The discussions and process of this restructuring was one of the most important decisions we have ever made in mantro history. It was the culmination of more than a year of work.
When we founded mantro in 2005, we really just wanted to make money to move our startup forward. None of us had any idea what it would become. Here's the complete journey of what we've been through over the last 17 years:
- 2005-2007 / Manfred, Markus and Ben get to know each other and start working on common ideas
- 2008-2011 / mantro.net GmbH starts developing software for corporate clients
- 2012-2014 / Start of company development with the development and market launch of the first mantro software products/ventures.
- 2015-2018 / First exit and start of corporate joint venturing
- 2019-2021 / Rapid growth and build-up of corporate debt.
- 2022 - Future
In principle, we were always profitable and recorded corresponding revenues to be able to grow sustainably. However, with our success in venture building, we grew too fast. We started to dilute our organizational structures, our culture and our strategy.
It didn't take long for us to realize that we needed to reorganize and restructure. We wanted to take the helm in our company back into our own hands to build a better company for our employees and customers.
For many, mantro was already more of a network than a company before the restructuring. It had grown into a kind of ecosystem through the multiple ventures and the multitude of different people. After extensive analysis and what felt like a thousand conversations, we concluded that mantro had indeed evolved into an ecosystem of organizations and individuals. Knowledge, experiences, methods, tools and affiliations are fluid in this environment. And this identity and circumstance, is the blueprint for restructuring and realignment. What may seem sudden now is the result of a long and organic transformation, a volatile journey with many ups and downs.
What we did next is relatively simple. We dove deep into our history to find out why we started mantro. We talked to our employees, partners and friends to find out who we are. We analyzed what has happened so far (good and bad) and what opportunities there are for us for the future.
The result: We have split mantro into different companies. Although fundamentally different in their core business, they are aligned around the same overarching mission: to help our customers meet the challenge of digital transformation. As part of the restructuring, we reached out to each employee to find out which organization in the mantro ecosystem best fits their talents and goals.
Today, the mantro ecosystem consists of six companies (Venture Studio, Product Studio, Intelligence Studio, Growth Studio, Software Studio, Integration Studio). All six studios share the same vision for the future, but interpret their contribution differently. With our re-sorted understanding and positioning, we have realigned ourselves for the future and our partners.
We strongly believe that as an industry, we should be talking more about change like this. We hope that our experiences can be helpful to those considering a similar path.
