Make Sure You Know the Market: Interview with Stefan Lederer, Co-Founder and CEO of Bitmovin

I recently went one-on-one with Stefan Lederer, co-founder and CEO of Bitmovin.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?

Stefan: I co-founded Bitmovin in 2013 when I was a PhD student at the University of Klagenfurt. It was a hugely exciting time for video streaming! YouTube was a global phenomenon and helped cement the concept of viral videos. Netflix began shaping popular culture, and people coined new phrases around it.  So much of the internet traffic was video; compared to broadcast, these streaming technologies were not robust yet.  

When I was at university, I spent a lot of time researching how to improve online video experiences, and I even co-created the MPEG-DASH video streaming standard, which accounts for over 50% of global online internet traffic that’s used by Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube, just to name a few. We founded Bitmovin because we realized that there was a massive opportunity for us to bring innovations to video streaming infrastructure. At first, we focused on building video compression technologies, which optimize video quality, even over lower bandwidths. We also built a video player because we couldn’t find one good enough. Then, when we started winning customers and realized that we needed an Analytics product to monitor video playback performance in real time, we built Bitmovin Analytics too!

When we first started, Bitmovin was just a small team of engineers, and now we have almost 200 Bitmovers with offices in Vienna, Klagenfurt, London,  Denver and Berlin with an exciting client list that includes ClassPass, the BBC, fuboTV, Hulu Japan and The Recording Academy! 

My advice to other entrepreneurs looking for great ideas is quite simple: think about the problems that need solving, whether it is in a B2C or B2B environment, and think about how you can solve them!  Also, remember, a great idea doesn’t always need to be complicated. Sometimes, the best innovations are simple. 

Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?

Stefan: I pursued my Ph.D. in video engineering despite having job offers from the likes of Google and McKinsey because I was, and still am, fascinated with how video had the potential to change people’s day-to-day lives around the world. The combination of having a background in video engineering and seeing how online video was taking off meant that I knew the time was right to create a company that could raise the standard of video streaming experiences. 

My advice for anyone wanting to test a business idea would be to spend time researching what solutions are available on the market and speak to companies with competing solutions and potential customers so you understand the market and what you need to solve. Building a company is incredibly rewarding - there’s nothing like it, but it’s a lot of hard work, so it’s best to do as much research beforehand to make sure you know the market and maximize your chance of success.

Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?

Stefan: As I mentioned before, understanding the market is critical if you want to grow your business. That’s not to say you can’t pivot if you have a background in engineering, but you have an excellent idea for a restaurant; it means you need to work extra hard to put the time and effort in to understand the industry before you take the plunge.

Second, the power of pricing cannot be underestimated. You may recall the episode of The Office, where Michael Scott launches his own paper company but discovers while his low prices are a key differentiator, they also mean his company is on the brink of running out of money. Ultimately, it’s a fine balance between competitive pricing that’s attractive to customers but also supports your growth; this is especially important in the tech industry. 

Another important Bitmovin value that’s been instrumental to our growth is always thinking through the customer lens. It’s super easy for entrepreneurs to lose focus on what their customers want, and sometimes there’s a huge disconnect between what the entrepreneur thinks is important and what the customer thinks is important. You need to remain engaged with your customers and regularly check in with them to see what is and isn’t working because the only real way to understand what your customers want is to talk to them!

Lastly, I would say the mentors I have had have really helped shape my career. When Bitmovin went through the Y Combinator seed accelerator, we had several outstanding mentors who were amazing sounding boards and helped us make better decisions for the company's future. I have also been mentored by some of Bitmovin’s angel investors and CEOs from other companies in our industry, and they’ve all helped me grow professionally and personally and enhanced my decision-making. My advice to any entrepreneur would be: Don’t be afraid to reach out to people you look up to and ask them to mentor you! 

Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?

Stefan: I personally believe that a company’s very first sales hire should be the Founder. This is crucial because the company’s leader needs to be out in the field and hearing customer feedback first-hand and using it to improve the product until it meets the needs of the market. Don’t start building a sales team until the first few deals are closed and the product 

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Stefan: I personally model my leadership style on the values I learned growing up: leading by example, ownership, trust, and accountability.  Another key quality is showing respect to every single member of your team and ensuring everyone shows respect for each other’s skillset and experience. One of Bitmovin’s company values is “Challenge the idea, respect the person.” and I believe has been fundamental in helping us create a positive, and collaborative company culture. 

While my core leadership values have stayed the same, it has also evolved as Bitmovin grew from a small scrappy startup to a global leader in video streaming infrastructure. I look everywhere for inspiration - from mentors and books to blogs and podcasts to help me be the best leader possible for my team. 

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?

Stefan: In the early days of Bitmovin, I remember someone told me that it’s better when startups hire experienced people from leading brands instead of investing in the training and development of people. The reasoning was that talent from major companies looks great to investors and it also arguably helps validate your company to external stakeholders. But competition for these candidates is fierce, and there is no guarantee they’ll be a good fit for your company. I have often seen it happen when a hire with a successful track record at a huge company joins a startup and struggles because young companies typically require much more agility, rely less on legacy systems and processes, and pivot much more quickly. 

Every company needs to invest in its team to help it meet its objectives. It’s also important for team morale to know that their company supports their development and wants them to keep their skills sharp. I wish I had realized this a bit earlier.

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Stefan: The best advice I ever received was from an entrepreneur-turned-investor who told me one of his biggest regrets was selling his company because he was overworked and completely burned out when he sold it. In retrospect, he thinks he should have prioritized taking vacations and not sold the company. Most founders know how hard it is to switch off and rest because entrepreneurship is a lifestyle. However, his advice showed me that taking downtime to relax and reboot is essential. Being on 24/7 leads to stress, resulting in bad business decisions and outcomes. 


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally-recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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