AI Agents Are Rebuilding Europe’s Construction Industry
- Jörn Menninger
- 56 minutes ago
- 33 min read
Management Summary
AI is no longer reserved for tech giants and developers — it’s reshaping the workshops, construction sites and family businesses that keep Europe running. In this episode and pillar analysis, we explore how Julian Wiedenhaus and his team at PlanCraft built an AI-first operating system for the trades — software that gives craftsmen their weekends back.
Born from a Hamburg carpentry shop, PlanCraft bridges the gap between Excel and enterprise ERP, offering a simple, affordable SaaS that connects field teams and offices. With 20 000 customers and a €38 million Series B, the startup proves that digitization of “non-digital industries” is both profitable and deeply human.
This article distills the core frameworks behind PlanCraft’s success — from product-led growth to creator-driven referrals and AI agents that act like digital co-workers. It also examines how founder values, pricing psychology and a voice-first UX are changing Europe’s construction ecosystem.
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Table of Contents
From Workshop to Series B — The Origin Story
Why the Trades Were a Blue Ocean for SaaS
Product-Led Growth for Craftsmen
Pricing and the “Robin Hood” Model
Creator Referrals and Community Trust
The AI Pivot — Agents and Voice Interfaces
Culture as Infrastructure
Future of Construction 2030
Key Takeaways + AI Search Capsules
Explore More from Startuprad.io
From Workshop to Series B — The Origin Story
When Julian Wiedenhaus first walked into his co-founder’s family carpentry shop in 2018, he found the real Germany — busy hands, paper invoices, and evening hours lost to bureaucracy. Existing software was either too expensive (on-prem ERP licenses) or too primitive (Excel and Word). No one had connected the construction site to the office.
So PlanCraft was born to fill that gap — a cloud-native SaaS for craft businesses with human-centered design and AI in its DNA. Fast-forward to 2025: 20 000 customers across Europe, backed by Headline, CREANDUM and HTGF, and a €38 million Series B.
“Most craftsmen don’t need more paperwork — they need more time for the work that matters.” — Julian Wiedenhaus
Why the Trades Were a Blue Ocean for SaaS
In 2018, there were virtually no cloud tools for Europe’s trades. Construction software was a legacy market running on local servers and lifelong licenses. PlanCraft introduced subscription pricing and cloud freedom to a sector that had never seen it.
The insight: digitalization doesn’t start with features — it starts with empathy. The team spent months observing how craftsmen actually worked. Invoices done on Sundays. Quotes drafted at night. Paper plans folded in trucks. Every minute saved by software was a minute earned for life.
Why SaaS Suits the Trades:
Cloud = mobility between site and office.
Subscription = predictable costs for small firms.
Updates = no more manual maintenance.
Product-Led Growth for Craftsmen
For most founders, PLG means funnels and activation metrics. For PlanCraft, it meant “first win faster.” The moment a craftsman creates his first quote without training is the moment he believes.
Julian’s team optimized onboarding to make that moment arrive in minutes, not hours. Auto-creating projects, pre-filled customer forms — everything designed to reduce friction.
Pro Tip: Map the user’s “aha” moment in seconds, not sessions.
And when your target audience spends its day with hammers, not keyboards, you design for instinct, not tutorials.
Pricing and the “Robin Hood” Model
PlanCraft’s pricing strategy is deceptively simple — make the product affordable for the smallest clients and charge larger companies fairly based on their revenues (which the platform can see via invoicing data).
This data-driven tiering creates a self-balancing ecosystem: micro-SMBs get access, larger players fund scale.
Stat Spotlight: Average construction SMB spends < 1 % of revenue on software; PlanCraft’s model fits within that threshold while driving ARR growth > 40 % YoY.
Creator Referrals and Community Trust
PlanCraft didn’t buy trust; it earned it through creators who actually use the product. Influencers from the trades community create content with PlanCraft because it simplifies their lives, not because they’re paid actors.
The company incentivizes referrals through Cello, a tool that shares ARR with users who bring new customers. Word of mouth becomes a growth engine — honest, sustainable and rooted in peer trust.
“You can’t pay people to advertise a bad product. You can only make one so good they want to talk about it.” — Julian Wiedenhaus
The AI Pivot — Agents and Voice Interfaces
In 2024, PlanCraft began its most radical shift — rebuilding its operating system for trades around AI agents and voice control.
