Who this is
Christian Byza co-founded OMR with Philipp Westermeyer and has lived in San Francisco for about twelve years. After Adobe acquired the Hamburg startup he was working for, he moved to Adobe's headquarters; LinkedIn then hired him, first to run its German business and later as a product manager. About three years ago he founded learn.xyz, an AI-powered learning platform for companies that feels like a language-learning app. On the side he runs House of AI, a co-working and event space of around 600 square meters, and hosts the podcast OMR Silicon Valley Update.
Episodes
Numbers from the episode
FAQ
What is learn.xyz?
learn.xyz is an AI-powered learning platform for companies, founded by Christian Byza in San Francisco about three years ago. It feels like a language app, is mobile-first and heavily gamified. Companies upload their own material, such as an employee handbook or a piece of legislation, and turn it into courses with quiz questions within seconds. learn.xyz itself has no access to its customers' content. To the episode →
What is House of AI?
House of AI is Christian's co-working and event space in San Francisco: around 600 square meters over two floors, with an outdoor area, a podcast studio and a DJ booth. About 20 founders work there, and VCs and accelerators host events. According to Christian the side business makes around 250,000 euros a year and is profitable. He openly calls the name a marketing term: nobody wants to work in the learn.xyz office, but everyone wants to come to House of AI. To the episode →
What are design partners at learn.xyz?
Design partners are paying customers who work closely with the team to sharpen the product. They start for three months and get their own Slack, Teams or WhatsApp channel plus a call every two weeks. The first ten paid 500 dollars a month; after three months the price is renegotiated based on headcount. To the episode →
How did OMR start?
After university, Christian wanted to launch a conference in Hamburg. A mutual friend introduced him to Philipp Westermeyer, and as a test the two ran an online marketing breakfast with around 200 guests. Afterwards Philipp brought him on as a co-founder of OMR. For the first proper conference they set a revenue target of 100,000 euros; later they moved from the Große Freiheit 36 club via the harbour theatre into the trade fair halls. To the episode →
Which business ideas does Christian Byza find exciting?
Christian points to succession in Germany's Mittelstand, where many companies with millions in revenue have no heirs, and mentions Florian Adomeit of AMBER and DEALCIRCLE. He also likes "mom and pop" businesses such as a private garbage collection service in the US, family hotels with proper family rooms, alcohol-free beer that actually tastes great, and better link-tracking software. To the episode →