Timestamps:

7:18 - Selling your MVP

12:19 - Finding co-founders

16:24 - Not focusing enough on specific markets

27:05 - Scaling too early & stepping down as CEO

37:02 - Employee share programs

About Viktor Calabro:

Viktor Calabro is the founder and former CEO of Coople, Europe's largest digital staffing platform. He previously worked for companies like Trivadis AG and Erlebniskultur GmbH before starting Coople in 2009.

Coople matches flexible workers to short- and long-term assignments in various roles in office, retail, logistics, hospitality, events and hotel. They increase their clients’ revenue by adjusting their team in real-time to match fluctuating demand, and reduce their client’s costs by outsourcing admin and payroll.

One challenge that Viktor had to face during his time at Coople was finding out that they had scaled too early, before actually achieving true product-market fit, and seeing themselves being spread too thin. This, paired with the fact that Victor had been going all-in for Coople for almost a decade and no longer had the energy to meet the needs of his role, made him step down as CEO role in 2018. Nowadays, his focus is on coaching, training, and investing, as well as on spending quality time with his family and friends.

EP #422 - Viktor Calabro: How Coople Became Europe's Largest Digital Staffing Platform