Where most SMBs see AI as a buzzword, Julian sees it as workforce augmentation. Each agent acts as a digital assistant — creating quotes, sorting invoices, reminding teams of deadlines.
“It’s like hiring new employees — only this time they’re digital.”
Market Lens: Europe’s construction sector faces a deficit of half a million skilled workers by 2030. AI agents offer capacity without immigration bottlenecks or training delays.
Voice interfaces take it further: field workers can dictate quotes, log hours and sync data hands-free.
Culture as Infrastructure
PlanCraft’s growth from 40 to 100+ employees wasn’t managed by OKRs alone — it was anchored in values: enthusiasm (Bock), solidarity (Zusammenhalt) and down-to-earth authenticity (Bodenständigkeit).
Founders personally screen for value alignment. Culture scales only when it is made visible and reinforced daily.
Pro Tip: When scaling headcount, double-down on culture rituals before you double your team.
Future of Construction 2030
Julian’s vision is clear — a paperless, fully digitized workforce where craftsmen are AI-enabled, not AI-replaced. By 2030, Europe’s trades could achieve a 10 % productivity gain simply by removing manual documentation.
AI agents will not replace the human touch of craft — they’ll give it more time to breathe.
Key Takeaways
Digitization of the trades is a massive untapped market in Europe.
Empathy-driven design beats feature-driven software.
AI agents can solve labor shortages by augmenting, not replacing workers.
Culture is a scalable system, not a poster.
Internal & External Linking
Internal
Authority Sources
McKinsey Report 2025 on Construction AI Productivity (https://www.mckinsey.com)
European Commission Digital SME Outlook (https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu)
🧩 FAQ Section
1️⃣ What does PlanCraft do?
PlanCraft builds cloud-based SaaS tools that automate quoting, invoicing, and workflow management for Europe’s construction and craft SMBs.
2️⃣ What are AI agents in construction?
They are autonomous digital coworkers that handle repetitive admin tasks so craftsmen can focus on on-site work.
3️⃣ How is PlanCraft different from legacy ERP?
It’s cloud-native, subscription-based, and designed for tradespeople with instant setup and voice control — no complex IT required.
4️⃣ Who founded PlanCraft?
Julian Wiedenhaus and his co-founders launched the company in 2018 after discovering inefficiencies in a family carpentry shop.
5️⃣ How did PlanCraft grow to 20 000 users?
By focusing on product-led growth: fast onboarding, referral incentives, and creator partnerships within the trades community.
6️⃣ What is the “Robin Hood” pricing model
Smaller firms pay minimal SaaS fees while larger customers contribute more based on turnover, keeping access fair for all.
7️⃣ Who invested in PlanCraft’s €38 million Series B?
Headline, Creandum, and HTGF backed the round in 2025 to expand AI and European reach.
8️⃣ How does PlanCraft use AI right now?
AI agents prepare quotes, process invoices, and analyze data while voice interfaces allow hands-free operation on-site.
9️⃣ Will AI replace craftsmen?
No — it augments human work, removing paperwork and freeing time for skilled labor.
🔟 What trades does PlanCraft serve?
Carpenters, roofers, painters, installers, electricians, and other construction specialists.
11️⃣ When did the AI pivot begin?
In 2024 PlanCraft started rebuilding its platform around agentic workflows and voice steering.
12️⃣ How does voice control help?
Workers can speak to create quotes or record progress, converting speech directly into structured project data.
13️⃣ What problem does PlanCraft really solve?
Administrative overload — the software turns evenings of paperwork into minutes of automation.
14️⃣ How does the company measure success?
By hours saved for customers and organic referrals ra13th
15️⃣ What are PlanCraft’s core values?
Bock (enthusiasm), Zusammenhalt (solidarity), and Bodenständigkeit (down-to-earth authenticity).
16️⃣ How does hiring preserve culture across borders?
Founders personally vet for value alignment, ensuring every hire embodies the same principles.
17️⃣ What advice does Julian give founders building for non-digital users?
“Sit beside them, watch them work, and forget your assumptions.”
18️⃣ What’s PlanCraft’s vision for 2030?
A fully digitized, paper-free craft industry where AI agents and voice workflows are standard.
19️⃣ How can AI help the trades’ labor shortage?
By automating admin and logistics so existing teams accomplish more without extra staffing.
