On March 5th, 2021, SAP acquired Signavio for a billion dollars – this marks one of the largest Tech Exits in the German market to date.
How does a university side project become a billion-dollar acquisition?
In this episode, Gero Decker, co-founder of Signavio, shares the incredible journey of building the company – from its roots as an open-source project to bootstrapping, scaling, and eventually being acquired by SAP for over a billion dollars.
Learn about the pivotal moments, the role of timing, and how a strong team culture propelled Signavio to success, even when the odds were against them.
What you’ll learn:
- How a university project turned into a profitable company
- Why customer feedback and bootstrapping were critical in the early days
- How creative lead generation methods (like the "Hare Krishna Method") made a difference
- Why team culture and timing played a vital role in success
- How the billion-dollar SAP acquisition unfolded and the dynamics of negotiation
MORE UNICORN BAKERY:
https://zez.am/unicornbakery
More about Gero Decker:
LinkedIn: https://de.linkedin.com/in/gerodecker
Website: https://www.signavio.com/de/
Where to get the Book:
Amazon: https://links.unicornbakery.de/signavio
Spotify Audio Book: https://links.unicornbakery.de/signavio-audio-book
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Marker:
(00:00:00) Why were so many coincidences necessary for Signavio to even be founded?
(00:05:00) How did the Signavio story unfold?
(00:12:10) From open source to profitable company: The milestones
(00:21:22) Equity & founding team: The starting point for Signavio
(00:27:54) Prioritization & team spirit in a small team
(00:31:11) Product & growth in 2010
(00:34:46) Lead generation & the failure of conversion
(00:42:02) First Go-to-market motion at Signavio
(00:46:52) First customers: The challenges with Customer Success
(00:52:42) From bootstrapped to VC case – why now & what changed?
(00:59:13) Fast-growing company: How do you maintain focus?
(01:07:54) The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Signavio
(01:13:04) The Path & Negotiation to the SAP Acquisition
(01:17:14) The Future of SAP Signavio
(01:21:37) The Lesson: Lifting Up Each Other
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