Name:
Eric Weisz
Project:
Circly GmbH
Founding date - since when do you work on your idea?
Ende 2019
Founding trigger: How did you get the idea?
While setting up the first company, we came across the problem of food waste in the catering industry. The future co-founders got to know each other at the summer school (hackathon at the FHStP). Here, problem and solution were able to find each other.
Founding moment: How did you know that you wanted to realize your idea?
After the first prototyping, we found that the system was highly reliable and asked potential customers whether they would work with it. The answer was: "It's very accurate" and it was clear to us that we would realize this idea.
Elevator pitch of your project:
Due to a faster society and product life cycles, the ability to plan in production and retail companies is plagued by high deviations. This leads to inaccurate order quantities, overstocks and therefore a high waste of resources such as employees, food and capital. Current AI solutions are expensive, complex and difficult to understand due to the development projects involved. However, Circly is developing a solution with a no-code construction kit that enables even non-experts to create individual AI models and access external data. The results can be taken from the web interface or integrated into existing systems via API. We combine economic efficiency and sustainability in one solution!
Elevator pitch about yourself:
I am originally from Germany and studied business law in Heidelberg. I moved to the beautiful city of Krems an der Donau for my Master's degree in Business Management. While I have always been able to gain experience in great companies, founding my startups was educational, exciting and fun, which is why I wouldn't want to miss it anymore. Now it is my mission to make AI technology scalable and reliable at the same time with my team.
How many of you are in the founding team and how did you come together?
The founding team consists of 3 people and has a strong focus on technology. We got to know each other through the aforementioned hackathon and through a job advertisement on the medium "brutkasten".
University:
FH St. Pölten / IMC FH Krems
How did your university support you when it came to founding and entrepreneurship?
The topic of "Founding & Entrepreneurship" was present for the first time through a workshop at IMC FH Krems called Ideation Playground. Here we developed the idea for the company "Ordito" and were incubated in the FH Incubator: Creative Pre Incubator (CPI). This opened the doors to further programs and support. We are still in contact with other teams, the coaches and the accent Incubator.
Do's: What would you recommend to any founder, or what would you do again?
Just start and take a chance. I have always toyed with the idea of starting something, but the difference was in the doing. There is little to lose and a lot to gain, even if it is "only" a lot of experience.
Don`ts: What would you do differently? What was your biggest learning?
Giving up. As there will be and are many setbacks and sometimes negative feedback from those around you, many people tend to give up. But if you keep looking back, you will learn that you can only move forwards/upwards in the long term.
How to start? - What would you recommend to anyone interested in starting a business?
Don't think twice! Start talking to the stakeholders of your idea, understand the problem better and create a painkiller in the form of an MVP (the M stands for minimum!). Draw it up, create a story or use a PowerPoint to approach your potential customers. Now you are in the middle of your validation and, if necessary, founding.