20️⃣ Where can I learn more?
Visit plancraft.com or hear the full conversation on Startuprad.io for deep founder insights.
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The Host & Guest
The host in this interview is Jörn “Joe” Menninger, startup scout, founder, and host of Startuprad.io. And guest is Julian Wiedenhaus, CEO & Co-Founder of PlanCraft
📝 About the Author
Jörn “Joe” Menninger is the founder and host of Startuprad.io — one of Europe’s top startup podcasts. Joe's work is featured in Forbes, Tech.eu, and more. He brings 15+ years of expertise in consulting, strategy, and startup scouting.
Automated Transcript
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:00:00]:
We start with the hook Madhu. If you're building a SaaS for traditional industries, you know the challenges. Customers are busy doing the real work, not sitting in front of screens. Julian Videnhuis, CEO and co founder of PlanCraft in English PlanCraft turned that reality into opportunity. From a family carpentry shop to 38 million Series B funding, Planecraft is now transforming how Europe's craftsmen run their businesses using AI agents, voice control and human centered design. Today we unpack how you scale a startup that makes real work more human.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:00:46]:
Welcome to Startuprad IO, your podcast and YouTube blog covering the German startup scene with news, interviews and live events.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:01:01]:
Today we're joined by Julian Videnhuis, CEO and co founder of Plancraft in English Plancraft one of Europe's fastest growing SaaS startups of the trades, Plancraft began with a simple insight. Most craftsmen don't need more paperwork, they need more time for the work that matters. Under Julian's leadership, the Hamburg based startup crew from a student project to pan European platform serving more than 20,000 businesses backed by top investors like Headline Creatum and the high tech Grunder from hdgf. Log into the interview of the former CEO to learn more about them. Recognized by Welt Virtual and frz, Julian's vision fuses AI simplicity, human empathy. Moving that technology can empower even the most traditional industries. Julian Moin and welcome to Startupgrade IO.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:02:00]:
Thanks for having me. Great to see you.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:02:02]:
Great to talk only my pleasure. Let us directly jump in with the question. Take us back to the first moment of your co founder's carpentry shop. What problem did you see that none of the existing software solutions did solve?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:02:23]:
So you gotta imagine that was in 2018 somewhere. May, June, weather turned great when the business kind of starts to flourish and then there is just a shit ton of work to do for those folks in the carpentry and in any other craft as well. And so we've been visiting because they've changed the software, wanted to of course improve a lot of things mainly to speed up of course and get more freedom but secondly also to better connect construction sites and the office. And so in this carpentry, like roughly 20 folks, 20 employees in that, in that crew, we've seen the hectic everyday life and I think what existing players, mostly on premise tools back then there was no other cloud solution available, did not see or maybe didn't want to see, is that they had good business running. You know, they had a product they could sell for a lifetime license and then they were selling Additional packages such as maintenance contracts and service contracts, and partially even evolving, including updates. And that was going okay and people were at least not happy with it, but it was working because there was no other solution at hand. And I think while this business kept being eligible, nobody really dared to fully innovate and fully set on cloud. And I guess what then of course changed was that we been growing up with Spotify, Netflix and Amazon, and then you don't want to have that, you don't want to have that run on your local computer, on your local machine.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:03:59]:
And we just wanted to bring that freedom and that ease of use to software for the carpentry because we just saw insanely much was happening in their everyday lives, but not what was really kind of moving the needle for them.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:04:15]:
Plus what I also have in mind, because there will be breaks from time to time for the carpentry work that they can or cannot do at this point. And basically when they do have a SaaS solution, a cloud solution, they can just simply pull out their tablet, the laptop and start working, which doesn't necessarily work with on premise tools. Before plancraft, most craft businesses used, for example Word and Excel. Where was the market so underserved? And what did you learn from observing like the real workflows in small workshops?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:04:49]:
So basically there were two paths to follow. If you have your own construction business, either you go with something that's basically for free, or in Excel, nothing, you got to kind of pay additionally and you can just use it. Of course it's not meant to be your enterprise resource planning system. So no ERP or the other way was you go with any of the existing on prem tools, pay a couple of thousand for a lifetime kind of license for you to use that software, and then you have a couple of hundreds of euros per year, partially per month to keep it up and running. And of course there is a gap in between where companies can either afford for this very expensive tool or they go for Word Excel. And so what we basically did was we filled that gap with SSAs typical business model, you gotta pay monthly or in yearly advance and then you're gonna just have that SaaS fee instead of having those even bigger investments or nothing to use. And so this is kind of still valid until this day that we try to, yeah, go with good options for clients that they can actually finance.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:05:57]:
