King Jimdo

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Fridtjof Detzner

Product Development and Design

 

Fridtjof and Christian started their first company, dream-up.de, while they were still in school. Fridtjof went on to found another company with Christian and Matthias, which evolved into Jimdo in 2007. When Fridtjof is not in the office, he likes to mountain bike in the Alps, kite surf, and dream up other extremely frightening things he can try. 

 

 

◆Occupation

 

I co-founded a software company with two friends. We built an online tool that allows everyone to create beautiful and professional websites, and easily keep them up to date. It all started at old farmhouse where I used to live, and now Jimdo has grown to a company of 180 people with four offices worldwide.   

 

◆What was your childhood dream?

 

I am not quite sure if I ever really had one. As a matter of fact, I never asked myself what I should do because I started my own business when I was 16 (though I finished school at 18).

 

◆Is there anything you do as part of your daily routine?

 

I try to do sport on a daily basis. Most days I walk to the office in order to get ready for the day. While walking I try to reflect on the things I have to work on. I find this time very useful, as I come up with lots of ideas. I always ask myself: "What's the most important thing I have to get done today?"

 

◆Who is the person or what is the book that inspires you and supports you?

 

There are many great people out there that inspire me. But I'm trying to write my own story and not copy someone else's.

 

◆ What are your favorite words?

 

Wind, water, air, and time.

 

◆When was the turning point of your life and what was it?

 

Looking back, it was the day Jimdo became profitable. It's then that I had the proof that our thoughts made sense, and that the business we created was working.

 

 

◆How did you overcome the obstacles of problems and trials?

 

Oh, hell yeah. Looking back there were so many. There were times at the beginning where we set specific goals for our business and told ourselves that if we didn't reach those goals we'd close down the business. We failed five times, but we kept on going anyway, believing that we'd be able to make it somehow. Buying back 30% stake from a major investor was also hard, but incredibly important to us. (http://www.3founders.com/2012/08/21/when-the-going-gets-tough/).

 

◆What is your dream?

 

Doing what I am doing at the moment. I am living the dream.

 

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http://jp.jimdo.com/about-1/