How Was dotSource Founded? Christian Grötsch Recounts...
»To explain why we founded our digital agency, I have to go back a bit. My co-founder Christian Malik and I have known
each other since 1999 when we both worked at an international auction house start-up. Our next stop together was a large
e-commerce software manufacturer in Jena.
»The Internet and E-Commerce Were the Number One Topic of the Future.«
A spirit of optimism, zest for action and innovative technologies led to numerous start-ups and IPOs in the new industry, but also to inflated profit expectations on the part of investors and euphoric speculation that share prices would rise. The Internet and e-commerce were the number one topic of the future.
»In Early 2000, the Dotcom Bubble Finally Burst.«
However, it soon became clear that the great hype could not really be matched: companies were unable to meet the expectations that were placed on them and posting a profit remained the exception. In early 2000, the dotcom bubble finally burst.
The Jena-based software manufacturer was also forced to make massive job cuts. Many former employees founded companies whose products and services had to do with their previous job.
»I Was Absolutely Convinced of the Idea of E-Commerce.«
By the time I finished my studies in 2005, the industry had not recovered. Nevertheless, I was absolutely convinced of the potential of the Internet and the idea of e-commerce. I had the know-how, I had contacts and I wanted to work in the region.
I wanted to make something great out of all that. That’s how I came up with the idea of founding a company.
»We Wanted to Work on Projects, Overcome Challenges, Solve Problems and Celebrate Successes Our Way.«
As this was a big step with a lot of responsibility at the age of 25, I persuaded my colleague at the time, Christian Malik, to support me in my endeavour. We knew from the very beginning that we really wanted to pull it off. Having to submit to »We’ve always done it that way and that’s why it stays that way« was never our thing.
We seized the opportunity to do things better. We wanted to work on projects, overcome challenges, solve problems and celebrate successes our way and not do everything the way we had done it before. Before we founded our digital agency, we had gained experience in other companies and knew exactly what needed to be changed. That’s how dotSource was born.
»Jena Is an Internet Technology Hotspot, People Know Each Other Here and Talk to Each Other.«
On the one hand, there were family reasons for founding our digital agency in Jena – we were born and raised in Thuringia, studied here, found friends, family and work here. On the other hand, there was simply no reason to leave behind everything we had built up in order to start something new in a foreign city, without relationships.
Jena is a small big city and an internet technology hotspot. People know each other here and talk to each other, are taken seriously and supported. I don’t think we would’ve had these privileges in another big city – and that’s not just because Jena is a start-up metropolis.
»We Have Been Steadily Growing with Our Own Resources Ever Since.«
Since 2006, we’ve learned a lot; we’re heading in a really good direction. We’re growing with our own resources, not as an offshoot of a large agency group, a management consultancy firm or a corporation, and we’re trying to maintain and carry on
the original start-up spirit – even with more than 500 employees.«
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