Starting a startup while still in university is a challenging yet exciting journey. Three students from the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) embarked on an entrepreneurial adventure that began in a classroom and led to the creation of a promising tech startup. This blog post explores their journey, inspired by the recent mcom podcast featuring one of the co-founders, Janick. We’ll dive into their background, the inspiration of McomTech, and the early days of building their innovative product.
Meet the Founders
The journey of McomTech started with Janick, Leon, and Niklas — three ambitious students with diverse backgrounds but a shared passion for technology and innovation.
In a recent episode of the Mcom podcast, co-founder Janick shared his background and how the trio came together:
Janick, Leon, and Niklas met at FHNW during their studies in Business Information Technology. Janick had completed an application developer apprenticeship in Switzerland before joining the university. After serving in the military, he enrolled in the bachelor’s program, together with Leon, who he already know from the apprenticeship time. Their journey began in a programming course, where they encountered Niklas. Unlike Janick and Leon, Niklas joined the course not to learn programming but to connect with programmers who could help bring his ideas to life. This initial connection laid the foundation for their future startup.
The Spark of Inspiration
This initial project exemplifies how innovative ideas can often arise from everyday problems and how collaboration and curiosity can turn a simple concept into a viable business idea. Janick recounted this turning point in the podcast:
The idea for McomTech emerged organically from their academic collaboration. Initially, they formed a group to tackle programming assignments together. Their interactions extended beyond coursework when Niklas reached out in a group chat, seeking help with a programming language. This conversation sparked the idea of using WhatsApp’s API for placing pizza orders through a chatbot. The concept was simple yet innovative: allowing customers to order pizza via WhatsApp by interacting with a chatbot that could handle the entire process, from selecting the pizza to processing the payment. McomTech always optimizes its ideas to the new features of WhatsApp. What new features?
The Early Days of McomTech
The early days of McomTech were marked by balancing their academic commitments with their budding entrepreneurial venture. The team members juggled part-time studies, internships, and jobs while dedicating time to developing their first prototype. Janick describes this period:
During the early days of McomTech, they all had part-time commitments. Niklas was interning at Holcim, Leon was employed by the IT department of Canton Aargau, and Janick was working at Brilliant Plus - a small web agency. The COVID-19 pandemic played a crucial role in shaping their workflow, as remote work became the norm, allowing them to collaborate on their side project more effectively.
The journey of McomTech from a classroom idea to a functional prototype is a testament to the power of collaboration and innovative thinking. Janick, Leon, and Niklas leveraged their diverse backgrounds and experiences to create a solution that not only simplified a common task but also demonstrated the potential of integrating technology into everyday activities. With McomTech and WhatsApp say goodbye to phone calls and emails with mcom as their ordering platform. You can found out more about it in our > blog post
Stay tuned for more updates on McomTech and insights from the co-founders in our upcoming podcast shorts.