Celebrating 15 years of empower: looking back and looking forward

7 min read
October 7, 2024

Microsoft Office is the standard software in offices around the world. Millions of people use Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or Outlook every day—even though their core competencies are elsewhere and they never learned to use the programs from scratch. We set out in 2009 to revolutionize the Microsoft Office experience. Since then we’ve been building solutions that make it easier, more consistent, and more efficient for people around the world to work with Microsoft Office.

 

This year we celebrate our 15th anniversary. Join us in celebrating and let’s take a look at some exciting milestones, highlights, and future projects.

How the story began

empower was founded by Stephan Kuhnert and Fabian Willebrand after they discovered the enormous value of automation in Microsoft Office documents during their work as management consultants. Their automations—at that time still in the form of macros—enabled their users to work more efficiently.

Their users’ enthusiasm motivated Stephan and Fabian to start their own company. So, the story of empower as a productivity solution provider began in 2005 when Stephan and Fabian founded the company “made in office GmbH” on a part-time basis. Their vision: to make working with Microsoft Office more efficient and effective through automation.

Clear values were important to the two founders from the start: a family business culture without an elbow mentality, high standards for their own work and for dealing with customers, and honesty. These values are summarized in the acronym TACH: Together, Aspiration, Customer Focus, and Honesty.

Old office empower

“We’re proud to have successfully achieved the goals we set ourselves with the acquisition of Strategy Compass,” says Fabian Willebrand.
 

empower's success story: from getting started to going global

“At first, we ran our own company while working full time for others. We weren’t sure if there was a market for our idea. Over time, however, the market developed more and more, so in 2005 we officially founded a limited company,” Fabian recalls.

In 2009, the two founders quit their jobs as management consultants to focus on their company, “Made in Office GmbH”. They moved into their first office on Ebertplatz in Cologne and hired their first employee, Robin.

The first version of the software solution was released in 2010 under the name “mio PPT Toolkit”, later known as empower®. The big breakthrough came just two years later, when Continental AG became the first DAX-listed company to implement the software company-wide. This vote of confidence was an important milestone for the company.

Strong growth led to a move to a larger office in the renowned KölnTurm in 2013. With more than 30 employees, the company continued to expand. The next big step followed in 2015: empower expanded to the USA and hired its first American employee, Victor Rodriguez.

New office empower

In 2016, the empower® solution expanded to include a special charting solution, which was implemented by Siemens and others. The following year, the team continued to grow and the office in the KölnTurm was expanded by an additional floor for more than 50 employees.

In 2018, empower launched a complete empower® suite, including all Office products. Bayer AG, another large DAX-listed company, signed on as a customer using the entire suite. Two years later, in 2020, the company expanded its target market with the empower® Express platform, which was specially developed for small companies and sole traders.

Despite global challenges, empower has continued to grow. By 2022, the company employed more than 100 people worldwide.

The next big step was taken in 2024 with the acquisition of Strategy Compass GmbH, which enabled empower to further expand its market position. Their goal is to successfully and sustainably integrate the Strategy Compass team and clients without forcing synergies. Both are particularly proud of this, their first acquisition.

“We’re proud to have successfully achieved the goals we set ourselves with the acquisition of Strategy Compass,” says Fabian Willebrand.

With over 130 employees in Germany, the USA, and India, empower is now ideally positioned for the future.

The empower team can look back on many special moments over the past 15 years. Stephan especially remembers the first team event and the first office:

”A small place, a kind of loft with an adjoining balcony, where many team events took place with barbecues and loud music. We could even climb on the roof from the balcony and look out over the rooftops of Cologne. It was really cool. Looking back, the first phase had a lot of charm because Fabian and I actually lived in the office for the first two years. It was like a shared apartment and office in one.”

The team behind the success

Meet the people whose dedication and passion are the foundation of empower.

Julian KornmaierJulian Kornmaier is responsible for Customer Success at empower, which is divided into Onboarding, Professional Services, Customer Success Management and Existing Customer Management & Support. His department supports customers from the implementation of the software to long-term support and optimization of its use.

“I really appreciate the strong culture of trust in our company, as it gives me the freedom I need to work conceptually.”

One of his greatest achievements is the establishment and development of the Customer Success department, which he has been instrumental in shaping since its inception.

 

Anna SeemannAnna Seemann is responsible for customer onboarding at empower. She assigns customers to her team and ensures a smooth implementation of empower. In addition to customer care, she also focuses on the well-being of her team and the coordination of internal processes.

“Since I really enjoy working in a team, I’m happy that I can communicate so much in my work and have a lot of overlap with other people. I really like that.”

Anna chose empower because of the honest interview and convincing first impression. The short commute to work also had a positive impact on her decision. She’s very happy with her decision.

 

Yvonne MüllerYvonne Müller leads the Customer Success Management team and is responsible for the management of existing customers.

“The togetherness, the team spirit, the mutual support, the respectful interaction. No matter who you talk to or at what hierarchical level, the conversations take place at eye level.”

A formative experience for Yvonne was taking on a challenging client case in her first few months. Although things didn’t go smoothly, she was supported by the team and management, which gave her a sense of trust and cohesion. This experience reinforced her decision that empower was the right place for her.

 

Robin-NoackRobin Noack came to Made in Office (now empower) through an acquaintance after studying business informatics. Once he learned about the empower vision and solutions , he decided to take the job and has been working successfully for the company ever since.

As Chief Product Officer, Robin is responsible for the development of the empower® solutions, in particular the empower® AI Assistant. He puts himself in the customer’s shoes to understand their needs and requirements for the software. His goal is to help customers complete recurring tasks in Microsoft Office more efficiently.

Robin enjoys the intersection of technology and customer interaction. He regularly attends business reviews to get direct customer feedback, which he uses to prioritize software development. He finds the connection between solving technical problems and practical application by users particularly exciting.

 

Felix BullerAs Head of Sales, Felix Buller is responsible for supporting his team in customer care and optimizing the sales process.

“What I’m passionate about is empowering my team to sell better, so that customers feel they're being served in the best possible way.”

His biggest success at empower is building a strong team that works independently and supports each other. Other successes include winning major clients such as DHL and Deutsche Börse, as well as personal development in sales and current trends such as AI.

“What I also really enjoy is developing processes and guiding principles.”

Fun facts about the team

Let's get to the really important questions: Nutella with or without butter? Pizza with salami, mushrooms or olives? Our employees are here to answer them.

fun facts empower

Looking into the future

We have exciting and challenging times ahead of us, and we look forward to them with great anticipation and confidence. We’re prioritizing a couple of projects in particular in the coming period:

1. Integration of Strategy Compass

The current focus is on successfully completing the integration of Strategy Compass. We expect this project to take some time. We aim to retain Strategy Compass customers and to empower them for the long term.

2. Dealing with the economic crisis

For the first time since the company's inception, the current economic crisis has made companies reluctant to invest. It's important to adapt to this new situation and take appropriate measures.

3. Focus on next generation software

Another important goal is the development of the next generation of empower® software. This major project was recently launched and will keep the company busy for the next two to three years. Work on the next generation of software is critical to empower's future competitiveness and growth as it will further develop the product portfolio and better meet customer needs.

We look forward to many more successful years with our employees, customers and partners.

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