Maximilian Schmid: The Dream of His Own Product

Maximilian Schmid is one of the four founders of PLANFRED. He’s passionate about developing the product and convinced that a well-made tool makes life a whole lot easier.

He wasn’t always on the technical track. Originally, the Upper Austrian studied media design. But out of personal interest, he moved more and more toward technical development: It’s not enough to just design something, he explains – you also have to make it work. “Ideas that work” is a motto that came about when he started his own business, and it still holds today.

The advertising agency he founded with PLANFRED partner Bernd was doing well. Still, there was the wish to build a product of their own instead of only doing projects for others. “The appeal of your own product is that you can refine and optimize it far more than you ever could for a client. There are simply no constraints on time and budget.”

After some thinking with the people who are now his co-founders, it became clear that communication in the construction industry wasn’t using the best solutions for its problems. PLANFRED was born – and has been improving ever since.

The trained software developer contributes by working on the individual components of the software and looking at how they fit together. A big part of that is research. He has to keep an eye on new technology and figure out whether and how it could benefit PLANFRED users.

When you work with all kinds of apps and tools every day, you’re always happy to find a great one that makes things easier. And that’s exactly what motivates him. He wants to offer others the best possible solution. Technically, in terms of design, and in price. “We’re a bit idealistic about that,” the entrepreneur admits with a smile.

Keeping up that standard takes a certain mindset, though. Looking for new approaches and solutions has to be fun. That goes for him, and for the team as well. “Technology keeps evolving, and if you don’t stay motivated and curious, you can’t keep up,” stresses the father of two.

All the better when you can feel that the work has paid off. One moment stands out for Maximilian: the day he and the other founders presented PLANFRED for the first time to architects and people from the industry. “That was at Aspern Airfield, on a huge construction site,” he recalls. It was a real highlight when the feedback reflected exactly what they had set out to do: create a product that would help people in the industry.

Maximilian and his team keep refining that product. The Upper Austrian often draws the energy for it from his side job: combine harvesting. Together with his brother, he runs the custom harvesting business his parents started. For him, the work is also a kind of hobby and the perfect balance to sitting at a computer. The steady drone of the machine, nothing ahead but fields, the last rays of the day’s sun behind him – it has a meditative effect on him. The work also teaches him valuable lessons for life: “You dive into a completely different world of work. Farmers work and think very differently. And I’ve learned a huge amount about working efficiently and staying organized, from my parents and from the industry,”says Maximilian.

The mix of creativity, technical know-how, and the right work ethic he brings as managing partner contributes to PLANFRED’s success – and drives both visible and invisible improvements to the project room.