When somebody starts a company with a vision, you somewhere have in the back of my mind, one day I want to. What was your one day catalytic moment like the point where you realize this needs to Be startup, not just a project.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:06:20]:
So while we were doing our interviews after that carpentry and after every interview we came kind of out of it saying gosh, there's just so much we could do. And kind of it was more of a where's the end? What's kind of the scope we can actually work on always? Rather than the okay, is there anything we could actually do? So after seeing the carpentry, it was already clear that there's definitely the chance for opening a business. It was just a question of what's that business, how big can it be and what do we want to do and where do we kind of feel it has value and we love to do it and form a team around. So yeah, it really started when that first, first time when we've been in the back office, at least for me, and then after every other interview that we did to understand is it just the carpentry? If it's just this one carpentry or if it's any other carpentry we might pick. And yeah, it confirmed more and more and over time. So this was kind of basically building.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:07:26]:
Up the trades in, in Germany you, I know like 80% of our audience is from the Dach area and they know that you can really learn the trades in a two year, three year apprenticeship, but you really have to learn it. But the trade sector nonetheless faces massive headwinds like the skill shortages because you have to train like people two, three years, then they are like real apprentices and then they learn more and more. So there's a skill shortage because you cannot like staff all the vacancies, the climate mandates and biocracy. How did you decide where Plancraft could make the biggest impact?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:08:13]:
So in that sense, kind of we've, we've seen the companies and just figured okay, we do already have some people working in the trades even though of course there's, there's a shortage and we need more of them. But just the imagination saying, okay, if the ones that we have wouldn't spend their evenings and days unproductive and you know, loaded with stuff they shouldn't be doing or that just takes longer than it should, we could achieve already filings for example, way more like you gotta imagine usually like Saturday was always is a, is a construction day is like a work regular work day for most of them either to earn extra money on the site. And then Sunday is typically the kind of back office day by nature where you also do kind of everything that you just need to do legally as well, of course, partially Caring for invoices and quotes that just need to serve customers. Whereas in the evenings on a regular workday, there's terms just to try and bring order to chaos that the team is producing because they're not using any tool. And so just seeing that kind of we need to start in thinking, okay, how can we make them more efficient was kind of the starting point. And so we started with quotation and invoicing because we saw that was kind of the task that is taking up the most time if it's spent in the office. So while in the office, which is generally not anything where you would create value for your customers because it's something that you need to do as overhead, purely what's the biggest part of it. And that was pretty clearly invoicing and quotation.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:09:55]:
So we started with that topic.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:09:59]:
We may add for everybody who's not from the area that when you give a quote, there is a limited amount of what it can go up and down. So basically you have to nail the quote, otherwise you're working more than you get paid for.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:10:13]:
Let's talk a little bit about this.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:10:15]:
Quote calculator and product evolution. Going from a quote calculator to full business suit, what was the hardest pivot you made along the way? And when I was looking at your product, you do now cover a lot of common traits. But I was wondering, could for example, a dog groomer also use your tool?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:10:39]:
So let me start at the front of the question. So I guess coming from this co calculator to the full business suite was quite the challenge to maintain ease of use and simplicity, which by nature means that you won't have a million buttons and a million functions because you just want to keep it lean and clean. And at the same time, as the core operating system of a company, you need to have a good amount of features to be actually the operating system. And so this is a challenge that is just inherited and kind of part of the problem we try to solve. And so it has taken us a good amount of time to always make sure that it's despite we're adding more depth and more width and features still doesn't overload the interface. And so I guess this was the biggest challenge. And when you, when you talk about pivots, I guess is there have been multiple points where we just realized, okay, let's not add another process that would kind of make sure that we can target another segment. You got to see in the trades, of course, there's different segments by the trades.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:11:49]:
So there's construction companies there's carpentries, there's painters, roofers, solitaires, installers, electricians. So every of these types of business have a couple of things they would really want to have in the, in the tool and kind of we started on the carpentry with more of a project based companies in mind and we had to say no to a lot of features that we found valuable and would be interesting to get into. Yeah, in conversations with other, other trades we were not serving that well. So it's kind of a constant pivot in the sense that we said no to new things that we would love to do. And I guess now the biggest pivot is what we just kicked off a couple of months back when we said okay, we want to rebuild in the way we think about a operating system for tradespeople with AI in mind. How is an AI first solution looking like while having the still the range of features and processes that we cover but being used in the totally different way, more autonomous through agents, more driven through single interfaces and voice steering. And so I guess the biggest pivot is just ongoing.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:13:01]:
