Munich Startup: What motivated you to start the company?
Gyri Reiersen: For me, founding a company is a means to an end. Climate change is the greatest challenge facing our generation, and I decided to contribute my skills and time to solving this problem. The most impactful thing I could do was remove the structural barriers that prevent industry from decarbonizing—namely, the availability and transparency of data. If I could scale these solutions, every hour I invested would be worth it in the long run.
Saying “no” to things
Munich Startup: What would you have liked to have known before starting your first business?
Gyri Reiersen: As a founder, you have to endure a lot of "tumult" and be vigilant in your time management. You're responsible for making decisions on all topics with little or no information to guide you. You have to enjoy diving into different topics, constantly learning, turning down most requests, and saying "no" to things that steal your time. As Jim Collins says: Consciously productive and disciplined.
Munich Startup: How has your company been financed so far?
Gyri Reiersen: Last autumn, we conducted a Pre-seed financing round 1.7 million euros collected.
Munich Startup: When and where do you get the best ideas?
Gyri Reiersen: I'm often most creative in the evenings, or when I can focus on my own thoughts for a while. I don't always come up with the best ideas on my own, but I believe in collaborative teamwork to weed out mediocre ideas and then build on them to create something better. When we work together, our ideas turn to gold.
Munich Startup: What are your 3 favorite work tools?
Gyri Reiersen: Apart from all communication tools:
- Linear (switched from Jira and I like the user interface)
- Miro/Physical whiteboards to structure things and discuss with others
- Raycast – pretty decent productivity hacker
Be bold and authentic
Munich Startup: Your top tip on pitching?
Gyri Reiersen: Be bold and authentic.
Munich Startup: Does this seem like a good time to start a business? Why?
Gyri Reiersen: There's capital available in the market, and most of us are incredibly privileged in terms of our excellent education and job opportunities. Your personal financial and career risk is therefore relatively low. By starting a business, you put yourself in a position where you're growing significantly every day, but you should only do this if you're sure you can enjoy the whole journey.
Munich Startup: Which technology or industry would you focus on for your next startup?
Gyri Reiersen: Every AI engineer says that good data is the holy grail. I believe Web 3 will change the way we deal with (big) data and how we structure our societies and economies. It may not be accessible to everyone yet, but I would like to work on the topic of decentralized data ownership—from personal health data to reforestation projects.
High notary fees in Munich
Munich Startup: In your opinion, what could be improved at the Munich startup location?
Gyri Reiersen: Munich was my favorite city, the city I wanted to live in, primarily because of its fantastic ecosystem consisting of stakeholders from industry, academia, venture capital, and startup networks. The only downside is the high notary fees.
Munich Startup: Which founder would you like to meet in person? And what would you ask them?
Gyri Reiersen: I would like Lars Rasmussen, the co-founder of Google Maps and former technical advisor to Canva. A fellow Scandinavian with extensive experience in building strong technical organizations, I'm sure his advice would be immensely valuable.
