The Enwikuna placement platform is designed to help independent IT specialists and programmers land suitable contracts. It also offers various practical tools for task planning and automated invoicing. We presented our '7 Questions' placed.
Munich Startup: Who are you and what do you do?
Johannes Gmelin: Hi! I'm Johannes (22) from Enwikuna — the placement platform for IT and programming jobs. I'm currently the sole founder, but I receive a lot of support from friends and colleagues with various expertise. I'm a computer scientist by training and completed my apprenticeship at Siemens AG in Munich. After completing my apprenticeship, I moved to a software service provider in Munich, where I've been working for a Munich-based automotive brand ever since.
I came up with the idea of developing Enwikuna when I was looking for a platform to earn some extra money as a computer scientist through odd jobs. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a satisfactory German platform that offered high-quality jobs at fair prices. This is how the idea for Enwikuna was born. The name Enwikuna is a fantasy name and a blend of developer, customer, and user.
Mediation platform and project management tool
Many things were important during the conceptual design phase. These included a focus on a clear and simple design that is easy to use, high-quality orders verified by a specialist employee, and a variety of services designed to make work easier for customers and developers (e.g., a dedicated planning board for tasks, automated invoicing, an NDA service for large and particularly confidential orders, and much more). Most importantly, however, was and remains that Enwikuna is free for developers, as there is no guarantee that suitable orders will be available at all times. Enwikuna is also initially free for customers. Customers only pay once they have found a suitable developer. Creating orders is therefore not tied to immediate payment. Enwikuna is intended not only as a brokerage platform, but also as a project management tool that allows orders to be brokered and executed simultaneously. This is particularly interesting for smaller companies that cannot afford large planning tools such as JIRA and do not want to operate multiple solutions simultaneously.
The main goal of further development is to consider and fulfill the wishes, interests, and concerns of customers and developers in order to make Enwikuna an even better and more customized product. Ultimately, Enwikuna differs in precisely these ways and thus sets itself apart from the competition. However, the chicken-and-egg problem remains: without customers, there are no developers, and vice versa. Since Enwikuna's backlog is very full and constantly growing, Enwikuna expects several new additions from the fields of computer science, business, and marketing soon.
Variety of free features
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Johannes Gmelin: Not to the extent that we mentioned earlier, with so many features and constant development. The fact that Enwikuna provides so many features for developers free of charge also sets us apart from other companies.
Munich Startup: What has been your biggest challenge so far?
Johannes Gmelin: The biggest challenge wasn't the conception, but the founding itself. If you want to found a startup cost-effectively, you're inevitably faced with the task of having to do everything yourself and learn everything.
Of course, there are many providers who will support you along this path, but this ultimately leaves you with less equity. Looking back, however, it wasn't as bad as you initially thought. Of course, there's a fair amount of bureaucracy involved in starting a business, but if you take the necessary time and read through everything carefully, it won't be a problem.
Enwikuna focuses on customers
Munich Startup: Let’s get to the point: How is business going?
Johannes Gmelin: The portal has been live for four months now and has been diligently recruiting developers ever since. The developer community has grown quite large, so we're now focusing on our customers. The feedback has been consistently positive and has already improved the platform in many areas. Several projects have already been announced.
Enwikuna has now even received several investment offers, which is certainly very encouraging. Therefore, the focus is now on finding companies to build a network of customers. This is also the biggest challenge at the moment.
Munich Startup: What does Munich mean to you?
Johannes Gmelin: Munich is simply a beautiful city and also my hometown. The fact that Munich has a strong startup scene also makes it one of the best locations for startups.
Balance between orders and quality
Munich Startup: How can your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we see you soon at Epic Fail Night?
Johannes Gmelin: In the long term, the platform aims to become a complete product for businesses and individuals, thus advancing IT even further. The goal is not volume, but rather a balance between orders and quality. Since IT is constantly changing and growing at an ever-increasing pace, I see a great future for Enwikuna here.
Munich Startup: Fish on a stick or pork knuckle?
Johannes Gmelin: My favorite is a really good knuckle of pork with red cabbage and dumplings — oh yes, and of course, beer is a must.