In our interview with Fonio AI also company they said we don't have right now a reset my password button because it was never requested by a client. Do you have like similar stringent rules you follow in order to achieve, not to overload with buttons, not to overload with features and what you drop and what you actually implement.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:13:28]:
So a nice example was in the early days the first thing that came to mind when we built like a contact list. So as your operation system you need to maintain clients and have a customer database. And so the kind of tech tech folks would always just go with okay, let's, let's build an API to Google Contacts and an Apple and just integrate the different solutions that there are because they must store their data there. And then talking to our clients, figuring out, okay, they mostly just have either Excel lists or none at all, maybe stored on their local iPhone or whatever so they can export this. We don't need to build an API to Google Context, for example, that is kind of maintained because we needed to step into the shoes of our clients at the same time. Of course we want to push also the kind of where the trades is today and that they use more of the tech available. But this was one example that I still under this day found very fascinating when thinking about is that we always need to remind ourselves okay, what's something that we would just love to see in that, in that product because we're, we're a tech company and what's something that our clients really need to have.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:14:40]:
When was researching for this interview, I saw you often say your mission is to create frantwerker, meaning free free time for craftsmen. How do you balance this automation with preserving the craft's human touch?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:14:59]:
I guess it's. It's nothing that goes in different directions. It's just a. It's just the same thing. Any. Anything where we can kind of create space which is how we would translate it. It's a means to give more human touch in the real world because they can spend their time whatever they. They gain kind of with whatever they feel is fruitful.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:15:19]:
So my biggest aha moment that we really make a difference for the lives of our clients was when I've seen a Instagram post of a client that was in a swimming pool and in the background you could see that kind of there was the pool and there was kids playing around and swimming and he was on a little table and had his iPad in front of him and basically saying okay, now I can bring my son to training because he has a swimming class and I can use the time productively so we can spend the night together. And seeing that was the perfect essence of okay. This is actual human touch. Not in his work but in his. In his private life. And it's all about giving this space to our clients.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:16:05]:
Julian, you scaled a tech company serving people who still work with their hands. There's something deep, there's something deeply human in that contrast in the founders world. We'll explore how your daily meditation routine shapes how you lead through chaos. Find the link down here in the show notes. You can subscribe on substack or YouTube for this premium membership which only runs five bucks. Don't worry about it. Not that expensive. Julian, talk about culture.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:16:37]:
Culture can make or break scaling, especially between SEED and crsb, you said so which the person whose values don't align does not get hired. How do you keep that culture intact, especially when scaling across countries?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:17:03]:
So I guess first of all kind of it's the. It's the answer to questions. So making sure that people who don't align just won't make their way into this company. We do a pretty decent job of communicating what we stand for and what we want to see in people, which is that they are absolutely stoked about the thing that we're doing and we're building together, that they work together and they want to cooperate rather than have their individual success being highlighted. And lastly being down to earth and so having those crystal clear Values being shown to the outside world, being checked for in the hiring makes of course sure that there's kind of an 80% alignment on that whenever somebody's joining the kind of the team. And then the second part to the answer is, of course, if you don't treat this with care and if you don't live this especially as the leadership team, but everybody in the company, then it kind of washes down over time. And so I think us as the former, as the founders, as the C level, as the management team, but just as true for every other person in the company. We need to remind ourselves and show this every day and live by this.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:18:19]:
And it's something that I think we do very, very well because we all together see that this is very, very important when it comes to maintaining the culture that we love and that we are happy to have talked about the.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:18:36]:
Culture that you have and your core values. Actually that was a little bit of a head scratcher for me. Bock Susannheit Buck is to have enthusiasm. And that took me quite a long time to nail that. That translation solidarity and is down to earth now. Especially since you're working with people who really still work with their hands. How do you recruit, especially internationally, you have to have a few people who understand what you want, what you do, what kind of people you're looking for. How do you get like those first people, the core from what you're growing?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:19:16]:
