Wunderlist co-founder felt ‘really unhappy’ after selling to Microsoft
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Wunderlist co-founder Christian Reber
Pitch
2015. MicrosoftChristian Reber bought Wunderlist’s to-do app Wunderlist for between $100m and $200m.
Reber was not as happy with the amount and time it took to make this happen.
CNBC interviewed the Berlin-based entrepreneur who said that selling Wunderlist was “a strange experience”
He said, “I felt as though I had lost a child” and that he was a father to two children. “I felt depressed. It was really depressing.
Wunderlist, a small app with around 16,000,000 users over its life span, was simple. The best thing about Wunderlist was its ability to be accessed on both a phone and a computer.
Reber made it an integral part of her life. Selling it was not easy.
He said, “I felt completely disconnected from my team” and the company he’d built.
Reber answered when asked how he was feeling at the moment. “You should speak to my therapist.”
Reber believes that he was not mentally ready to sell Wunderlist. He had tried to build it as large as possible for the past five years.
He said, “Selling it suddenly felt totally unintuitive.”
Reber was already pregnant when Microsoft approached her with their offer. Prevot and Reber co-founded Wunderlist.
As a founder, I was faced with two choices: I raised growth capital and attempted to transform the business into a profit-making enterprise or I sold it for a highly profitable sum of money so that my family can be independent.
Reber, Prevot ultimately The start-up rollercoaster had nearly caused their business to crash several times, and they decided to stop it.
Reber stated that “I was totally burnt out” and “I felt like it was best for all involved to sell it.” He also said that Reber had to “poker-face” while he was doing it.
“I never celebrated the sale of it. I didn’t celebrate it. I liked to mut every email, and it made me feel sad. I’m not even joking. I remember holding my child for a time and asking my wife to help me. It was so difficult that I could not bear the thought of him seeing his father being sad.
Reber stated that it took him several years to accept the sale.
“I am now financially free, which was amazing,” he stated. “I created something that made a real positive impact. Wunderlist will be a lasting memory for everyone. It was a wonderful product, and many great people were able to get amazing jobs at Microsoft. It’s not something to be discouraged about.
Plea to Satya
Wunderlist was sold by Reber in 2005. It wasn’t easy for Reber to comprehend what happened.
Microsoft declared in 2019 it was closing Wunderlist and replacing it with Microsoft To Do.
Reber placed a bid in September to purchase the app from Microsoft.
“Still sad MicrosoftWants to close down WunderlistReber shared this on Twitter in September 2019.
“Please let me buy it back,” he added, directing his plea straight to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Marcus Ash, vice president of product and engineering at Microsoft.
Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft) listens as an audience member asks questions during Microsoft’s annual shareholder meetings in Bellevue. Wash. on November 30 2016.
Stephen Brashear | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Microsoft pulled out of Wunderlist 2020 after his unsuccessful bid.
Reber was not ready to give in, though.
Wunderlist’s unofficial successor is Superlist
Superlist was founded by him in 2021. He describes it as an “unofficial sequel to Wunderlist.”
Reber was frustrated that Microsoft had shut down Wunderlist because the app didn’t become the product he wanted.
He stated, “We wanted to build the defacto standard application for collaboration on personal projects in business.”
You can choose from enterprise-level products such as Trello and Asana, or personal apps like Things or To Do.
Reber stated that “I don’t feel like anything really bridged the gap between them.” Either you end up with very complicated software, which is optimized for project managers. Or you find these extremely personal to-do lists that make collaboration impossible.”
Superlist is supposed to act as a “perfect bridge” between individual to-do apps, and enterprise collaboration tools. This software is designed to scale projects from one individual to 100 to 200.
The company has approximately 20 employees, and raised $3million. A second round is coming shortly.
“I dream of owning a home.” SalesforceMy own Microsoft. Atlassian,” Reber said. This is what really drives me.
Reber doesn’t keep all his eggs in one place. Reber also co-founded Pitch (a competitor to Microsoft’s PowerPoint).
Reber explained that the reason they started the company was to feel like presentations were driving the world, and having an impact on the most important decisions in business and politics.
He said, “Think about it like PowerPoint mixed with SlideShare or Docs.”
This four-year-old company, with 160 employees, raised just over $130million and was recently valued at $600million.
Reber stated, “It’s extremely easy to raise funds for technology companies because there’s more money available than the companies that are on it,” It’s easier than ever to raise funds as a founder, who often starts new companies.
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