Cobrainer’s Product Evolution: From University Project to Enterprise SaaS

Great products rarely emerge fully formed. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Hanns Aderhold revealed how Cobrainer’s product evolved through distinct phases, each shaped by deep customer engagement and market learning.

The University Origins (2013)

The initial concept emerged from a specific problem in university projects. “We were building aircraft cabins. We were building plus energy houses in Japan, doing a slum resettling India,” Hanns recalls. “And it was always about bringing together people from different faculties to execute these projects.”

This led to a simple question: “Can we build a system that actually facilitates the coming together in project teams at university on a skills basis?” This initial vision – matching skills to projects – would remain core to their product through all its iterations.

The Enterprise Pivot (2013-2019)

The first major evolution came when enterprise customers saw potential in their university platform. As Hanns explains, a large German company approached them saying, “We want to work exactly the way you’re advocating for, with your platform… can you build that for us as an enterprise?”

During this phase, they developed their core technology while building custom solutions. “During this consulting time in the first six years, we always were using the skills data engine as a core. But the products that we were building were always one-offs,” Hanns notes. These custom implementations taught them valuable lessons about enterprise needs.

The SaaS Transformation (2019)

By 2019, patterns emerged from their consulting work. “We noticed that after six years of doing this consulting approach… we had this very unique skills engine that hasn’t changed for the last ten years,” Hanns shares. They identified a common use case: internal career transparency for employees.

Their first SaaS product launched in October 2019. The results validated their approach: “Within 30 days of, like, that customer, which had 60,000 employees in total, 20,000 employees were on our platform.”

The COVID-Era Product (2020-2022)

When COVID hit, they discovered their product addressed crucial pandemic-era needs. “COVID actually turned out to be an accelerant for us because with COVID lots of people had a hiring freeze… and actually that made them turn to more their internal talent management, which was exactly our platform,” Hanns explains.

During this period, they operated with what Hanns describes as “a very finicky, very kind of roughly built together, kind of scrapped together, kind of like an MVP type of prototype.” Despite its limitations, this version drove significant growth.

The Complete Rebuild (2023)

In 2023, they undertook a complete product rebuild. “In 2023, we actually rebuilt the entire product from scratch in just kind of a good way, a modern way, like completely using platform technologies, super service based, modern code base,” Hanns shares. This new version launched in November 2023.

The impact was immediate. As Hanns notes, “The entire team is so stoked to have this new product, which is now basically being updated multiple times per day, rather than just a handful of times per year in the time between 2020 and 2023.”

Future Evolution

Looking ahead, Cobrainer envisions becoming what Hanns calls “the Google Maps for skills.” Just as Google Maps became the navigation standard, Cobrainer aims to be the skills data standard, with their API powering various HR applications.

For founders building enterprise products, Cobrainer’s evolution offers valuable lessons:

• Start with a core technology that solves a fundamental problem
• Use consulting to deeply understand enterprise needs
• Build a scalable product only after identifying clear patterns
• Don’t be afraid to rebuild when technology constraints limit growth

The journey from university project to enterprise SaaS wasn’t linear, but each phase contributed crucial learning that shaped the product’s evolution. As Hanns puts it, “We’re again a new company. And this is kind of what keeps me really motivated and excited.”