Since January, rapitag has been led by Tobias Bahnemann, bringing fresh perspectives and strategies to the forefront of the company. With a clear vision for the future, Tobias is guiding rapitag through a period of transformation and growth positioning the company for success in the ever-evolving retail technology landscape.
In a recent Q&A session, we had the opportunity to sit down with Tobias and explore his vision for rapitag‘s future, as well as ask some personal questions.
What are the biggest challenges rapitag is facing right now?
Balancing scaling the company while not over-pacing. When you build a company and move it from startup to scale-up, you have to build many things for the first time, and you will make mistakes, learn, and improve. If you pace too fast, you are burning the customers and the team because you will not be able to deliver, and the pressure on everyone will be too high. At the same time, we obviously want to scale as quickly as we can and capture the market 😊.
What changes would you like to bring to rapitag?
Rapitag has made its way and has brought a novel technology to life over the past 8 years. Now it is time to become a professional company that can deliver products with high quality throughout the whole world. This brings the necessity to build a high-performance team that can master this rapid growth. Therefore, I am looking forward to scaling the team, professionalizing the company in various departments, and starting to build a growth engine on the sales side while keeping the innovative spirit within the company alive.
What do you expect from the company’s team members?
Rapitag is moving into a critical phase of market ramp-up now. Since we are still a small team, everyone needs to support each other, and we need to pull on the same string with full power to finally break into the market and get the company onto the growth path. I am really excited to work with this excellent team to push the company forward!
What do you think is the biggest strength of rapitag right now?
It is the unique and smart technology bringing great benefit to the retail world combined with a very motivated team and partners supporting rapitag on this path. There is still a long road ahead of the company, and the team has the motivation and resilience to push through the hurdles in front of us.
What was the path you took to get to where you are today?
When I was studying, I did not exactly know where I wanted to start my career, but I always wanted to build a successful company, and therefore, I was soon interested in startups. This led me to founding a small e-commerce startup at the age of 18, and then, after studying, I co-founded the 3D sensor company Toposens. Steering Topsens to become a 30+ employee team and working together with market-leading companies in the automotive and robotics sector while delivering a hardware- and software-based high-tech product to the market taught me how to run and build a successful company. This is also the knowledge I can bring to the table, taking rapitag to the next level! 😊.
What is the best advice that someone has ever given you?
Oh, I do not know where to start here. Many great people have given me very valuable lessons. If I had to choose two.
- Give it your best; you cannot do more
- Life is a game; regard everything as a challenge and don´t take it too seriously.
What are your personal goals?
My big vision is to build a long-lasting and sustainable company that is bringing a meaningful product to the market. Along with this goal, there is an enormous number of sub-goals, enabling me to grow professionally and personally. In addition to my personal ‘professional’ goals, I want to live a successful life. Success is not just focusing on money or power, but on the big pillars that make you happy and satisfied, such as relationships, health, spirituality, hobbies, and personal and professional growth.