Rows Success Story. 10 OOTB questions to founder Torben Schulz

Rows recently raised $8.7 million in funding. Success story to Torben Schulz in 10 out-of-the-box questions

Author

Lina Makeeva
June 06, 2024

Rows, a spreadsheet platform provider based in Porto, Portugal, and Berlin, Germany, has secured $8.7 million in a recent funding round. The investment was led by Indico Capital Partners, with contributions from existing investors Cherry Ventures, Accel, Lakestar, and Armilar Venture Partners.

The company plans to use the new funds to expand its operations, increase its market presence, and enhance its development efforts.

Founded in 2017 by Torben Schulz and Humberto Ayres Pereira, Rows offers a cloud-based, AI-powered spreadsheet platform. This platform enables users to tackle business challenges using their spreadsheet expertise. Rows boasts all the features of traditional tools like Excel and Google Sheets, while also providing a unique layout, an AI Analyst, and native integrations. The platform is already being utilized by prominent companies such as AWS, Hewlett-Packard, Prisma Media, and Mercado Libre.

I asked 10 out-of-the-box questions to startup founder Torben Schulz to better understand his experience and journey to success.

Torben Schulz, Founder & COO at Rows

1. If your startup were a character in a movie, who would it be and why?

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The rat in Ratatouille. Rows is about empowerment. About turning normal people into creators. We help office workers work freely with the data they need to innovate.

2. What unconventional or unexpected experiences in your life have influenced your approach to building this company?

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I’m the first of my family to have studied at a university. I’m also a spreadsheet user who can’t code. The ability to create with technology is critical for success today. I want to create opportunities for people to be successful.

3. If you had to pivot your business model tomorrow, what completely different industry would you explore?

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Critical tech for the sovereignty of an economy. Maybe even defense.

4. What’s a surprising or counterintuitive belief that you hold about your industry?

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Rows will be the world’s most used spreadsheet in 2035.

5. How do you ensure that creativity and innovation are continuously fostered within your team?

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Week-long hackathons, exploration days, clear communication of user problems.

6. If you could spend a day shadowing any other startup founder, who would it be and what would you hope to learn?

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Mel from Canva. I’d love to learn how they create their brand and how they drive their culture of innovation at high speed.

7. What was the most unusual or memorable feedback you received from a customer, and how did it impact your business?

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I love customer feedback, especially from marketers who push us to build a better spreadsheet for reporting and analysis for their teams. It helps us a lot.

8. In what ways has failure or a major setback contributed to your current success?

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We decided to go multi-platform and to build a native desktop app prematurely. While we still want to build an app eventually, we had to correct that in 2022. With a smaller team, we have shipped at a higher pace.

9. If you could go back in time and give your pre-launch self one piece of advice, what would it be and why?

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I’d go back to the fist days of building the product. I‘d invest more into the UI/ Frontend, and less into automation/ Backend. In productivity tools targeting a billion people, great UX/UI are key for adoption.

10. What book, film, or piece of art has inspired you the most in your entrepreneurial journey, and how?

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Again Ratatouille. Anyone can be a chef!

Thanks Torben for the interesting and truthful answers.

Contact me if you're a startup founder, if your startup has raised over $1M, if you want to talk about a new round, an achievement or a new milestone [email protected]

Let's tell your story for thousands of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and enthusiasts.

Lina M.,
CMO and Co-founder at Parsers VC
[email protected]
LinkedIn

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