I think it's a general question like how do you interview for values? And it's of course, situational questions where you have people describe how they've approached certain situations. It's not always only professional situations, but just anything that's important to them in life. And I always go with also with the question to understand, okay, what kind of shaped you as a person? What are other people that have shaped you and why and what's something that you find valuable? We asked the question of which is the value of our three values that you align most with? Already checking. Okay, do they even know the three values that we stand for? Have they seen, have they checked it and then which one they they pick and why? And then to just, yeah, trust the interview process of making sure that happens. And this is done first, right away when kind of screening candidates and also at the very end, until this day, someone of the especially management team, but mostly even founders are still involved to make sure kind of that we check twice on this because this is the most precious thing that we have.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:20:23]:
Founders, if you're scaling a SaaS beyond your comfort zone Drop a comment. What's the biggest challenge? Culture, pricing or product market fit? Julian, you moved from 40 to over 100 employees in a year. What system, what mental framework or idea helps you scale culture as well as headcount?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:20:50]:
So I think culture is something that only scales if you manage this well and actively. And I mean, we've just talked about it. That is something that we bake into everything that we do. And it's more about making culture kind of tangible, that people know what it is and have this on their mind, because it's something that tends to be forgotten way too quick. So whenever we do okrs, such as goal setting, we partially even connect kind of. How do those fit into our framework of our values? I mean, we mostly, of course, use our values as the one thing that's super sharp and super concrete and easy to use. And culture is way more than that. Culture is everything that we do and mostly also the stuff that we are not aware of, that we're doing.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:21:37]:
This when it comes to kind of doing coffees and bringing something to your colleagues and the handshake that we have and anything that's kind of making us special that we don't really feel and see it because it's normal for us, it's about highlighting those things and making sure they kind of are lived, reinforced. And this is something that happens from the team, but of course, mostly through the leadership. And having this leadership team in place when we've been the 40 to then even scale to cross 100 and not just throw people at a problem, but just really go in a structured way is just as important as scaling the culture.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:22:17]:
Let's take a little bit into your growth mechanics. You transitioned from a few early adopters, which usually on average include some relatives of friends, to really 20,000 paying customers. How did you do that?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:22:35]:
So this is the kind of the core question everybody would love to see. And if there would be an easy answer, everybody would do it. So it's a complex system of things that we've tried out and stuff. But for us, the most important channels have been, of course, having the best product in the market, at least from our perspective, because that will always, that will increase CVRs, that will drive referral, that will do anything kind of for you. And so having this product that we're really, really obsessed with and trying to make sure that it's the best in doing the job of creating space is the core and most crucial thing. And any you can have the best marketing, can have the best sales, it won't Last for long if your product shit. And so you need to care about it very, very, very, very, very much. And besides that kind of always try to go with a rather product led approach where also the product is not only delivering value, but also easy to learn, easy to understand and something that especially in our target group was very, very crucial.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:23:35]:
And then again that drives really that we can win creators that we collaborate with and carry us out into world if we would, if we would be a shitty company that has a stupid culture nobody wants to work with and has a shitty product. You can, you cannot win, at least not for long creators. You cannot pay that much money that people will advertise shitty products. You cannot have word of mouth, which is something that is a core emotion for us. Of course we kind of subsidize in a way that we or incentivize our clients to do referrals. So we do work with, with Cello as one tool to kind of have them participate in the ARR they generate for us through referral. And so kind of it's a actual good relationship with the client saying okay, thank you and not here's like a $20Amazon voucher, but it's you, you can participate in the value you create by referring the product. And so I guess just layering these different motions and while connecting them to having a good, good product is the one thing that really, yeah was always crucial and essential in making that happen.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:24:40]:
Guys, we'll be back right after a short break where Julian shares how plancraft's pricing model and product led growth strategy turned word of mouth into sustainable scale. Julian, welcome back. You mentioned pricing and ACV strategy in past interviews. How did you balance the affordability for small trades with predictable ARR for investors?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:25:11]:
