Meet the Founders: Markus Stadler

To mark our five-year anniversary, we would like to introduce you to our founders. In the last interview, we got to meet Stefan Heitmann. This time, we speak to the second founder of PriceHubble: Markus Stadler. Markus, who is also our COO, tells us about himself and provides an insight into the start-up period.

Can you tell us something interesting about yourself that is unrelated to PriceHubble?

Alongside my work at PriceHubble, I also have a passion for music, culture and good food. As a boy soprano, I performed on various opera stages. During our choir tour along Japan’s Romantic Road, who would have thought that, in addition to becoming a fan of sushi, I would also have a local start-up in Tokyo 30 years later? These days, you can often find me “smoking” on my Big Green Egg or lowering the average age in my local parish choir.

Describe PriceHubble in three words only.

International, passionate, exponential.

What is your most interesting anecdote about PriceHubble since its foundation?

Although we didn’t follow the traditional route of starting up in a garage, our storeroom in a yoga studio in Zurich had its own comparable charm. When this burned down (through no fault on our part), things gradually became more comfortable with each additional move.

The most fascinating moment for me, however, was the contrast between my mental image of this storeroom and, just a few years later, the sight of our largest company reunion to date in Berlin, when we suddenly found ourselves standing in front of 70 PriceHubble employees. That event was two years ago now, due to coronavirus restrictions. However, I am already looking forward to standing in front of twice as many employees in the near future and communicating our vision for PriceHubble. Being able to experience this growth from the beginning has been incredibly motivating.

When you founded the company five years ago, did you expect that PriceHubble would be active in nine countries at this stage?

[Smiles] No, I probably wouldn’t have bet on it. Even though we worked with international investors from the outset to get support for possible expansions, the initial focus was firmly on bringing the concept of PriceHubble to life in just one market. However, after we observed that client needs are almost identical across different countries, we quickly aligned our data, technology and product focus towards international scalability. The fact that everything then happened so quickly was only possible thanks to our highly motivated and talented team.

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs who want to launch a start-up?

Share the idea and concept with clients, partners, other companies and friends as early as possible. Take feedback on board constructively and make meaningful adjustments. Also test initial developments and prototypes at an early stage and always keep an eye on the potential for commercialisation. And, doing it alone can be a hard slog – so it’s best to set up a motivated team as quickly as possible.

Is there anything else you would like to say about PriceHubble?

We are still at the very beginning – the market potential for our products is enormous. For instance, our clients can still leverage unbelievable potential from their contacts with existing clients – whether through real estate ecosystems or wealth management applications. We are ahead of the field and offer innovative and intelligent real-estate-related services that allow us to help clients achieve this goal. Watch this space!