This company wants to make your startup dreams come true – for no money

In 2011, co-founders David Matthias Roebel and Marc Seefelder co-founded Ming Labs – a design and development company based Berlin, Munich, and Shanghai. Within a few years, they amassed a respectable base of clients including names like Sony, Microsoft, and Intel. But while their corporate practice has flourished, the folks at Ming have been eyeing a different, more exciting prize.

“From day one, we never wanted to become a classical services and agency-only business,” says Matthias. “We are entrepreneurs and want to have real ownership and impact with what we do.”

The 50-plus member team at Ming Labs developed numerous business applications for more than 70 clients, ranging from a Chinese job-search platform to a same-day delivery app for a Lufthansa cargo subsidiary.

“If you work on a business to business application, you can design it, but you may never use it,” says Marc. It was an idea shared by many at Ming Labs.

Testing new ground

The group wanted to get into the startup scene. They had the design and development talent to make a complex app in-house, so Ming Labs tried its hand at developing a brand from scratch.

The team created Qutee, an iOS dating app that links users to real-life places to meet up. For example, if you receive a match and choose to go to a specific bar listed in Qutee, the bar may have special deals for Qutee users like a free drink.

The app was well designed and it worked – but making a working app is only the beginning of a startup’s battle.

“We did some marketing and launch parties, but somebody needs to be there to take it to the next level,” says Ming Labs China COO, Sebastian Mueller. “And that’s usually a founder. We didn’t really have a founder who could go full time.”

“Our core business is designing and building products – but we need someone who can bring that to market,” says Marc.

The Liefery logistics app, designed for a Lufthansa subsidiary.

Finding a new model

The folks at Ming Labs needed to find a different way to leverage their design and development experience in the startup sector – a business model that would enable them to get involved and grow with multiple startups, while avoiding crippling levels of founder fatigue.

That’s when Ming Labs developed its new model – developing apps, websites, and providing support for startups in exchange for equity, not cash.

Planning ahead