Founder profile: Julinga - game for partnership development

In 2018 and 2019, Julia Lüpfert first took part in the Entrepreneurship Masterclass and the Proof of Concept competition at the Entrepreneurship Summit 2019, which she finally won with her partnership development game "Julinga".

In an interview with us, Julia reveals what drives her and how she became a founder.

Foundation: Julinga
Team: Julia Lüpfert
Headquarters: Freiberg

1. What is your idea - briefly explained?

I develop partnership development games under the Julinga brand . In other words, games that you play together as a couple and, quite incidentally, develop your relationship further, for example by looking at your own and shared values ​​in a playful way.

2. Which fundamental problem do you want to solve with it?

Sometimes in everyday life there is no reason to reflect on the partnership and consciously develop it further. Conversations are then more often initiated from a dispute and that is the wrong basis. My games provide the framework for discussing things with ease and fun.

3. How did you come up with the idea - tell a bit about yourself, your past, interests and how you became an entrepreneur?

With the master class of the Entrepreneurship Foundation, I developed the idea step by step from my interests and skills. Conscious partnership development has been a topic for me for a long time and I have already been able to help many friends with impulses. But I always lacked a business idea that also suited me as a person. Since I don't want to be a couples coach in the therapeutic sense and want to focus much more on positive potential development than on problem solving, I was on the hose for a long time.

The master class helped me to work systematically on the idea and to develop a business model around it. Now I am very happy with the result and proud of what came out of it. I've been an entrepreneur for a long time. Before Julinga I already co-founded a startup. However, on a different topic, with a team, with a lot of outside capital and a huge network of service providers. At Julinga, I financed the start myself using bootstrapping and took the entire process into my own hands using online tools.

4. Where did you need help, what were your biggest challenges?

A beautiful product design was important to me, as an engineer I don't have the best prerequisites to implement it myself, so I got help from a graphic designer. In general, it also helps me a lot to exchange ideas with many founders and start-up consultants and to take tips with me from time to time.

5. What are your future plans?

Julinga is to become a whole series of games and later a whole world on the subject of partnership development! The next game is coming in January 2020 and the third is in conception.

6. Could you imagine working (again or at some point) as an employee?

In principle, yes, but the demands I place on the job have increased significantly as a result of working independently. I have learned to appreciate and love being 100% flexible. For me, this means on the one hand dividing my day off, but also being flexible in the long term. Power through for a few months and then slow down again for a few months and devote more time to my family.

7. In your opinion, what is a "job with meaning" and what does it mean to you to act sustainably?

For me, a “job with meaning” and sustainability go hand in hand. With Julinga I implement what comes deep from my heart, what I am in the world for. The job with meaning then becomes a life with meaning. I think if I do what I'm convinced the world needs, then it's automatically sustainable. Sustainable in the sense that it has an impact on people beyond the time of use. In the end, what I do makes the world a little bit better.

8. If you could, what would you like to change immediately in the world of work?

I would lower the barriers to entry into self-employment. I believe that many people have great ideas that would make our society more diverse, more colorful and more sustainable, but unfortunately they don't have the courage to get started. The German system of trade office, tax office, trade association, and and and is just too founder-friendly. Many are (partly rightly) afraid of doing something wrong or forgetting. I don't have a specific plan on how, but I'd like to change it.

9. Where do you have your products made and what criteria do you use to select your producers?

I only need one printer for my products. I opted for a regional print shop that is just big enough for me to be able to get everything from a single source, but still small enough that I can establish a good and direct relationship. It's important to me that I can call the manager quickly if something goes wrong, that I can visit in person and that I can also secure workers in my region with my sales.

10. What is the appeal of self-employment for you?

On the one hand, it is the flexibility that enables me to reconcile work and family as I imagine it. For example, I always worked during the first year after the birth of my children, not full-time, but just as it suited me, as I felt like it. On the other hand, I can develop better by being self-employed. Unleash my full potential. I can try whatever comes to my mind and get direct and completely unfiltered feedback. This allows me to get to know myself, my skills and interests better and to bring my value, which I am gradually discovering, directly into the world. But not only what I bring into the world (in my case impulses for partnership development), also how I bring it into the world, I can align completely with my values, desires and goals. I have my happiness in my own hands.

11. How did you find out about the Proof of Concept competition?

I was at the Entrepreneurship Summit in 2018 and was inspired by the lectures. The Proof of Concept competition also took place there and I found it incredibly courageous and strong for the founding teams to present their concept there. To a friend who was sitting next to me in the audience, I said, jokingly but with a glimmer of naive hope, that I'll be there next year. In retrospect it seems unbelievable that it really happened that way. After all, I didn't even have an idea at the time.

12. What experiences did you gain from the proof of concept?
Tell a little about your participation.

When I was able to further develop the idea as part of the master class and it became apparent that it would really become a finished product, I made up my mind to take part in the proof of concept about six months beforehand. So I also set a schedule that ended with my games coming off the press 4 weeks before and then assembling them at home. Of course, everything always takes longer than you think, so in the end it was only a week before and quite stressful, but without the appointment, which I also communicated to everyone involved as an absolute deadline, everything would have taken much longer. It was great to have such a fixed goal in mind.

Shortly before that I started to build up a small fan community on social media and reported on my preparations. Everyone was excited for the one day that matters - the proof of concept. Many have supported me and were excited to follow my path. That carried me and gave me strength.

On the two days of the Entrepreneurship Summit, I was also able to collect a lot of helpful feedback and made great contacts. The first hurdle to make the product known outside of one's own circle of friends was cleared immediately.

13. What do you want to achieve with your idea?

I want all couples in the world to discover and live the full potential of their partnership, because partnership is one of the most important areas in our lives and we can only be happy and fulfilled when we are happy and fulfilled with our partner . I sincerely wish everyone that.

ticket safe!

Header image: © Julinga - www.julinga.de