Success story: For ten years, Doodle has simplified appointment finding

The idea for Doodle was born in 2007, when computer scientist Michael Näf organized a dinner with friends and had to make countless phone calls to do so. "The process for finding an appointment was very time-consuming and cumbersome. That gave me the impetus to think about how this process could be made more efficient," Näf recalls in an interview with the SDA news agency.

Together with his colleague Paul Sevinç, the then lecturer at ETH Zurich began developing Doodle. After a short time, several hundred thousand users were already organizing their scheduling via the platform. The two computer scientists found Doodle's parent company Inturico Engineering in Zurich, also benefiting from coaching from the Commission for Technology and Innovation, a federal funding agency.

Rapid growth

About one year after the foundation, Näf and Sevinç secure the necessary capital to grow further in a financing round and found a stock corporation. The domain is changed to Doodle.com. By the end of 2008, Doodle already has 2 million users.

Doodle, which means "doodle" in German, works very simply. The person who wants to organize a meeting sends an email with a choice of dates. Those invited can then select the appropriate dates and times. Those fields that have been checked by everyone appear in green - the date is set.

Doodle spread in a very short time thanks to its simple application. "It's very viral," says Jean Marie Ayer, a professor at the Fribourg School of Economics. Newcomers taking part in a survey for the first time would later use Doodle in other groups.

Entry of Tamedia

The basic service is free and financed by advertising. Paid services for individuals and companies were introduced in 2009. But investors are not easy to attract with this. This business model, which is less well-known in Switzerland, may face reservations - in terms of both finances and building a broad user base, Ayer says. Because of the expensive licenses, the software is more likely to be targeted at commercial users, he says.

But things went well for the company. Doodle broke even in 2010, and in May 2011 Tamedia took a 49 percent stake in the startup. At the time, the planning site had 8 million users every month. In October, the Institute for Young Entrepreneurs (IFJ) ranked Doodle third in the top 100 most promising Swiss startups.

The developers have managed to create a simple and very efficient platform, says Jordi Montserrat of Venturelab, which launched Top 100. They have exploited the possibilities of viral distribution and thus sold the advertising in a targeted way.

Doodle addresses barriers within social, professional and personal life, says sociologist Olivier Glassey of the University of Lausanne. It can connect people who have many activities in common but no access to each other's agendas, he says. This makes it possible to manage time, negotiate availabilities and thus optimize one's time management, he says.

Role model for other start-ups

Tamedia finally took over Doodle completely in November 2014. Näf and Sevinç sold their shares and retired to the Board of Directors to devote themselves to other activities of the young company.

With Tamedia behind it, the company has set itself the goal of international growth. In 2015, Doodle opened another office in Berlin. In addition to Switzerland, Germany, France and the USA are now among the most important business regions. Currently, the company employs 35 people. Meanwhile, the number of monthly users on the planning site has risen to 26 million.

"It is and remains motivating to constantly develop Doodle further," says Näf. The international success of the Swiss start-up is important for the entire scene, he adds. (Thomas Nussbaum/SDA)