Follow-up: How is ClearOps doing?

About ClearOps

The Munich-based startup ClearOps aims to make supply chains more transparent and thus prevent outages. To achieve this, it used its software to connect machine manufacturers with their dealer and distribution networks. In this Update interview, founder William Barkawi answers our questions about challenges and financing and shares his three most important learnings.

Interview with William Barkawi

- Munich Startup: When we last spoke, you were particularly proud of one key statistic: zero employees or customers had turned their backs on you up to that point. Were you able to maintain this level of satisfaction?

- William Barkawi, ClearOps: Almost! Although things are naturally a bit chaotic in other areas, as in any startup, things are going pretty well in the two areas of employee and customer satisfaction. This is also due to the fact that customer centricity and people first are simply two of our three core company values.

Our customers and employees appreciate the family atmosphere, the we as a company live, instead of the typical growth-at-any-cost approach. This is probably mainly possible because we are still bootstrapped and thus independent of institutional expectations. In fact, we have not lost a single employee at our core locations in Germany, the USA, Portugal, and Costa Rica. At the same time, it is important to mention that we originally built our Technology Hub in St. Petersburg. Due to the political situation in Russia, we were forced to relocate this location to Portugal. We then helped some of our Russian employees move to Germany or other countries. Due to personal circumstances, not everyone was happy with this, which is why we had to accept layoffs. Unfortunately, we had to record churn at the customer level, but all the others, including new ones, are still on board with long-standing business relationships.

Why long hiring processes are worthwhile for ClearOps

- Munich Startup: What obstacles did you encounter?

- William Barkawi: We're pretty selective about who we hire and who we don't. This leads to rather long hiring stages. The positive side...

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