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UnlikewealthyHamburgor Frankfurt, Berlindoesn’t have toomany
billionaires. But itmaybeabout toget three. Thisautumnbrothers
Oliver, Alexander andMarcSamwer areplanning to floatRocket
Internet, their ecommerce-focused incubator,whichsince2007has
built upmore than 100start-ups fromscratch, inmore than 100
countries, at anappropriatelydizzyingspeed. After just seven
years, thecompanyhas 15,000employeesandannual
revenuesof€700m.
OliverSamwer, Rocket’sCEO, insists that thecompany
canbecomeanecommercesuperpower likeAmazonand
Alibaba,which listed inNewYork inAugust. TheSamwer
brothersanticipate thatRocket’s flotation, inFrankfurt,will
value it at between€3bnand€5bn.
Yet not everyone isa fanof thecompany. Indeed, it
seems theonly thing that hasgrown faster thanRocket is
the list of peoplemoaning that it simplycopiesother
people’s ideas. Rocket’scriticsseethe, saying it clones
existingbusinesses indifferentmarketsand
undercuts the runningcosts. For instance, its
matchmaker siteeDarling, operational in
15countries, looksa lot likeAmerica’s
eHarmony. ItsLondonstoragecompany
SpaceWays resemblesUSbusinesses
MakespaceandBoxbee. ItsGermancleaningservicesoutfitHelpling is
ahybridof twoothers,HomejoyandHassle. CityDeal, Rocket’sGerman
versionofGroupon,wassold to itsUS rival.
Samwer,whose first businesswas importingalpacaslippers from
Boliviawhenhewasanexchangestudent, retorts that theconcept of
tech innovation isoverrated.Heoften reminds journalists that the first
motorcarwas terribleand that it tooksomeoneelse toworkharder,
make it cheaper andbring it faster around theworld. For
investors, hesays, hisapproach reducesbusiness risks.He
callsRocket a “platform” that quadruples thechancesof
astart-up’ssuccess, bystandardisingprocessessuchas
recruiting local entrepreneursanddrafting inexperienced
managers. Samwer boastsRocket canshepherdastart-up
from idea to launchwithin fourweeks.
Somepeoplehave joked that theSamwerbrothers
themselvesarecloned, because theyaresoalike. But this,
Oliver says, isgoodas there isunlimited trust in thecompany.
Healsoacknowledgesa fierypassion,whichmakeshim
ademandingemployer aswell asa toughadversary.
He recently told the
Financial Times
that henever
worriedabout theprospect of someoneelse
out-rocketingRocket. “Innovation in
operations issomethingmuchmore
difficult tocatchupwith,”hesaid. “It’s
moreof akiller cocktail thanakiller app.”
rocketscions
OliverSamwerhas
comea longway from
importingslippers
CAMERAPRESS
