The learning platform Masterplan.com has announced that it will manage its international sales and customer service from Düsseldorf in the future. The software startup has moved into 750 square meters of office space in the GAP 15 high-rise for this purpose and launched a recruitment drive.
In addition to the new Düsseldorf location, Masterplan.com also operates an office in Berlin-Mitte, from which the team works primarily on learning content as well as strategy, human resources and marketing. In the Ruhr region, the company will move from Bochum to Essen in the former Colosseum Theater. The company also employs colleagues based in Cologne and Hamburg. The technology team with developers and designers works mainly from Poland.
"We have built Masterplan as a decentralized company since its launch. We want to be where the best talent is, not the other way around asking the best talent to come near the company", emphasizes Head of Operations Nick Pfisterer.
Location Search: Düsseldorf and the GAP15 Tower for the Win
In addition to Düsseldorf, Masterplan.com also looked for suitable properties for its location in Cologne. Cologne was particularly interesting for the startup because of its two universities. "Many of our junior sales staff are still studying at university. They quickly experience customer contact with us, join us full-time after graduation and then dive into a steep career development internally. However, we quickly realized that we could benefit almost as much from a good, central location in Düsseldorf. Furthermore, many of our colleagues already lived in Düsseldorf", explains Pfisterer.
The location of Düsseldorf also scored better. The city is the geographic center of the Rhein-Ruhr metropolitan region with its more than ten million inhabitants. From Düsseldorf, the software startup's service employees can quickly reach customers in Cologne, such as Ströer SE and Rewe Group in the south, as well as customers in the Ruhr region, such as EON SE and TÜV Nord AG in Essen. Masterplan.com also has numerous well-known customers in Düsseldorf itself, including Stepstone Deutschland GmbH, Arag SE and Vodafone GmbH.
Within Düsseldorf, the Masterplan team was also interested in the myHive Medienhafen and other properties near the main train station. "The GAP 15 Tower won. There, from the central location to the insanely pleasant, modern working atmosphere on the eighth floor, everything fit perfectly. These are all very important aspects for finding and retaining talented employees", Pfisterer continues.
Masterplan Relies on a Hybrid Solution Between Home Office and presence
The pandemic also played a role in the location issue. After the gradual withdrawal of Covid measures, many employees expressed their desire to work from an office again. This helped trigger the search for a new sales center, as Pfisterer explained: "We work a lot in sales with coaching and personal mentoring. We rely on the team motivating each other and learning from each other. Of course, that doesn't mean we're giving up home office completely; instead, we want to make it flexible. We have clearly opted for a hybrid solution."
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Masterplan Team
