That's what's behind the DHDL start-up Aivy

Aivy managers Florian Dyballa and Alexandra Kammer explain how they want to revolutionize the application process with mini-games and how it went from their perspective on DHDL.

Personnel management is not an exact science. No matter how professionally qualified an applicant may be, if it's not a good fit on a human level, an employment relationship is quickly terminated. The start-up Aivy, founded in 2020, wants to help companies and applicants make fewer bad decisions. To do this, the Berliners are relying on a whole series of mini-games that are designed to screen applicants beyond their mere résumés. With this idea, the founders will be guests on the TV show "Die Höhle der Löwen" this Monday. In an interview with Startbase, CEO Florian Dyballa and Diversity Manager Alexandra Kammer talk about their start-up and the decision to court investors on television.

Ms. Kammer, Mr. Dyballa, there are already many ways and means by which companies can check whether an applicants are a good fit for them, such as assessment centers. Why do you need your app?

Florian Dyballa: Our app is not comparable with assessment centers. We don't want to create a test situation. Because that is definitely prone to errors. This often results in what we business psychologists call "socially desired response behavior. The applicants say what they think the company wants to hear.

Alexandra Kammer: This means that in the end, the applicant who fits best doesn't necessarily get the job. And that's exactly where we come in. With us, companies can state very precisely what they expect from applicants beyond pure qualifications. And candidates can use our app to prove that they have the desired skills.

What factors do companies look for beyond just resumes?

Dyballa: Things like willingness to learn or the ability to plan...

...things that are difficult to measure...

Dyballa: Absolutely, but with the help of our game-based assessments, trends can be identified. Let's take the example of problem-solving and planning skills. We have developed the "Hochstapler" assessment, where you have to build a tower. We then measure the speed and the number of moves. Some users act very quickly, but then need a few more attempts. Others, on the other hand, start slowly but then reach their goal with fewer moves. So we know who is more decisive and who is more likely to plan carefully before acting. Neither of these variants is better or worse than the other, but they say different things about the applicants.

And how do companies find out?

Kammer: We issue applicants a strengths profile based on their game results, which is a kind of certificate that can be attached to their resume. There is then an interpretation guide for the companies so that they can request the strengths profile and, in the next step, also compare it with their requirements.

Are many companies able to get to grips with this playful approach?

Kammer: Definitely. Gamification also makes our offering accessible to everyone, regardless of education or desired job, and even generates more valid results. In fact, with Aivy we meet the relevant DIN standard for psychological aptitude diagnostics.

Still, it sounds more like something start-ups would find appealing.

Kammer: Our clientele also includes large companies, such as Beiersdorf, Fresenius or Roche. So do start-ups like The Nu Company, but also small and medium-sized companies. We want to address all types of companies, which is why we also have a flexibly adaptable pricing model.

Are there reliable figures that prove that your model achieves better results in the application process?

Dyballa: We conducted a case study on this, and it confirms what we have seen so far. According to the results, we can prevent 30 percent of false hires even before the first interview. And our customers confirm that the first interviews with applicants go better. No one feels forced into socially desirable answering behavior; after all, both sides know the strengths profile and so no one has to pretend anymore.

You have already completed a financing round, but have now gone to the "Höhle der Löwen" anyway. There's a lot of attention to be gained there, both positive and negative. Why did you take this risk?

Dyballa: We were very optimistic, after all, we already had initial financing, a functioning product and large companies among our customers. So the chance of making a fool of ourselves was rather small.

Kammer: If you are fully convinced of your product, you simply have to be optimistic and take risks in times of uncertainty.

You were then able to agree a deal with Carsten Maschmeyer and Dagmar Wöhrl for an initial ten percent for 450,000 euros, with an option for more depending on milestones. Did that come about after the show?

Kammer: We found the cooperation with Dagmar Wöhrl and Carsten Maschmeyer to be very professional. The deal did not materialize after the show because of differing ideas about the concrete form of the milestones. Meanwhile, we were able to close another financing deal.

So you are optimistic despite the lack of celebrity investors?

Dyballa: Absolutely. We now want to use the attention from the show to attract even more companies as customers. In the long term, we want to become the application standard alongside the resume.

About the people:

Florian Dyballa is CEO and co-founder of Aivy, alongside Boas Bamberger, David Biller and Arbnor Raci. He previously founded and successfully sold the sponsorship platform Abilife.de. Dyballa studied business psychology in Lüneburg.

Alexandra Kammer is Head of Diversity Management at Aivy. She studied marketing and management in Mannheim, Utrecht and Paris.