HackFwd for Lars Hinrichs

Email this case study to a friend

Friend's email

Your Name

Your Email

Subject

Message HackFwd Lars Hinrichs is an Internet icon. XING, the company he co-founded in 2003, was the first Web 2.0 business to go public in Europe, and it now ranks among the world’s most popular social-networking sites for professionals. In 2008, the Startups Initiative named Hinrichs as the most important Web entrepreneur in Germany. In 2009, the World Economic Forum recognized him as a Young Global Leader. The same year Hinrichs — who calls himself a “serial entrepreneur” — stepped down as CEO of XING to pursue new projects. He came up with the idea for an early-stage, pre-seed, evergreen (no fixed funding cycle) investment company for top technology talent across Europe. His vision: free the best developers and coders from their day jobs and help them build their own game-changing companies. Hinrichs asked IDEO to help turn his vision into reality. Together, they set out to design the business from scratch. IDEO immediately assigned a European-led global team to the project, which began with interviews of developers and coders throughout the U.S. and Europe, to understand what they wanted and needed most. Their input provided valuable insights into how to build a truly revolutionary company. Working with Hinrichs, IDEO designed the new company’s business model, financial model, organizational structure, hiring strategy, tools to vet and build investments, brand strategy and identity, and events to cultivate a strong sense of community, encourage sharing and collaboration, and provide inspiration. The resulting company, HackFwd, launched on June 8, 2010, with a series of high profile European tech investors on board. The company accelerates the route to beta, profitability, and success by enabling individuals to focus on what they do best and providing support on tasks that do not drive actual value. “Putting geeks’ needs ﬁrst informs everything we do — from our brand and how we organize ourselves to how equity is shared and what tools we offer,” Hinrichs says. How it works: Developers, coders, and engineers submit business ideas through a referral network, which makes selections based on an individual’s or team’s passion and on whether the idea meets a clear consumer need. Ideas also must be pioneering, scalable, and ready to beta test within six months. If chosen, HackFwd roughly matches current salary of those behind the idea and brings them into a network of highly experienced digital entrepreneurs. These advisers review and offer input over a 12-month period. During that time, the individual or team launches a beta and receives critical user input to help determine how best to move the business forward. HackFwd handles most of the administrative load, including legal set-up, payroll, and accounting, and helps each individual or team find talent when they are ready to scale up. This allows the “geeks” to focus on what they do best. In exchange for the financial support, creative and strategic advice, and the help of promoting and marketing the product, HackFwd takes 27 percent of the equity, the founders keep 70 percent, and advisers who assisted the team receive 3 percent in options. HackFwd already has four investments and plans to make a six more in 2010. The company expects to scale up its investment rate in 2011. With HackFwd, Hinrichs aims to revolutionize the European technology scene and put Europe on the global innovation map. See www.hackfwd.com for further information. http://www.ideo.com/work/hackfwd

Lars Hinrichs is an Internet icon. XING, the company he co-founded in 2003, was the first Web 2.0 business to go public in Europe, and it now ranks among the world’s most popular social-networking sites for professionals. In 2008, the Startups Initiative named Hinrichs as the most important Web entrepreneur in Germany. In 2009, the World Economic Forum recognized him as a Young Global Leader. The same year Hinrichs — who calls himself a “serial entrepreneur” — stepped down as CEO of XING to pursue new projects. He came up with the idea for an early-stage, pre-seed, evergreen (no fixed funding cycle) investment company for top technology talent across Europe. His vision: free the best developers and coders from their day jobs and help them build their own game-changing companies.

Hinrichs asked IDEO to help turn his vision into reality. Together, they set out to design the business from scratch. IDEO immediately assigned a European-led global team to the project, which began with interviews of developers and coders throughout the U.S. and Europe, to understand what they wanted and needed most. Their input provided valuable insights into how to build a truly revolutionary company. Working with Hinrichs, IDEO designed the new company’s business model, financial model, organizational structure, hiring strategy, tools to vet and build investments, brand strategy and identity, and events to cultivate a strong sense of community, encourage sharing and collaboration, and provide inspiration.

The resulting company, HackFwd, launched on June 8, 2010, with a series of high profile European tech investors on board. The company accelerates the route to beta, profitability, and success by enabling individuals to focus on what they do best and providing support on tasks that do not drive actual value. “Putting geeks’ needs ﬁrst informs everything we do — from our brand and how we organize ourselves to how equity is shared and what tools we offer,” Hinrichs says.

How it works: Developers, coders, and engineers submit business ideas through a referral network, which makes selections based on an individual’s or team’s passion and on whether the idea meets a clear consumer need. Ideas also must be pioneering, scalable, and ready to beta test within six months. If chosen, HackFwd roughly matches current salary of those behind the idea and brings them into a network of highly experienced digital entrepreneurs. These advisers review and offer input over a 12-month period. During that time, the individual or team launches a beta and receives critical user input to help determine how best to move the business forward.

HackFwd handles most of the administrative load, including legal set-up, payroll, and accounting, and helps each individual or team find talent when they are ready to scale up. This allows the “geeks” to focus on what they do best. In exchange for the financial support, creative and strategic advice, and the help of promoting and marketing the product, HackFwd takes 27 percent of the equity, the founders keep 70 percent, and advisers who assisted the team receive 3 percent in options. HackFwd already has four investments and plans to make a six more in 2010. The company expects to scale up its investment rate in 2011.

With HackFwd, Hinrichs aims to revolutionize the European technology scene and put Europe on the global innovation map.

See www.hackfwd.com for further information.

An early-stage investment company designed to fuel tech innovation in Europe

Hinrichs asked IDEO to help turn his vision into reality. Together, they set out to design the business from scratch. IDEO immediately assigned a European-led global team to the project, which began with interviews of developers and coders throughout the U.S. and Europe, to understand what they wanted and needed most. Their input provided valuable insights into how to build a truly revolutionary company. Working with Hinrichs, IDEO designed the new company’s business model, financial model, organizational structure, hiring strategy, tools to vet and build investments, brand strategy and identity, and events to cultivate a strong sense of community, encourage sharing and collaboration, and provide inspiration.

[Continue reading]

Project date: 2010