Catching up With Jedox CEO Florian Winterstein

Freiburg, January 18, 2019: After 100 days in charge, we met the new CEO Florian Winterstein and asked him how he has fared in the first few weeks. How is he doing in his new job and what is it like to lead a SaaS company?

Tell us a little bit about your background. What led you here?

A question from two different perspectives. On the one hand, Jedox attracted me as a really innovative company with still a lot of potential in one of the most quickly changing and modern environments. Great team and talent, super-exciting technology, robust European business, early international experience and a set of shareholders who are fully committed and expecting.

On the other hand, I had the good fortune to “grow up” in fast-moving SaaS and cloud companies that delivered business solutions and customer value. Like Jedox, most of them have been at that exact position to accelerate internationally, multiply existing success and scale.

In a nutshell, I saw myself equipped with the experience of 20 years in the high-tech software industry, plus the ability to provide the guidance that Jedox is after. And for myself, an interesting opportunity to multiply the success recipe (or at least parts of it) and work with great people.

How was your start at Jedox?

In short, it is a great team culture, and I had a warm welcome. My first focus has been on the talent, so, connecting with folks across departments and regions and working on my integrated management approach. There is a huge opportunity, and I feel that everyone is hungry and eager.

As an international, fast-growing company, what’s Jedox like inside?

There is a pride in what has been achieved, and at the same time, innovation, commitment and eagerness taking it to the next level. A good mixture with a lot of energy and topics to navigate: guidance, coaching, enablement. A healthy mixture with a lot of potential but also a need to be focused. Also, in terms of technology, solution and, demand there is so much more to get. From a market-share perspective, we have left the start-up mode.

What have you done so far?

Operationally, I spoke with a lot of people: not only employees but also partners and customers. I made my observations and formulated a challenging but realistic way forward together with the team. It is about international growth, supporting the growing and maturing organization, refining but especially reinforcing strategy and touching on some previous ‘sacred cows‘. We will progress and even increase focus on cloud and subscription business delivered through a partner ecosystem. We are thankful and at the same time proud that we can count on and leverage our strategic partnerships with Salesforce, Qlik and Microsoft.

You have plenty of experience in the software industry. What do you like most about leading a SaaS company?

This industry is the center of digitalization. No other industry, country, company, or NGO can bypass the actual disruptions. We are at the point of business transformation and accelerated value creation – I find it is so exciting, and I am thankful to be at the right place at the right time. You could say that we are witnessing the 4th industrial revolution – and it is even greater to be with a great team, partners, customers and, in the end, individuals.