Why do we whisper about our failures when they shape our journey as much as our successes? In Germany's business landscape, where precision and predictability reign supreme, failure often feels like a dirty word – something to be avoided at all costs. Yet as I reflect on my entrepreneurial journey, I realize that my "failures" weren't just stepping stones; they were essential chapters in a story worth telling.

Innovation thrives in the spaces between order and chaos. These gaps – between the known and unknown, between success and failure – often feel uncomfortably wide. But it's precisely here where the most interesting developments occur. With this post, I hope to normalize these messy middle spaces where some innovation happens too.

The Lockdown Laboratory

When COVID-19 shut down the world in 2020, it created one of these spaces. While juggling a full-time job and an apartment move, I found myself exploring an idea that had intrigued me: bridging the gap between physical and digital shopping experiences. freundAR emerged from this exploration – a mobile app that was essentially IKEA Place with an added video calling feature, letting you share your screen while shopping for furniture with friends, family, or interior designers.

Weekends went into research and coordinating with the dev team (thanks Mohit, Darshak). The time saved from not commuting was invested in business development and managing the MVP creation, but the market was moving faster than my part-time pace allowed. As lockdowns lifted and in-store shopping resurged, a crucial lesson emerged: innovation demands more than borrowed time. It requires full immersion.

The Metaverse Mirage

As my corporate role faced restructuring, I expanded freundAR's vision into freundX, venturing into VR and fashion during the early metaverse euphoria. I immersed myself in learning technologies far removed from my corporate role – experimenting with mesh matching algorithms and tinkering with game development engines. It was an exhilarating phase of exploration and rapid learning, building prototypes and discovering new possibilities. A timely reality check from a VC contact (thank you, Caro!) highlighted a crucial reality: the space was already saturated with established players, and my product wasn't offering enough meaningful differentiation to warrant the investment of time and resources.

The corporate restructuring offered an unexpected gift: time with my newborn daughter and space to recalibrate. When I returned to entrepreneurship, the metaverse still beckoned. Lokatial's first iteration emerged as a Frankfurt cityscape game platform supporting 3D art exhibits, virtual salsa or yoga sessions, and local advertising. Think Second Life reimagined with cutting-edge graphics and programmatic local advertising.

I immersed myself in the gaming ecosystem – learning Unreal Engine, experimenting with metahuman avatars, even decoding Twitch culture. Shout-out to Win, Balazs, Daniel, Gurneet, JJ, KC, Spri for your guidance that made this foreign territory feel less daunting.

The technology was fascinating, the possibilities endless. I drafted IP applications, built demo levels, and created vibrant pitch decks. Yet something felt misaligned.

The Reality Check

The truth surfaced during customer conversations: I had fallen in love with the technology while losing sight of actual user needs. The YC mantra of "build what customers want" echoed uncomfortably in my mind.

A period of intense self-doubt lingered. Job applications. Interviews – some promising, others mehhh. Questions about whether years of being a generalist, working across diverse industries, had left me stranded in a recession-hit job market.

But sometimes clarity comes from unexpected places. The pain points I encountered in my previous roles – the inefficiencies that once frustrated me – began to look less like problems and more like opportunities. The regulatory technology space, with its complex challenges and critical needs, offered not just a market opportunity but a chance to solve problems I understood intimately.

The Current Chapter

Lokatial's latest iteration emerges from this understanding. The name remains, but the focus has shifted to addressing specific challenges in the RegTech space. Each "failed" venture had quietly advanced my technical capabilities – from managing AR/VR development to learning game engines, I was gradually building a foundation in technology.

The advent of coding copilots became a force multiplier, accelerating my journey from a business-focused founder to someone who could actually build. What started with basic scripting evolved into working with multiple tech stacks, turning technical constraints into opportunities.

This technical evolution, combined with my firsthand experience of regulatory challenges, shapes Lokatial's current direction. The ability to prototype and iterate quickly, powered by both accumulated experience and AI tools, means customer conversations now flow between business problems and technical solutions seamlessly. Early feedback resonates differently because I've not only lived the challenges but can actively craft solutions.

This isn't a story of transformation from failure to success. Lokatial's RegTech chapter is still being written.

‍But perhaps that's the point. Innovation isn't about avoiding failure or even learning from it – it's about recognizing that what looks like failure from one angle might be laying groundwork from another. Sometimes, the most valuable outcome isn't the product you set out to build, but the capabilities you develop along the way.

The German business ecosystem, with its emphasis on precision and predictability, teaches valuable lessons about quality and thoroughness. But it also reminds us that innovation requires venturing into those uncomfortable spaces between the known and unknown. Sometimes you have to build something imperfect to discover what needs to be built.

I'll be sharing more about Lokatial's development in the RegTech space soon.

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