leonardo

Sustainability impact measurement is complicated, expensive and frustrating. leonardo’s software solution helps to collect impact data following scientific best practices, to verify this data through machine learning and to report the impact according to acknowledged standards.

Two out of the three co-founders have worked together for the past four years and knew what they wanted to build. However, both had no experience with software development. Finding a third co-founder with a computer science background who would take this risk and share the vision and values was challenging.

Another challenge was and still is to find product-market fit. The sustainability reporting software market is big and it is a challenge to find the right niche that enables larger scale later on.

The Venture Lab helped in providing feedback for the market segmentation and the investor pitch deck. Additionally, the Venture Lab helped to establish contacts with experts and potential business clients.

• Do not rush the co-founder search! Be careful to find someone who does not only bring the skills you need, but someone who shares your values and your vision for the venture; someone you want to spend a lot of time with over the next years.
• Push to production as soon as you can and learn from your mistakes and the feedback you get from early clients.
• Start raising money early enough because it will take longer than you think.