So I guess it's not about AR for investors, but it's about AR for the company. But the one thing I always like to take as a metaphor is kind of Robinhood. So we always try to focus on having an affordable product for the very, very small ones of our customers and at the same time charging the prices the bigger clients can afford for again, the bit bigger clients to just balance this off. And I guess having this in mind, we've of course are in a very, very nice situation of being an invoicing tool. So we know more or less kind of the revenue of a company that's working with us. And so we of course check, okay, how much do you actually pay compared to what's the revenue that you're making? And we even know how it's composed and that of course helped us understanding and having a guidance on, okay, how much should those companies pay for Plantcraft? Depending on how much money you're making and how much, what's your overall margin, etc.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:26:14]:
Product led growth in construction SaaS. Kind of sounds counterintuitive. How did you design onboarding to work for craftsmen, not tech users?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:26:27]:
Yeah. So the core question we've asked ourselves, okay, what's the first big win that you need to achieve in order to understand and love the product? I mean it's a, it's the same thing as Meta, formerly Facebook did back then was finding out, okay, what's that one movement when people really stick? And for us that was really identifying those, those wins and how can we make sure that happens super, super fast. So in early days we've skipped some of the regular process steps. When you want to create your first quote, you need to usually create a little project in which you also create the customer. And we said, okay, to really give the client a fast aha moment, we've kind of speed up that process and so you create your account and then you just hit, okay, create my first quant. And kind of, we've done that steps for you in the background. We've kind of reworked this flow I guess a hundred times. But it was always about thinking, okay, what's the win the customer needs to do? And how can you make sure to show this really, really quickly?
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:27:31]:
You've been doing some interesting stuff. You build a strong influencer network with creators. How did that community first strategy impact the trust in your brand? And how do you measure that?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:27:47]:
So I guess measuring this is super, super difficult. And it's something that's rather qualitative in nature. When you talk to clients, when you talk to partners and you can sense, are they actually trusting you? Are they actually willing to go the extra mile? Are they enduring fuckups that you do over time because you increase prices overly or you miscommunicate certain feature releases? Whatever it is, I guess it's, it's all the metrics that you have that paint this picture. I guess what really matters in this sense is that we work with real tradespeople, not just somebody who's doing advertising for us. So it was always mandatory that they really, yeah. Use the system themselves to create offers and invoices and whatever they need to do to really be standing behind the product and seeing that it has a value. And so this was really crucial for us that we are not doing something superficial, but just honestly and true.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:28:45]:
We've Been talking and teasing a little bit about AI in your tool before. What role does it play, especially using AI agents voice first interactions. Is the plane the next generation of plancraft?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:29:02]:
Yes. AI agents is the next generation of plancraft definitely. Because it's just insanely valuable for our clients to think they could get new employees, digital ones, without having to source for them, having to onboard them and having to pay them even in a way at least we're not charging as much as an actual co worker. And so in a industry where you have a shortage of skilled labor and even unskilled labor, it is very interesting to have this agentic approach. And so I guess looking in the next kind of one, two, three years into the future, we will see dramatic changes in the way small businesses are being operated and run.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:29:59]:
When talking about AI, everybody has something, everybody has tools, features also box. Obviously I was wondering if you guys do have a framework for deciding which AI features will be built next versus what you leave out.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:30:21]:
So it's following the same kind of logic that we've always tried to have is really okay, where do our customers lose most of the time and where is kind of most potential that we see. And then from there on we decide, okay, what's the bet that we want to take? And at the same time we also need to acknowledge that especially in, in early days of new technology and new solutions, you need to experiment a lot and you just need to develop stuff, throw it out to the clients, get real, real world feedback and then see what sticks and what works and whatnot. And so at the same time we try to have both kind of experimenting a lot and just playing around with whatever is kind of again, state of the art in this week and what's possible and in parallel following kind of the track where we see, okay, tackling the problems, the bigger ones that our customers have, where kind of the most.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:31:15]:
Potential sits in the founders world. Julian breaks down different pricing experiments and referral loops how he trains his team to think like craftsmen and not coders to learn more in our founders vault. Taking you now a little bit into vision and reflection part of this interview, you said every employee at plancraft should experience AI. How do you do this on an operational basis?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:31:47]:
