An interview with great2know from our start-up network on the topic of cost-effective and scalable knowledge transfer.
Problem Solving Question:
What is the specific problem your startup is solving and what does the solution look like?
Demographic developments in Germany will also present the insurance industry with a major challenge. Currently, 40.4 percent of employees in the industry are 50 years old or older. In the next ten years, around 35 percent of employees will retire. In addition, 24 percent of millennials will stay with a company or in the same job for a maximum of two years. And the trend is rising. This high number of departures and changes leaves an enormous knowledge gap. Most companies do not have a structured knowledge transfer and process software is not used. We solve the problem with our cost-effective, scalable, digital and sustainable great2know Assistant, which is already a step into the future in form and functionality and follows a clear vision up to real-time conversation with AI through Natural Language Processing (NLP). Importantly, data entry of employee:inside knowledge can already choose between keyboard, voice and video recording today. With this solution, we reduce the personnel effort, accelerate the training times and strengthen the satisfaction of all participants.
Question about the target:
How big is the market you are addressing and what growth potential do you see in the coming years?
Dr. Bettina Volkens (left) and Christine Lutz (right), two of the founders of great2know.
There is almost no industry that is not heading for a massive problem due to demographic change. In the insurance industry alone, 80,000 employees will leave the company by 2033 due to age. And the following applies: No one leaves behind just an empty desk! You leave behind an enormous knowledge gap. A gap that will be expensive. According to a Massingham study, the loss of knowledge costs Fortune 500 companies alone more than 25 billion euros a year. Nevertheless, so far there are mostly only more or less analog Excel solutions for this gigantic problem.
Competitiveness question:
What does your competitive landscape look like, and how do you plan to differentiate your business from existing competitors?
Today, we can already make specialist and experiential knowledge transferable across a broad field at low cost, thus securing the knowledge and competitive advantage of every company. And, of course, without making it accessible to others. Our Assistant adapts to the company-specific knowledge culture and the level of digital maturity. The next step is that our Assistant can better and better understand people's motivators to share knowledge and support their tasks more and more precisely in the transfer of knowledge. It can motivate, remind, is available for questions, can ask queries itself, summarizes texts, is always and everywhere approachable and brings structure into the knowledge transfer.
Scalability question:
What is your plan to scale your business model and enter international markets?
Martin Steinke, one of the founders of great2know
There are no limits to scalability, either vertically or horizontally. This means that knowledge transfer, which today is still reserved for managers and experts for cost reasons, becomes possible for all employees in all change situations: job changes within the company, retirement, onboarding of new talent, onboarding of large groups of employees, recurring knowledge transfers, securing expert knowledge, parental leave replacements, or even transferring projects into routine.
And of course we are already looking to the international markets. Europe. Asia, America. Knowledge is power everywhere.
Question about the team and experience:
Can you tell us about the background knowledge and experience of the founding team that enables you to tackle the problem and make the company a success?
The founding mothers and fathers alone score with diverse talents and enormous knowledge: Dr. Bettina Volkens was a board member at Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn and brings strategic insights into the HR leadership landscape as well as a high level of commitment to day-to-day business and networking. Christine Lutz comes from management at Lufthansa and has expertise in knowledge transfer, onboarding, offboarding and HR organization. Martin Steinke is a start-up entrepreneur and product specialist. He has very successfully driven and closed the setup and sale of a gaming company with more than 8 million users. At great2know he is responsible for technology and product development.