Scandio-Report - CEO Edition

It’s time for another Scandio Report! Since we introduced our teams in depth in the previous months, it’s time to take a closer look at our CEOs. What tasks would they like to avoid from time to time and how did they come up with the company name Scandio? Find out more about that in this issue of our Scandio Report!

Hello, please introduce yourselves briefly!

Christian: I am one of the founders and CEOs of Scandio. Since there are two of us, each of us has his own areas in the daily business that he takes care of. I am primarily responsible for business development, sales and marketing. However, I share topics like recruiting and some other things with Christoph. And I just cleaned up the kitchen! (laughs)

Christoph: I could just say I do everything else (laughs). I take care of finance, purchasing, organizational matters, infrastructure and everything that has to do with data procurement in any way. Recruiting is also very important to me.

How did you find your way into IT?

Christoph: I started an apprenticeship at Siemens and quickly realized that I this wasn’t for me. Then I went back to school, where the first computers had just been introduced, and I was totally fascinated by them. As a result, I wrote my thesis in the subject of computer science and programmed a vocabulary trainer. After I studied computer science, the rest of the way was more or less predetermined.

Christian: I didn’t know what to do for 25 years until I held my first computer in my hands after graduating from high school. That was a completely natural decision for me and I knew immediately that I wanted to do this.

How did Scandio actually get founded?

Christian: The decision to become self-employed was made in 1994, shortly before the end of my studies. We had the choice between a full-time job and self-employment and decided directly for the second. After the troubles of the dot-com bubble and a few years of self-employment, Scandio was then founded.

Christoph: The path to our first company has been a logical consequence. We were both employed in the same IT company as working students and have always been working freelance at trade fairs besides that. In the end, the first step to self-employment was only a small one.

What’s the story behind the name Scandio?

Christoph: Lots of beer! (laughs) The search for a name was very difficult. One evening we met in Heike’s and Christian’s garden for a barbecue, when after a few beers we came across the company Iridium, which derives its name from the periodic table. So we had the idea to have a closer look at it as well and found the 21st element Scandium. We could identify ourselves quite well with this, because the abbreviation SC perfectly matched software and consulting, and we wanted to develop our services for the 21st century. But since all domains with Scandium were already taken, we had to revert to the abbreviation Scandio.

Christian: And when you get right down to it, the atomic model of Scandium also fits right into our O.

Is there anything you are particularly proud of?

Christoph: We are proud of the people working here! They are the heart of the Scandio.

Christian: Definitely our employees at Scandio and the permanently evolving culture that comes with it.

Are there any tasks you don’t like to do as a manager?

Christoph: Cleaning up the kitchen (laughs). That’s actually difficult to answer. Even if there are tasks you don’t enjoy, you have to solve them with a positive mindset. That makes it a lot easier.

Christian: There are mainly just useless tasks, mostly unnecessary formalities, which of course are not much fun. But we don’t have to deal with them that often, thank god.

Christoph: A good example are formalities like insisting on getting signatures etc. only on paper. For us as digitizers, this is simply unnecessary and often incomprehensible. My approach is to do the unpleasant tasks directly in the morning. Then they’re already done.

What’s the best way to recharge your batteries?

Christoph: Definitely with music. By that I mean making music myself, that clears the mind a lot. Family is also an important factor, of course. Since the start of the first lockdown, I’ve also been doing sports quite regularly.

Christian: Sports, yoga, sleeping. The family thing doesn’t work like that anymore after all the kids have moved out (laughs).

What would be the title of your biography?

Christian: If we were to write it together, it would most likely be “25 years in the same office” (laughs).

Do you have any tips on how to stay motivated in the home office?

Christian: I had a hard time with that at first, but going outside and exercising definitely helps. And you have to start looking for new projects. During the first lockdown, for example, I restored an old teak bench.

Christoph: I quickly started using green screens and different backgrounds in video calls to add some entertainment. I sometimes added 2 extra hours in the evening to get things ready for the next day, which gave me a bit of excitement about work. I also go for a run twice a day at times, as my daily step count went way down during lockdown.

Which amusing Scandio anecdote will you always remember?

Christian: You can definitely add any visit to the Oktoberfest to that. Especially when one of our employees couldn’t find his way out of the hall of mirrors. In the end, children had to help him out (laughs).

Christoph: In our first office we had an original FC Bayern Munich kitchen, which we had bought from a warehouse including all electrical appliances for 100€. A hard time for 1860s Munich fans!

Thank you for your time and the exciting insights behind the scenes of Scandio!