"Getting the product to market quickly is the be-all and end-all"

Carolin Kunert has developed Knistergrill, a compact barbecue to take away. She explains in an interview for whom this can be practical - and why it should also be sustainable.

Barbecuing is one of Germans' favorite pastimes. But anyone who doesn't want to barbecue in their own garden or only has a small balcony will quickly have a problem with a charcoal barbecue. Carolin Kunert claims to have found an answer for them. The crackling barbecue is the answer, she says.

How did you come up with the idea for Knistergrill?

I worked as an industrial designer for various agencies and companies. During this time, I realized that I wanted to have more influence on production conditions, the production location and the quality of the products. However, I also didn't want to set up a small manufactory, but to produce sustainable consumer goods on a large scale, suitable for the masses and for everyone. The fact that it became a barbecue probably has to do with my studies. In the third semester in 2013, we had a metal construction project where I built a grill that could be mounted on the luggage rack. The idea then fell asleep for a few years until I spent a semester abroad in Denmark in the winter of 2017 and my roommate took me to a hackathon organized by Startup Weekend. I pitched my idea for the portable grill and worked on it all weekend with a team of two other people. In the end, we even won the Startup Weekend and that was the starting signal for Knistergrill.

The others left your team in January 2018, why did you continue?

Thanks to the feedback from many people and also winning the Hackerton, I was 100% convinced of the product and wanted to hit the ground running. It was also the perfect time for me to start up. I had finished my studies and only had to write my bachelor's thesis, which I then also wrote about Knistergrill.

Did you ever regret the decision to continue after the other team members left?

It was demotivating and scary to be all alone at the beginning. I pulled them along for a few weeks and tried to motivate them, but then they realized themselves that they couldn't keep up with my energy for the project. I certainly didn't regret it. Once I knew where I stood, I simply went it alone and launched a Kickstarter campaign after just 3 months and even delivered the first products shortly afterwards.

What was it like for you to start up on your own?

During the first two years of setting up the company, I was still looking for "the perfect co-founder". The start-up world teaches you that you should found a company with at least two people in order to get investment or funding, for example. As a solo founder, all of this is much more difficult or almost impossible. A lot of time and energy went into it, but unfortunately I didn't find him/her. The more advanced the company is, the more difficult it is to get the new co-founder onto your cap table. After the first seed round at the latest, however, it is almost impossible to get co-founders involved for real. But there are also many advantages to founding alone. For example, you can make decisions more quickly and don't waste countless hours with shareholder agreements and at the notary. If you get someone on board, it has to be 100%ig right - any doubts or a bad gut feeling are a sign that it's not the perfect co-founder. It's better to have no co-founder than someone who isn't a perfect fit. Today, my start-up has 5 employees and 6 close freelancers.

How does the Knistergrill differ from other grills?

The bottom line is that we are the barbecue that offers the best mobile barbecue experience. From the quality of the food and grill to the different uses of the barbecue. It's easy to take with you on your bike or use at home on the balcony. The special thing is that you can extend the barbecue to twice its size and everything is 100% made in Germany.

You advertise sustainability on your website. However, neither burning gas nor coal is sustainable in itself.

Avoiding consumption would always be more sustainable than consumption per se. In this industry, we try to be the most sustainable barbecue with everything we can. The biggest impact for us is the transportation routes. We have several warehouses and suppliers throughout Germany to keep transportation routes as short as possible. A barbecue travels a maximum of 400 kilometers with us and nobody else can manage that. The barbecue also has a lifespan of up to 20 years. If something breaks, we will reimburse you for spare parts. Social sustainability also plays a role for us. We work with two support workshops near Munich and are aware of the good working conditions at each of our German producers.

Where do you see yourself in three years' time?

In three years, I see us as an outdoor brand with a larger product portfolio and with everything to do with eating, being out and about and being outdoors with the connection between city and nature. And the Knister grill will be sold throughout Europe.

What was your biggest challenge?

I've been through a lot of ups and downs: one day you're making half a million in sales, and the next day all your supply chains break down due to macroeconomic problems, pandemics, wars or supply embargoes. Getting through these ups and downs and being solely responsible for everything is still the biggest challenge. I try to stay very calm in crisis situations, not take problems personally, take a few steps back and look at the whole thing from above.

What tips would you give other founders?

It's incredibly important to work closely with customers and bring your product to market quickly. The product should get the fit quickly and not have years of development behind it before you realize that nobody needs it. The second thing is to start with sales as early as possible. Sales sucks and is difficult at first and you'll fall down a lot and get rejected, but if you manage to make sales, that's the best validation you have. I maintain that if you made X amount through fundraising as a consumer goods brand, you could have made three times that amount through sales in the same amount of time. The last tip is to see the start-up as a journey and not always take everything personally.

Thank you very much for the interview!

Personal details: Carolin Kunert studied industrial design and founded her start-up Knistergrill in 2018. She is responsible for management issues, product development and sales with large retail chains.