Blinkist Co-Founder & CEO Holger Seim on growing to 21M users, optimizing your information intake, geographic expansion, and experimenting with a 4-day workweek

Holger Seim, co-founder, and CEO of Blinkist, speaks with Michael about how Blinkist emerged out of shifting consumption patterns, where the company may be headed in the future, and how to stay true to your long-term strategic vision while also incorporating the thoughts and ideas of other stakeholders. 

With an entrepreneurial spirit that emerged during his childhood in Germany, Holger’s journey has been guided by his unsatiated love of building things from the ground up. Leaning further into this spirit in college, Holger founded a successful student consultancy with several friends. Upon graduating in 2010, Holger joined T-Mobile, working in the Division of the CEO. 

While he valued his experience and time working close to leadership, the hunger to build his own company drew him to join his college friends in Berlin. Recognizing that they lacked the time they once had as college students to quickly read books in full, Holger and his team founded Blinkist in 2012. 

Founded to make knowledge quick and accessible through short summaries of books, Blinkist was quickly able to capitalize on emerging consumer preference for shorter and mobile-accessible content to become the preeminent company in the space. Taking full advantage of being the first mover, Blinkist has expanded beyond written book summaries to audio and podcast summaries and has grown its user base to over 21 million across the globe while securing $40 million in venture funding. 

Where to find Holger: 

• Linkedin
• Twitter

Mentioned on the episode:

• Paul Graham, venture capitalist
• Markus Witte, Founder & CEO of Babbel
• Elliot Darvick, Head of Regional Marketplace at Workrise
• Nathaniel Manning, Co-founder & COO of Kettle
• Patrick Lencioni, business author
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