From Tennis Pro to Europe's biggest Learning App
Benedict Kurz Founder & CEO, Knowunity
At 16 Benedict trained five to six hours a day and the plan was to play professional tennis. At 17 he launched Knowunity out of school, from his grandfather's basement, drawing screens on cardboard because there was no proper paper. Today the app reaches over 30 million students and has raised more than 45 million euros. This conversation is about the years in between: the first hires he got wrong from start to finish, letting those same people go, raising two million from Project A and realising it wasn't his money, and what it costs to have essentially no life for a few years.
Why this episode matters
Most founder interviews start at the funding round. This one starts on a tennis court, six hours a day, with a plan that never happened. What follows is unusually unvarnished about the parts that went wrong.
Key moments
- 00:21
Six hours a day
Tennis from age eight, peak years at 15 to 17, a special school built around tournaments.
- 01:59
Not getting on the plane
The tournaments in Tunisia he was about to fly to, and the app he had just launched instead.
- 03:45
Where the idea came from
A need he had himself as a student, not a market he researched.
- 04:37
The basement
Business model canvas, cardboard instead of paper, screens drawn by hand, and the first team.
- 08:16
Two million from Project A
The first round, and why a lot of money felt more frightening than freeing.
- 09:42
The hiring he got wrong
His own verdict on the first hires: bad from start to finish.
- 13:40
Letting the first people go
What it does to you to part with the people who were there at the beginning.
- 18:14
From notes to a companion
The pitch deck said learning companion when everyone told him to cut the word.
- 22:53
One billion students
The ambition, immediately grounded: they are not yet at 30 million a day.
- 26:52
To his 16-year-old self
Get the first ten people right, do one thing properly, and take a few more breaks.
Best quotes
“I was about to fly to Tunisia for tournaments. That's when I launched the app. And then: maybe I won't fly out after all.”
“I built that from my grandfather's basement. Then my grandmother came in wanting to bring food, and I'm going: not now. It was completely surreal.”
“It was more frightening than anything. Sure, it's a lot of money. But you also know it isn't your money.”
“It was bad from start to finish.”
“For the first few years we genuinely had no life at all.”
Founder lessons
- 01The first five to ten people decide the company. Push hard on culture fit before you push on speed.
- 02Do one thing properly instead of eighteen things at once.
- 03You can build a very good company out of Europe. The first rounds can be raised here, and not every case needs San Francisco.
- 04Expect it to be long and hard. A few fast-growing AI companies don't make it a quick thing.
- 05Stay curious enough to dig into things yourself instead of delegating everything early.
Resources mentioned
Work with Benedict
Knowunity is hiring.
If the way Benedict builds sounds like your kind of place, start with the open roles.
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