julius schmidt// co-founder | 2019 – 2025
JJLab UG
Six years, two founders, alongside my studies. We built ArtSlide and later rooted: digital marketplaces connecting local makers of home goods with their customers. I was responsible for finance, strategy, product and analytics.
This is where I learned what a system has to earn inside a company. Every tool had to pay for the time it took, and every number had to hold up when we made a decision with it.
two founders | two friends-and-family rounds | every annual statement in-house
What I did
- Financial modelsThe plans behind both friends-and-family rounds, and a driver-based monthly model: 12 sheets from traffic and leads to merchants with CPL, CAC and churn per tier, four subscription tiers plus commissions, payroll per role, CAPEX and depreciation, taxes, a monthly and yearly income statement, and marketplace KPIs such as supply and demand liquidity.
- StrategyThe company strategy and quarterly OKRs. The marketing strategy built on segmentation, targeting and positioning, with a positioning statement for each side of the marketplace.
- Product & analyticsThe product roadmap, pricing tiers and A/B tests, with product analytics in Mixpanel.
- Processes & financeThe payment flow modelled in BPMN; the bookkeeping and every annual statement prepared in-house.
- Customer discoveryInterviews with customers and makers, a competitor analysis, and launch strategies for both sides of the marketplace.
Happy to walk through the financial model's structure in an interview.