired by SAP for over a billion dollars. </p><p>Learn about the pivotal moments, the role of timing, and how a strong team culture propelled Signavio to success, even when the odds were against them.</p><br><p>What you’ll learn:</p><ul><li>How a university project turned into a profitable company</li><li>Why customer feedback and bootstrapping were critical in the early days</li><li>How creative lead generation methods (like the "Hare Krishna Method") made a difference</li><li>Why team culture and timing played a vital role in success</li><li>How the billion-dollar SAP acquisition unfolded and the dynamics of negotiation</li></ul><p><br></p><p>MORE UNICORN BAKERY:</p><p><a href="https://zez.am/unicornbakery" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://zez.am/unicornbakery</a> </p><br><p>More about Gero Decker:</p><p>LinkedIn: <a href="https://de.linkedin.com/in/gerodecker" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://de.linkedin.com/in/gerodecker</a> </p><p>Website: <a href="https://www.signavio.com/de/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.signavio.com/de/</a> </p><p>Where to get the Book: </p><p>Amazon: <a href="https://links.unicornbakery.de/signavio" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://links.unicornbakery.de/signavio</a></p><p>Spotify Audio Book: <a href="https://links.unicornbakery.de/signavio-audio-book" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://links.unicornbakery.de/signavio-audio-book</a> </p><br><p>Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter:</p><p>Twice a week, you’ll get the tactics of the world’s best founders delivered straight to your inbox.</p><p><a href="https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/</a> </p><br><p>Marker:</p><p>(00:00:00) Why were so many coincidences necessary for Signavio to even be founded?</p><p>(00:05:00) How did the Signavio story unfold?</p><p>(00:12:10) From open source to profitable company: The milestones</p><p>(00:21:22) Equity & founding team: The starting point for Signavio</p><p>(00:27:54) Prioritization & team spirit in a small team</p><p>(00:31:11) Product & growth in 2010</p><p>(00:34:46) Lead generation & the failure of conversion</p><p>(00:42:02) First Go-to-market motion at Signavio</p><p>(00:46:52) First customers: The challenges with Customer Success</p><p>(00:52:42) From bootstrapped to VC case – why now & what changed?</p><p>(00:59:13) Fast-growing company: How do you maintain focus?</p><p>(01:07:54) The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Signavio</p><p>(01:13:04) The Path & Negotiation to the SAP Acquisition </p><p>(01:17:14) The Future of SAP Signavio</p><p>(01:21:37) The Lesson: Lifting Up Each Other</p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

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