Stapelstein

Steward ownership & aligned financing as a building block for a self-determined start-up

In a nutshell

Founded in 2016 as the joboo GmbH, Stapelstein® was set up to provide children with a playful, creative and moving space for holistic development. From the conception of the Stapelstein® as a research project to a successful and profitable company with 29 employees, Stapelstein® has come a long way – also regarding their ownership and financing structure.

During the founding phase, founder Stephan Schenk took on business angels as shareholders of the organization. By doing so, he gave away a large part of the ownership of the company early on without quite realizing how much decision-making power he was ceding. This became problematic when several conflicts around prioritization and decision-making with the business angels highlighted the discrepancy between Stephan's vision for the company and the angels' interest in an exit and dividend payouts. Stephan and his co-founder Hannah König turned around a situation that could have led to the end of Stapelstein®. They managed to establish self-determination and build a more aligned structure with steward ownership.

As a pivotal – and necessary – milestone on their path towards steward ownership, Stephan and Hannah successfully bought out the two previous investors using both free cashflow as well as new, more aligned, investments. In 2023, Stapelstein® completed the transition to steward-ownership, thus ensuring that only people have control over the organization who are actively engaged in and committed to Stapelstein®’s mission and values.

Stapelstein®’s case highlights the significance of early reflection and consideration of ownership and financing and their effects on power distribution early on, particularly in the context of early-stage financing. Nevertheless, the case also demonstrates that opportunities can exist to reclaim autonomy and regain control over a business, even after relinquishing ownership rights, albeit for high financial costs and entrepreneurial energy spent.