Congratulations on the 4th anniversary of NODE Robotics! Reflecting on the past four years, how do you feel the company has evolved since its inception?
Thank you! I’m very proud of making it to this point, as most startups fail around year 2/3. We made it from a very small team to a real company with great employees, customers, and sometimes almost a “daily business.”
Back then, you said, "NODE combines three decisive aspects to be successful on the market..." Do you feel those aspects still hold today?
Yes, definitely. We even brought up a fourth aspect: the great initial position we found ourselves in 4 years ago helped us to accelerate our business. With more than 1.100 deployed licenses and the respective number of mobile robots in the field and the data that comes with it, we can improve exponentially and start winning relevant market shares.
You also advised other founders to "find a team that you feel comfortable with, and that complements each other." How has your team dynamic contributed to NODE's success?
I feel that it was an important decision to extend the founder team by two additional C-level members: Philipp as Chief Robotics Officer and Ali as Chief Sales Officer. This allowed for a stricter focus and, therefore, more thoughtful solutions. Continuous discussions made room for a more structured approach to company-internal communications and decision-making.
What have been some of the significant challenges NODE Robotics has faced, and how did you overcome them?
As a tier 2 supplier in the automation industry, the company is very directly linked to overall macroeconomic effects and crises. During the company’s incorporation, we were confronted with COVID lockdowns, which didn’t help the necessary on-site integration and testing of our software. Just after that, chip crises hit hard as our customers weren’t building the amounts of robots they planned for. Lately, we have been confronted with dips in the economy, commercial war, and real war. “There’s always something” – the constant hurdles aggravating circumstances have become our normal. Close alignment in the team and with your customers and shareholders has helped us out of every tough situation so far.
In your previous interview, you expressed a desire to offer NODE employees "the best possible working and improvement conditions." Do you feel you've achieved that goal?
I’m happy with the overall culture of learning and knowledge sharing we established. Loads and loads of team events helped to build friendships inside the team, which I personally think is a great thing. As we don’t have our own office space yet, we haven’t harvested the full potential of a fulfilling office life yet – but it won’t take long anymore until we open our own office.
Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for NODE Robotics in the next few years?
Go big and international. I want to ramp up the company to one of Germany’s largest robotics teams with international traction and impact that is recognized for its cutting-edge software products.
Finally, based on your experiences over the past four years, what updated advice would you give to aspiring founders today?
Find some people you trust and try building your own company. It’s a great, fun, terrifying and rewarding experience. When you do that, find a way to maintain some kind of personal life outside of the company. This helps to not have to make it a sprint at full pace but a marathon at full pace.
