Josef Brunner: “As a child, I wanted to research quantum physics – in wool socks and Birkenstocks”
In our “Flashback” interview series, founders talk about the time before their success. How were you prepared for the startup world? Today: Serial founder Josef Brunner, ex-CEO of Relayr.
“Most of the hurdles I had to overcome were inner fears. I was incredibly shy,” says series founder Josef Brunner.Relayer
As a teenager, Josef Brunner wanted to help his parents out of a financial crisis, but initially shocked them with his plan. His father had to give up his own bakery because he could no longer withstand the pressure of competition from large chains. The family also lost their parental home as a consequence. At the age of 16, Brunner therefore decided to drop out of high school. He casually learned programming during his school days, and the big world of the Internet fascinated him. He founded his first startup: Trusted Attack, an Internet security company – an extremely popular industry in the early days of the World Wide Web. Business was so good that he successfully sold the company two years later. With the money, the then 18-year-old was able to buy his parents a house. Mission accomplished.
Josef, how would your best friend or your best Friend describe you in one sentence? I don’t know what my best friend would actually say about me. I hope, however, that she would say: “ I can rely on Josef. He walks the talk.” At least I would be very happy about that!
Were there certain key moments in your childhood or youth that were very formative for you? I’m thinking, for example of your father’s bakery or your decision to leave school at the age of 16. The bankruptcy of my parents and the loss of our parental home and the shame and malice that came with it were and are formative moments for me and the birth of my demons, which accompany me to this day. However, these demons are today my supporters and friends who give me an incredible amount of energy. Additionally, there was a moment during my second company where I really became an entrepreneur. I stood lost, anxious and sad on the stairs of my former apartment. I had the opportunity to break or become resilient. I call this my make it or break it moment.Read also
To which one childhood experience do you remember with joy? We had a small creek near our house. Between the stream, where I loved to play and daydream, and our house was a meadow where my father wanted to build a new, large bakery. So this meadow was the nucleus of my father’s dreams and mine. I loved playing football on this meadow, ran to the stream and thought about my father’s ambitions. Today it makes me proud that the dreams that had their origins in this meadow have come true – even if there is no new bakery there.
What did you want to do as a child? Physicist. I really wanted to do research in quantum mechanics. Discovering new things, laying the foundations for wonderful innovations has always been my dream. I saw myself in a research facility with wool socks and a Birkenstock. As someone who is very shy, for a long time this was my ideal for professional realization: Working alone in a dark room to solve big problems.
Who was your role model in your childhood? Kip Thorne, mainly because of his fundamental research in quantum mechanics and Arnold Schwarzenegger, because he fought so hard for his success and against all odds achieved enormous, for many unexpected, successes. They showed me that you can achieve anything, no matter who you are and where you come from.
You can Can you describe the exact moment when you decided to found your first startup Trusted Attack at the age of 16? It was a meal in a Munich beer garden. I remember it very clearly. With a surveyor and the son of an ambassador who had just produced the latest film starring Wesley Snipes. The decision to found the company was made over cheese spaetzle and beer. A decision under chestnut trees that changed my life forever.
Who put you on the way to Trusted Attack helped you become self-employed? My demons and my parents, who had borrowed 3,000 Deutschmarks from an electrician friend so that I could start. Poor man’s venture capital! Two years later I bought my parents a house. In retrospect, that’s a great return.
What hurdles did you then have to overcome to become self-employed? Most of the hurdles I had to overcome were inner fears. I was incredibly shy and had to learn that empathy, communication skills and contextualizing in the way I speak to customers and employees are key skills of successful entrepreneurship.
In your opinion, did you have any weaknesses that made it difficult for you to start Trusted Attack?
Not only did I have weaknesses then, but I still have them today. My biggest weakness back then was a lack of self-reflection. I tried to focus on my few strengths. Not knowing that improving strengths only improves me incrementally.
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Were you different in character before your exits and successes?
Today I’m at peace with myself, I’m firmly anchored in my value system and I know exactly who I am, who I want to be, what I can do and, more importantly, what I can’t do. I know the people I want to work with and have the incredible privilege of being able to enjoy the freedom to do what I see fit. I’m incredibly grateful for that. But I’m also aware of the responsibility that comes with success. And I try to live up to that a little more every day. There’s still a long way to go. But I am ready and determined to walk it.
Based on your background, what advice would you give give advice to other founders and those who want to become one? Find your kung fu. Be yourself. Find your way. Dream your future and then work hard to make those dreams a reality. There is only one person who can stop you and that is yourself.
Would you do anything do the same thing again on the way to the you you are today? Definitely not. There were many situations that I would approach differently today. There is so much potential that I haven’t seen or been able to unleash. With my companies, with the people I was allowed to meet and of course with myself. On the other hand, I am grateful for my mistakes and my weaknesses. Who I am today looks back at the past with self-reflection and tries to learn from my mistakes. But I can only do that because I was allowed to make these mistakes. The scars on my back don’t just define me. They also made me the person I am today.
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