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A startup story is rarely straightforward. Sophia Röpke, CEO & founder of hrConnectum, also has an unusual and inspiring path behind her. From studying political science and Slavic studies, religion, economics and politics, to working at the German embassy in Sofia (Bulgaria), to a human resources consultancy in Switzerland, to having her own digital recruiting platform, it was an exciting path for her. And it still is: She is now one of LinkedIn’s top voices and has written a book. At the Empowering Female Founders Event on February 23rd and 24th in Karlsruhe, the pioneer of crowd recruiting talks about her stages before founding a company, reveals what helped her most in the first few years and tells us what beliefs female founders are saying goodbye to should. Here’s a little foretaste.
By Ariane Lindemann
After completing her studies, Sophia worked in the diplomatic service, but soon left this path because the civil service allowed little scope and no creativity. She dares to make a career change and discovers her passion for recruiting at a Swiss personnel consultancy. But over the years, doubts arise again and again about how far active sourcing can help you find skilled workers. “The classic approach seemed to me not enough to target candidates in a targeted manner.” Her idea: to found a crowd recruiting platform on which vacancies are specifically filled with suitable talent, thereby making expensive headhunters unnecessary.
Fill open positions with suitable talent
With more than 500 certified recruiting experts and 15 different active recruiting methods, her company hrConnectum offers cost-efficient recruiting and an industry-specific approach. The platform coordinates recruiting partners, including headhunters and personnel consultants, and thus enables targeted applicant approaches. “Through our individual focus on the challenges of our customers, effective positioning in the applicant market and a transparent fixed price structure, we can enable a successful and predictable recruiting process that is up to 80 percent cheaper than traditional headhunters,” says Sophia, describing the USP of the young company. “We manage our partners for our customers in such a way that the right applicant target group is actually reached with the right measures.”
The challenges of female founding
Sophia Röpke is coming to Karlsruhe on February 23rd and 24th to tell her story at the event Empowering Female Founders to share with other founders. For her, it’s about visibility to the outside world and how to deal with it. And about building the team. Sophia is now one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices and has written a recruiting specialist book. A tip for female founders that is important to her: break out of the traditional female role and put the topics of finance and customer orientation above all else.
Hard work instead of startup glamour
“There are a few beliefs that can get in the way. Empathy is often a top priority for female founders. Of course, empathy is very important, but in the business world, finances come first. We are in an economic crisis, which is a very tough time, especially for smaller companies. “You often think too much about the idea instead of actually taking action and thinking about what the customer really needs and how you can make sales quickly.”
Go out, talk to customers, take action, immerse yourself in the market. Homework that female founders can’t avoid? “Unfortunately no, it’s hard work and completely the opposite of a glamorous startup world,” she says. She knows exactly what she’s talking about. It doesn’t work without iron discipline. “In the first two years I got up at five in the morning, did sports, wrote my first emails before breakfast, followed by a full day of work with lots of conversations. That usually lasted until 9 p.m..” Today, hrConnectum has around 20 permanent employees. Sophia has largely withdrawn from operational business and is now taking care of strategic issues such as branding.
International corporations and regional medium-sized companies
She emphasizes how important the topic of finance is at all meetings with female founders. “You have to have your finances absolutely under control in order to survive even in less rosy times, when investors and customers are more critical of small companies. Because it’s a shame when a great business idea doesn’t come through because the focus is too much on the soft factors.”
HrConnectum is expanding. Customers include Evonik, Leonardo, Blanc&Fischer and well-known premium automobile manufacturers from Stuttgart and California. It’s about large volumes. “Our business model works best in the corporate sector and in upper medium-sized companies with a certain number and variety of positions. Instead of expensive headhunters, we are the central contact for our customers. This not only saves headhunter costs, but we can successfully fill many positions because we have our network of recruiting experts.”
“It’s difficult without start-up advice.”
Can female founders actually do this alone? “I advise against that,” she says. There are a lot of stumbling blocks, things that you don’t know enough about. She recommends getting expert advice, for example start-up advice. “It’s difficult without start-up advice. However, you shouldn’t expect start-up consultants to implement your business idea or to know exactly how the business works. You have to work it all out yourself. But it’s about getting a structure, it’s about sparring and having someone listen and give valuable tips. Otherwise it is difficult to find your way in the jungle of founders.”
Are you also in the process of starting a company? Or do you already have a startup and are looking for inspiration and exchange? Then register now for the “Empowering Female Founders” event on February 23rd and 24th, 2024. It will be exciting!
The event is a cooperation between the Hoepfner Foundation and the CyberLab. It is also funded as part of the state Start-up BW campaign and carried out in collaboration with the >SMART> GREEN ACCELERATOR, Life Science Accelerator and the Up2B Accelerator.
Or do you need free start-up advice? Then take a look here.