Startup Founder Christoph Richter

Simone
Startup Stories
Published in
3 min readFeb 24, 2017

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Christoph Richter has a deep involvement in pioneering Austrian web companies. Already at the end of the nineties, he helped to build the first German-speaking newspaper on the Internet (derStandart.at). Further, his experience as a former technical lead at an online betting platform helped him getting a lot of high-level knowledge early in his career. Now, he’s active as a speaker, mentor at an incubator, involved in Austrian governmental research groups supporting the startup scene. He has also appeared as guest lecture in WU Vienna, TU Vienna, and is a board member of the StartupBus and zoomsquare. And next to this myriad of activities, Christoph is building up Intellyo, where he creates purpose driven magazines.

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
For my dad, nothing was impossible. He had an idea of a project on Friday, what to change at our house, and on Sunday it was done. This led me believe that there is no project too big. Consequently, in my professional career, I was often made responsible for the projects nobody wanted to do, as I figured out how it can still work. Until I created my first own startup.

Can you remember what the biggest barriers to entry entrepreneurship were for you?
That I thought it was much easier. Now, eight years after my first startup I still learn a lot every year.

What does success look like to you personally?
When I learn that I enriched other people’s lives. Moreover, when I helped them improve in a big way. For me, life is all about the people you spend it with.

http://intellyo.com

What is your role at Intellyo?
I’m founding Partner & CMO.

What does a productive day for you look like?
Getting an update from the team, helping solve pressing issues and moving the company forward in getting the next steps done.

Which problem are you solving with Intellyo?
Currently, it’s most of the time about strategy and positioning. As we solve a big complex problem there is a lot to think about.

Where does your motivation to solve this problem come from?
I love challenges. And the bigger these are, the higher the reward. I think with our concept we really hit a sweet spot that can change a lot.

What does success look like for Intellyo?
Delivering high value content to a lot of readers.

Which one thing would you love to tell your younger self?
Networking is everything. And help others, so others help you.

What has been your biggest failure?
There have been so much, that I started to embrace them. Because every failure means you can learn a lot in the end. That’s why I do not really see them as failures.

What would you highly recommend aspiring entrepreneurs to do?
Join a startup as one of the first 10 employees and learn from their mistakes.

How big is the team?
Currently we’re 17 people.

Challenges expressed are in no way meant to solicit commercial acquisition.

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Simone
Startup Stories

PhD in Media & Communication | Content Creator | Fan, boy band and popular music expert | qualitative researcher