So a, you need to give access to the tools that are at hand. And I guess this is sounds super logical, but I see a lot of companies holding back and then there's somebody requesting and then there's a, there's a no. So we really give room and also use that, that money that we've of course fundraised through investment rounds to make sure that we, we were always thrilled about having the newest solutions at hand just to understand what's, what's currently possible. And then secondly, of course, just getting the people that want to, want to experiment and that want to collect these experiences is a very important step, especially in a growing company. And, and also with the existing team just making sure everybody understands why they should do it, why they should experiment, rather than the how. So I guess this is the, the core task every, every management, founder, whoever runs an organization has to fulfill. It's. We don't experiment with AI and experiences because of the, because it's a hype topic, but because it has so much to offer for you and making sure that this translation follows and doesn't threaten people, but makes them curious and willing to experiment and try stuff.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:33:02]:
And there will always be the negotiation if there is enough time operationally to really figure out stuff. And so while on the one hand you have to communicate to the team that if it's important for them and that's something they should understand, they need to invest the time. And on the other hand you also need to, as a founder or management, make sure that there's room and goals set in a way that there's this potential to play around with it.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:33:31]:
I was wondering, what's your vision for Europe's craft industry for 2030 if digitalization finally catches up with them?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:33:41]:
I guess just having a workforce that is fully digitized where there's no paper trail, that will be already something which doesn't sound too fancy and future led. But if you look in the real world in construction, that is something that would really envision is every company is using the tools to get rid of paper trail, increase data quality, increase speed and efficiency among their teams and peers.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:34:10]:
Last question on AI, I promise. What's a common misconception about AI in the more traditional industries that you wish founders would stop?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:34:21]:
I've actually, I'm not so sure that founders are the ones communicating misconceptions. I guess there's just a lot of buzz and hype in, in any different direction that you might look because it's just a topic that nobody yet knows how it will turn out and how it really will reshape. I guess what everybody I feel are now agreeing on is that if you learn or do an apprenticeship and get to learn the job of a carpenter or of a painter, that you will be very, very much valuable in the next couple of years. And I of course go the step further and just think of okay, if you are not only a carpenter but you are an AI enabled carpenter that also gets rid of the stuff that's kind of annoying then you'll be the top one. So why not directly answering the question. But I guess this is just my standpoint, not knowing what other founders proclamation I find difficult. Again, there's a lot of misconception I guess, but because everybody nobody really knows, neither do I. I just know it for my industry and how we'll change that.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:35:24]:
From our audience. I would like to know if you're running a tech startup in a more traditional industry, what's the biggest mindset barrier that you have faced? Comment down here. Let's do a few more questions. Very, very soft, very slow. What advice would you give pounders for building for non digital native users?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:35:52]:
Get in touch a lot, sit next to those people, really understand how they are using your tool or any other tool and just familiarize and lay off your own perspective.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:36:08]:
What's one belief or practice, maybe from your meditation that keeps you balanced through scaling chaos?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:36:16]:
I think it's two thoughts. One is I always think there's so many great companies and so many people who have built this, who have gone through struggles of having this chaos. So we will be fine. We will also do this. So it's a lot of good kind of I say confidence in ourselves. I guess it's the one thing. And the other one, a big belief I have is just that you got to show up and do the work. There's not enough shortcuts in life for you to only run shortcuts.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:36:50]:
So you got to show up and again, you got to talk to your clients, you got to get your hands dirty, you got to do the work. And of course one or the other thing can automate or give out of your hands, but it should be the actual work that you feel you're doing if it really should be helpful.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:37:12]:
And our two usual closing questions. Are you open to talk to new investors?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:37:19]:
As we just closed our Series B Now in 2025 summertime, right now is not a good time. The only time I take is to go and talk to you this podcast because I think it's valuable to share the learnings that we've made. But not right now.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:37:36]:
I think there is. Then of course the second usual question. You just raised funds as you said. Are you currently looking for talented people?
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:37:46]:
If you are as stoked as I am about the change in construction and if you are not only an AI native but also somebody who is wanting to work together very closely, then please please join my team and reach out. Just check plant growth.com I'm sure you're going to share the link that we have plenty of open slots and feel free also to reach out to me directly through LinkedIn. Just hit me up.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:38:14]:
Juju was a pleasure talking to you. Thank you very much. Hope to have you back after you see your C funding.
Julian Wiedenhaus | CEO & Co-Founder | PlanCraft [00:38:21]:
Thanks for having me.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:38:22]:
My pleasure.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:38:23]:
Have a good day. Bye Bye.
Jörn "Joe" Menninnger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:38:29]:
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