Happy Sunday!
Welcome back to Founders Feature, a weekly newsletter all about the journeys of young startup founders.
For this week's edition, I interviewed Maren Heinz and Frank Lehmann, Co-Founders of FollowTheVote, a Social Start-Up bringing political education to the 21st century, based in Berlin, Germany.
If you think someone else should read this too, feel free to let them know!
If you're reading this outside your inbox, subscribe to receive future editions directly:
Here’s what FollowTheVote is all about:
🏠 The Basics
The Problem:
Frank: Our democracy is in danger. We cannot take our democracy for granted anymore, we need to reinforce it.
You probably remember that, one year ago, the US Capitol was attacked. But this is not just an American problem. 67% of Europeans are also confronted with fake news at least once a week. It does not stop here, 3 out of 10 Germans believe in conspiracy theories and have populist views.
This has many reasons, but one factor that clearly plays a role are the new ways that citizens are informing themselves. Social media is starting to play a major role in shaping political debates. Sometimes positively, but far too often in a negative and unnuanced way. This is a problem that will only grow over time as 89% of young Germans spend every day on social media.
That is why we need to find new ways to inform the next generation. In other words, bring political information to the 21st century.
The Solution:
Frank: From Gen Z for Gen Z. FollowTheVote works with young volunteers with a passion for political issues to develop political information, for young people who have yet to discover their political spark. Instead of adding to more subjective opinions, we look at the law and facts. We turn these complex and boring pieces of legislation into short video clips that anyone can understand. We bring this information directly to our target group on Instagram, TikTok, and anywhere else where young people hang out online. We know where to find you, and you know where to find us. 😉
The Team:
Frank: We are a diverse team, 75% women, consisting of law, computer science, marketing, political science and management students with extensive professional experience, who combine the know-how of different industries with social issues - independent and non-partisan.
Maren: At the moment our Team consists of 12 active volunteers and many more special heroes who support us. Furthermore, we have a CTO, two social media managers and a videographer. Frank and I make up the management team.
🚀 The Journey
How did you come up with your startup/solution?
Maren: It all started in May 2020. I was in the second year of my master's degree in Lisbon and I was in lockdown with my roommates. And when you sit for 2 months with 4 people in a 45 sqm apartment, you start to question many small and big things in life. Frank and I had multiple conversations about current political developments and we realised that despite a very good education and business studies, we had little idea and interest in politics which also goes for many of our friends.
Frank: When we dug into the topic we found that the information, facts, and data on political decisions, are all openly accessible. On Bundestag.de, the German government’s homepage for example, every Parliamentary Debate is published, so that you as a citizen could theoretically understand everything on your own. Nevertheless, we found this information (plenary minutes, printed materials, draft bills, etc.) to be very complex.
Maren: At the beginning, we asked ourselves whether we ourselves were the problem, or whether it was perhaps more due to the discrepancy between the way we are used to consume information (social media) and the way that political information is often communicated (long and difficult texts).
Frank: We came to the conclusion that there is no real reason that political information is not as exciting as watching cat videos. This is why we started looking for new ways to make political information more accessible to the youth.
Why is this the right time for this problem to be solved?
Frank: The pandemic has made it more clear than ever how destabilising poorly informed citizens can be for society. In addition, the next generations of voters are growingly informing themselves on the exact platforms that are linked to spreading misinformation - such as TikTok and Instagram.
What is a recent success you are proud of?
Frank: The idea for FollowTheVote exists for 1,5 years now. When you are in your everyday hustle you sometimes forget how far you have already come.
One of the biggest successes for me was the Launch of our FollowTheVote App for the German Elections in September 2021. The goal was to provide voting advice through our app in an unorthodox way. Namely, not on the basis of the party program but on the actual decisions that the parties made in the parliament over the last 4 years of legislation. The core of our proposition was to offer a way to surpass the promises that political parties make during elections.
Without any marketing budget or prior brand awareness, we were able to reach 25.000 users. That means a great deal to us, as we believe that elections are a vital, maybe even the most important, part of the democratic process.
Maren: A recent success is the steady growth of our volunteer team. It fills my heart with gratefulness and joy seeing so many talented and smart people joining our FollowTheVote family - and of course this enables us to create even more high quality content and educate young people in Germany about politics.
What is a recent challenge you have faced?
Maren: A recent but rather ongoing challenge, and I think many social entrepreneurs can relate, is the sustainable financing of the project and the NGO. As a non-profit organisation, there is no return on investment and therefore very few funding opportunities. However, (maybe after 60 different applications) we managed to get project funding from the German government, so we are able to continue the project until July 2023.
Frank: Foundations and governments operate very bureaucratically. Processes are incredibly lengthy - this has nothing to do with an innovative, agile start-up mentality. In addition, funds are very much tied to projects and leave little room for entrepreneurial freedom or short-term reaction to market opportunities.
What do you wish you knew before you started and is there anything you would have done differently in hindsight?
Maren: I wish I would have had a clue about the complexity of “social” funding, followed by the complexity of German bureaucracy, especially when it comes to having employees and legal consequences of minor mistakes. I would have definitely got some external help earlier.
I am happy that nobody told me of how many sleepless nights I will have and how “being responsible for the company” really feels - I am not sure if I would have gone this beautiful path otherwise!
🧠 The Lessons
What is the best advice you have been given recently?
Maren: It might sound obvious, but for me it is something I have to hear and tell myself over and over again - “Ask for help. You don’t have to do it alone. Other people are happy to help and support you.”
What advice would you give to other young founders?
Maren: The same - Ask for help, always and early! And it sounds a bit cheesy, but hard work always pays off. If you can live with the possible worst case scenario - take a risk and chase your dreams. When you are young you have so much less to lose.
Also, I would say find a co-founder that you can be 100% honest and yourself with and with whom you want to grow side by side and never get tired of.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned so far?
Maren: Surround yourself with the right people. In the start-up itself, but also in your personal life. You will spend too much time with the people you work with, and it doesn't matter how qualified someone may be - if the interpersonal level doesn't fit, it will make your life much harder. The people in your personal life are even more important - you need people who believe in you, who inspire you, and who lift you up when you're down. People who show you that you are loved, regardless of your success in your job. If I didn't have my team and my friends - I honestly wouldn't achieve anything.
✨ The Inspiration
Who inspires you?
Maren: I am inspired almost everyday by the people I work with, my friends and people I meet in the streets - for me it's all about listening to the people, to their stories and their ideas. I try to go through life with open arms and eyes.
And I would like to mention “Maja Göpel'', a political economist, transformation researcher, sustainability scientist and social scientist. She is a big role model for me.
What book do you think everyone should read?
Maren: Unfortunately I think its only available in German language - but I highly recommend everyone to read “Unfuck the Economy” by Waldemar Zeiler and Katharina Höftmann Ciobotaru.