On Creating A Digital Repoorting Tool [From Copenhagen]
My name is Kenneth Weesgaard. I’m the co-founder of GoSimplo, a company that loves data!
GoSimple is a Venture-backed tech startup based in Copenhagen and we have set out to help project-based companies gain the business insights they deserve.
We specialize in Business Intelligence for SMEs dreaming of a better and more intuitive reporting solution. GoSimplo connects disjointed systems and provides a single source of data with cool visualizations.
Our mission is to deliver the same AI-driven insights to small businesses that large companies gain a competitive advantage from.
We want to democratize intelligent and predictive reporting!
What's your backstory and how did you get into entrepreneurship?
I’ve done all sorts of different things, and that has led me into the position I hold today.
I’ve been in the military, first serving in the Royal Guards, guarding the Queen of Denmark and her many castles.
Following that, I attended the Danish Naval Academy, with aspirations of becoming an officer. Somewhat surprisingly, I discovered through this experience that I didn't like sailing.
At the naval academy, we learned how to lead people, which naturally lent itself to teaching, so I decided to become a teacher in maths, physics, and chemistry. I quickly got a job as a temp teacher which became a full-time position while I studied at night school.
While interesting at first, I could not see myself teaching the same material over and over again, so I decided to change my path once again.
I’ve always liked numbers - the fact that there is always a result that cannot be argued is appealing to me, so I decided to go into finance and ended up with a trainee position at WorkBook.
My experience educating and leading gave me a real edge and I quickly became a senior consultant, which later developed into a managerial role. I managed all consulting deliveries in Europe, leading a team of 11 consultants in Denmark and abroad.
I’ve always had a knack for easily learning and adapting to new things and people - especially in connection to real-life situations and business. My broad experience has helped me adapt and understand the situations of clients etc.
I left WorkBook because I felt like I needed a new challenge so I could keep evolving. So I went on to do some consulting and run a couple of businesses, which taught me a lot about marketing.
I use all of these different experiences with GoSimplo - working with tech and clients, making sure the product is understood, and driving the marketing and sales efforts, among many other things.
In a startup, the stuff you do is extremely diverse, and I love it!
Take us through your entrepreneurial journey. How did you go from day 1 to today?
After leaving WorkBook I did some consulting for companies that were using or implementing WorkBook ERP. I came to talk to my old co-worker and former partner at WorkBook, Thomas Amorøe, and we discussed reporting.
Combined we had worked with more than 100 project-based companies and also experienced internally that reporting was always an issue and that many consultants use Excel for this.
We agreed that surely there should be a better way of doing things. After some research, we simply weren't able to find such a product out there, so we decided to do it ourselves as we knew many companies needed such a solution.
Neither Thomas nor I am developers, so Nick Stenroos-Dam and Martin Puge joined us founded the company in March 2020.
With COVID raging, we all worked remote but we were able to build a product and get paying clients in the same year as we founded the company.
We needed capital to continue and expand to other markets, so we decided to try and raise funding in early 2021. There was a big interest and we had to turn down many potential investors, but we ended up with a great team of investors/advisors that are already proving very beneficial.
Our strong team and support network are ready to take on the world!
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
We have just released our new product, which is our primary focus going forward. We now have two products and clients in 5 countries.
We are ramping up marketing and sales during the rest of 2021 which should give a solid foundation for the beginning of 2022, where we will have many more source systems and hence a larger market to target.
One of our big dreams is to provide SMEs with insights and forecasts leveraging Machine Learning - we will embark on that journey shortly.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
I’ve always been a fan of making simple solutions.
Our product is quite complicated, but GoSimplo’s features are designed to be simple for our customers.
I also use this approach in many other aspects of running a business - often the simplest solution is the best and fastest.
From all my past experiences I learned the importance of doing what you do best and knowing your limitations - get help with the areas you don’t excel.
You work a lot as a founder in a startup, but you also need time to recharge your batteries.
Finding this work/life balance is really important as it’s hard to be productive and effective when working long hours.
So try and be as effective as possible when working, so you can enjoy some time off and recharge.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
We use a lot of tools!
While maybe not the coolest product, emails are essential and we use Microsoft Outlook for that, which works well.
We also use Microsoft Teams for collaboration, but also Slackwithin our agency - both great tools.
I also need to name drop Intercom- there is so much you can do on there, and it’s the best in my opinion.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
I try to absorb information where and whenever possible, so I’ve been through a lot of learning resources.
A book that I based a few of my startup approaches on is ‘The Lean Startup’. Written by Eric Ries, the book taught me a lot about the practices that go into building a startup from scratch.
If you worry too much - think about the worst possible outcome. It’s rarely as bad as you think.
Once I had a better understanding of what I was doing, I started listening to more entrepreneurship podcasts.
I recommend any other business enthusiast to do the same as you will learn so much from listening to the experiences of successful-minded people.
One of my favorite podcasts to date is ‘The Garyvee Audio Experience’. He just has so much passion for the world of business and marketing, I find it infectious.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Just get started!
If you worry too much - think about the worst possible outcome. It’s rarely as bad as you think.
While your idea may reinvent the wheel, you don’t need to reinvent everything else - do as others, use well-known tools and processes and get advice from people with experience.
It’s better to try out stuff and get shit done than to overthink everything and never move forward.
Get started!
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We are currently looking for a Data Scientist and expect to hire another Developer this year.
We will probably look for some Marketing staff and Customer care.
Where can we go to learn more?
We are always looking and happy to welcome more clients, so if you’re interested, check out our website.
Otherwise we are present on all the platforms listed below, so feel free to get in touch:
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
