Episode 90: Sander van de Rijdt - Co-Founder & CEO of PlanRadar - The Secret Sauce Of Building A Successful Company

EU-Startups Podcast

In this episode, we catch up with Sander van de Rijdt, Co-Founder and CEO of PlanRadar. Based in Vienna, PlanRadar has emerged as a leading player in the construction and real estate project management software industry. Since its inception in 2013, the fast-growing scale-up has grown to approximately 500 team members and has raised over €100 million in funding. PlanRadar’s success is a testament to its innovative approach to digitizing construction and real estate projects. Sander talks about the PlanRadar's success and expansion as well as about developing new technologies, such as AI-driven drone 360-degree capturing and PlanRadar SiteView, a head-mounted 360-degree camera for construction site documentation. As PlanRadar aims to become the category leader worldwide in the construction industry, Sander highlights the importance of having a product that can scale and evolve over time, as well as the need to retain top talent and focus on execution. He also shares insights on the challenges and pitfalls of expanding into global markets, emphasizing the importance of finding the right balance between a centralized approach and local expertise. He concludes by discussing the effective methods for acquiring and retaining customers, including outbound sales and delivering real value through the product. Takeaways 1.Having a product that can scale and evolve over time is crucial for your company's success. 2.Understanding what drives people and helping them succeed in their own targets is essential for retaining top talent. 3.Expanding into global markets requires finding the right balance between a centralized approach and local expertise. 4.Acquiring customers can be achieved through outbound sales and direct communication, but retaining customers relies on delivering real value through the product. 5.Staying cool under pressure is a must for a CEO. 6.It's important to be authentic and have a common base with team members to resolve conflicts. 7.Leaders should allow their team members to make their own mistakes and learn from them, rather than solving everything themselves. EU-Startups Podcast is brought to you by Vanta. Compliance doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, with Vanta it can be super simple. Trusted by over 7,000 companies, Vanta automates the pricey, time-consuming process of prepping for ISO 27001,SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA, and more. Learn more here: http://vanta.com/eustartups