At the beginning was an idea: To simplify the world of training. A few years later, this idea has turned into a company with over 20 employees. Learn everything about the founding story of blink.it and what keeps the software and the team together at its core.

It's great that you're interested in blink.it! We usually report on our blog about current topics in the continuing education scene. In this article, it gets a bit more personal! Because we are often asked by customers, interested parties, and even applicants: How did blink.it actually come about?

That’s why we are finally summarizing our founding story for you today!

The Founders of blink.it

blink.it was officially founded in the summer of 2015 by Konstantin Ristl and Michael Witzke. These are the two here:

The founders of blink.it: Michael Witzke (left) and Konstantin Ristl. Photo from 2021.

Konstantin and Michael met two years earlier through mutual friends while dancing salsa. They quickly talked more about business ideas than about the correct dance steps. The vision at that time: To simplify the training world with short videos – and to make learning more sustainable and efficient. For that, Konstantin and Michael initially produced standardized short video impulses themselves:

"At the very beginning, we still filmed short explanatory videos ourselves. But we could only achieve very limited results that way. So it soon became clear: What we need is good software designed exactly for such short content. That’s how blink.it came into being." – Konstantin Ristl

A brief insight into the statistics of startups in Germany (end of 2021):

Source statistics Germany: www.statista.de

First Steps: Completely “self-made”!

Regarding the financial beginnings of blink.it, founder Michael Witzke recalls:

blink.it has been completely bootstrapped, so we never received money from investors. It started with a rough idea and gradually more and more enthusiastic trainers. They were both beta testers and fans. That motivated us.

Konstantin and Michael still smile today when they think back to the time when hardly anything was automated, and everything was done manually:

In the beginning, we converted the videos that users uploaded ourselves. We also sent the emails manually. For the user, everything looked computer-generated – but in reality, it was us.
Michael Witzke

Getting sick or taking a vacation was of course a special challenge. Therefore, it was clear: We have to keep moving forward!

"We took quite a bit of risk at the beginning. But we were always selling. And we developed together with the product." – Konstantin Ristl

The first Learntec in 2016: “Not just knowing, but being able to” was the motto at the blink.it booth.

The Team of blink.it

The two founders received IT support from software developer Tobias Keller from the very beginning. From 2017 onwards, other developers and employees from the areas of design, recruiting, marketing, and sales followed. In the meantime, blink.it comprises a team of over 20 employees. Trend is rising. 😎

The blink.it team in summer 2021. Learn more about us: https://www.blink.it/de/team

Looking for new professional challenges? Then check out our open positions now and become part of the blink.it team<img src="https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4162675/ee2f4ec4-298a-4e37-9fe2-78c069ee3b0f.png" alt="!To our open positions" />

This is what makes blink.it special

Konstantin and Michael are convinced: blink.it would not be half as successful today without a shared vision. And shared values that are reflected in the product just as much as in the individual employees.

Of course, we also want to make money at blink.it and secure our employees' livelihoods. However, the deeper purpose beyond that is extremely important. We want to enable personal further education – for everyone, always and everywhere.
Konstantin Ristl

In the software as well as in day-to-day operations – the following values hold blink.it together at its core:

Ease

In the software: With all product requests, one thing always comes first: The operation must be easy! And that's for course creators and participants alike. Because the best features are useless if they are not practical.

In the team: You will rarely find high heels and shiny suits at a “Blinkie”. Everyone is allowed and should be able to work in the way that makes them most productive. This also includes a lot of freedom in design and flat hierarchies.

Reliability

In the software: The extremely good NPS (Net Promoter Score) of 68* shows: Customers are more than satisfied.

* Classification of the NPS by netigate.net: “A value above 30 is remarkable. 50 is excellent and above 70 is exceptional.”

In the team: A team only works if members can rely on each other. That’s why blink.it employees support each other and are also responsible for their own tasks.

Focus

In the software: The application must fit into the users' everyday lives. This means that before any changes are made in the software, it is thoroughly checked whether the user experience actually improves.

In the team: As the team grows, focused work becomes even more important. This means: “I focus on a goal and direct my energy towards it!”

Power

In the software: Using blink.it should not only work but also be fun! Quickly and easily create or (as a user) edit short content, that’s the idea behind blink.it. Through quick successes, I am motivated to stay engaged and to be truly successful.

In the team: Without the full power of the employees and founders, blink.it would never have become what it is today. Despite the increasing number of employees, the startup mentality remains deeply rooted: Together we can make a difference and create real change!

An important goal of the software is to simplify further education. And for that, the team must work with enough power and focus. The blink.it story could therefore be summed up as: “Just do it” simply do it!

Interested in learning more about the company blink.it? You can already find articles on the following topics in our blog:
➡️ What is the vision of blink.it?
➡️ What does blink.it actually offer me?

The current key figures around the blink.it product are rising so quickly that they can only be represented with a small "plus" behind them:

"Incredibly exciting years are behind us. What matters now is to look to the future. Together with this amazing team, we will enable more and more people to develop quickly and easily." – Michael Witzke