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 Pitch

Teamleader is a software solution for small service providing SMEs. It combines CRM, project planning, and billing into one convenient tool in a bid to support frictionless workflows and general digitization. We want our customers to start trusting cloud solutions and we create value by continuously improving customer experiences. Our advice to customers: focus on what you’re good at and let us do the rest.

Facts & Figures

Becoming a top dog in our industry within the European SME market is a lot more ambitious than you would imagine. What if I told you that 99% of all companies in Europe employ fewer than 250 people? Can you even imagine the potential we are tapping into? At this time, the company has offices in six countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Growth-wise we are right on track to manage a triple triple triple double double, meaning we tripled our turnover for three years, then doubled for two. We have over 10,000 customers who bring in over 10 million in revenue.

Also in numbers of people Teamleader has grown quickly over the past 6 years. Currently we employ 180 intrapreneurial employees, with an average age of 30 years. To ensure the personal and professional growth of these talents on the one hand, and a nice working environment on the other hand, Teamleader provides a yearly budget for each employee for training, remote working from one of our other offices and teambuilding.

“My goal is to build a strong brand that people identify with. A brand they can be proud of. “

Explosive growth

Teamleader has grown spectacularly in a very short amount of time. In 2012, it was nothing but a name and a small group of people with a plan. We were hard at work trying to find that perfect product-market fit and we were very focused on the product, our first leads, and everything we needed to achieve those things.

Two years later, we knew we were on the right track. We raised our first funds and found ourselves a powerful mentor as well as investor. In 2018, we raised money for the third time—a whopping 18.5 million euro to be exact—giving us a total of 30 million euro to work with.

But we didn’t just keep it all to ourselves: early 2018 we launched a 1 million euro investment fund to stimulate local startup applications and integrate them within our platform. In 2017, we had already created a marketplace for integrations and we noticed a big interest from our customers. In just one year’s time, the amount of integrations had exploded—from about 40 to over 200. We are trying to keep that momentum and manage 1,000 integrations in total. Small software companies are very eager to integrate, as we can offer them access to 10,000 SMEs in all of Europe.

We are also very determined to grow our skillset. Teamleader is a comprehensive solution, but the automation process is endless. We are constantly thinking of new ways to help our clients automate processes, save more time, and use Teamleader effortlessly.

Market growth is also important to us. We want to become a more international company one day, but right now we are mainly focusing on market penetration in the six countries we are already servicing. There is so much potential there, so why rush elsewhere? We might add a few more countries to the mix in 2019, we’ll see.

Entering a new market is rather complex, as you have to create a new rulebook and learn what the local habits are. Our endgame is to be the European market leader, but we want to be clever about it. Buying the market can become a big part of our strategy. We are getting to know our competition and are looking into interesting merger and acquisition opportunities.

A startup mentality as a first priority

I would love for us to grow at lightning speed, but not at the expense of our customers and not at the expense of our employees. It has to be a conscious process, because you are essentially instating a management structure. You can claim to be a non-hierarchical startup for years, and then one day you just aren’t. When that day comes, it is incredibly important to be 100% transparent and to involve the entire organization in that process.

If I can’t have happy customers and happy employees, then I don’t want any of it. Making sacrifices in order to maintain a steady growth rate is downright pointless. My goal is to build a strong brand that people identify with. A brand they can be proud of.

People are our most precious resource, so we try to avoid continuous stress, frustrations, or burnouts, though it does get quite hectic at times.

All in all, I’m creating a work environment that works for me. It turns out that it works for others as well. The startup mentality is still the most important element of that environment: don’t be afraid to make mistakes, stop thinking and start doing, experimenting, and reiterating. This is an essential part of our DNA. If you want to hold onto your startup culture, you can’t be afraid to give your employees the chance to fail.