The wordycat team was invited to participate in the language startup panel debate at the Translation and Localization Conference in Warsaw on March 11, 2016. And we were very happy to come to Warsaw and join the discussion about „Why start up in the language industry?“.

1. words
+ etiquette
= [w’3rdiːkæt]
meet wordycat
Anja Müller
Marie-Luise Groß
1

2. effective collaboration is a strategic imperative
for freelancers in the language industry…
2
• Price deterioration
• Competition with laymen
• Little job prestige
• Little visibility
• “Quality“ is not tangible
• Software providers and agencies
benefit from technology – but do
freelancers, too?
It’s hard to earn
a living as a
translator.
Thousands of
fake profiles
exist online.
Anyone can
offer language
services…
How do I find clients?
How much is my
expertise worth?
Language professionals’ pain points
I want to work
closely together
with my clients.
Implications

3. … and their clients
3
It’s hard to find a
professional
translator
I need to more
marketing
experts on my
team!
I don’t have time
to skim through
100s of profiles
Who can recommend a reliable
language expert?
I don’t trust
anonymous
platforms
Clients’ pain points
I want to easily
collaborate with
freelancers
Implications
• Can’t assess quality of the
translation
• Don’t know how to find reliable and
skilled language professionals
• Under deadline pressure
• Don’t know what service they need

4. our Mission
our Vision
4
Together we shine: wordycat is an exclusive network and
virtual co-working center where language professionals and
their clients find each other through recommendations and
build trusted, sustainable business relationships.
wordycat is a fair marketplace where professionalism, mutual
appreciation and efficient collaboration are fostered through
process innovation and knowledge sharing.

5. 5
pretty on the outside, strong on the inside:
wordycat offers you powerful tools and services
SearchHi, Anja Müller! Have a nice day.wordycat
Virtual office
Dashboard
Projects
Team rooms
my Account
Marketplace
myProfile
Academy
Community
Dashboard Projects Team rooms
my Account
Welcome to your virtual office!
4 open
2 closed
IBG Corp.
Vitte Ltd.
Happy Hotel
Upgrade
My user data
Quotes
Projects
Billing
SearchHi, Anja Müller! Have a nice day.wordycat
Virtual office
Dashboard
Projects
Team rooms
my Account
Marketplace
myProfile
Academy
Community
Dashboard Projects
Team roomsmy Account
Welcome to your virtual office!
4 open
2 closed
IBG Corp.
Vitte Ltd.
Happy Hotel
Upgrade
My user data
Quotes
Projects
Billing

6. Finalist at the Falling
Walls Lab 2013
our way towards wordycat was a great journey (so far…)
20142013
Freelance career
Anja
2
20162015
Ph.D. project Marie
1
6
2017
5
The idea:
We need a fair
marketplace
3
4
…plan our start-up
& deal with
formalities…
8
…attend start-up
events & trainings…
7
…check possible
sources of finance
9
The first steps:
Get professional
advice…
6
Start technical
development
13
10
Launch wordycat
community
14
Launch wordycat
marketplace &
collaboration
platform
15
First clients are
coming!
12
Decision:
continue w/
bootstrapping
11

7. to build a start-up means to learn something new
– every day
7
1 Build a trusted
team!
2
3
• Committed co-founders
• Driven developers
• Trustworthy tax consultants and lawyers
Plan as you go!
• Do a market test asap
• Think in small steps and follow a
big vision
• Focus on your goals
Don’t be shy!
• Talk to the people in your industry
• Tell everyone in your personal
network about your business
• Fail early, often, then move on

8. Anja Müller
Founder & Managing Director
Language Professionals Relations
anja.mueller@wordycat.com
! @anjamue
Thank you for your attention!
8
Dr. Marie-Luise Groß
Founder & Managing Director
Business Clients Relations
marie-luise.gross@wordycat.com
! @marieluisegross

9. wordycat.com
facebook.com/hi.wordycat
! @hi_wordycat