Michael Hurnaus, CEO & Co-Founder at Tractive GPS
Tractive GPS (Tracking for Dogs and Cats)
Michael Hurnaus is the CEO and co-founder of Tractive - GPS Tracking and Activity Monitoring for cats and dogs. Michael is holding a Masters degree in Digital Media.
After some time at Microsoft, where he was working as a developer on Microsoft Surface he moved over Amazon. At Amazon, Michael performed on a range of the Kindle reading apps for smartphones and was a technical project manager for Amazon's Kindle Fire.
In late 2012 Michael quit his job at Amazon to move back to Austria to found Tractive, what has become the world market leader in GPS Tracking & Activity Monitoring devices for cats and dogs. Tractive aims to closer connect pets with their owners and provide a piece of mind for dog and cat owners around the world.
“We have built the company with friends, and a ton of friendships have been created over the years since Tractive was founded. Bring a lot of passion, dedication and the right people with you, and you can be successful. More likely than not, you will need all three of them.”
Michael Hurnaus
Tell us about your current role and what you like about your career/role or areas of focus.
I'm CEO and Co-Founder of Tractive – GPS Tracking for cats and dogs.
I co-founded the company in 2012 with the idea to closer connect pets with their owners and provide a piece of safety in case their furry family member happens to escape or does not find the way home for any reason.
I enjoy creating products from scratch and knowing that we have made the pet-world a safer place.
What inspires you, motivates you, helps you to make each day count?
We receive a LOT of feedback from our customers. While a lot of it is questions, there is also a ton of positive feedback where customers tell us their stories on how we have saved their dogs or cats' lives.
In a world where pets become a very integral part of the family, we hear every day how we and our products have a positive impact on peoples' lives.
Outside of your professional work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
As with many successful entrepreneurs, I am very competitive and am very hungry to improve every day.
For me, that manifests in sports, but also in trying to become a better dad to my two sons, who are the most important part of my life.
When it comes to your life chosen career, is there a phrase, quote or saying that you really like?
"You will never know until you try." – I had a successful career before founding Tractive and have made quite a few major decisions in my professional career that have completely changed my path.
What are you most proud of in your life?
Aside from building a successful business, it is clearly my family, who I am very closely connected to and are my backbone when I come home from a busy day.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
It's freakin' hard to build a business from the ground up. Every entrepreneur tells you, it is a rollercoaster, but I did not expect how high the highs are and how low the lows are.
To a certain degree, you have to be built for this challenge. If you love hard challenges and are self-motivated, I highly recommend trying the path of building a business.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles?
I am a huge fan of Warren Buffet. Not because of his riches, but because of his wise words, calmness and thinking in the long term.
Having worked alongside Jeff Bezos in my prior job, I also have a strong admiration for him, for similar reasons.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
Looking closely at the human-space related to wearables, since I see a lot of potential for similar products and features for the pet market.
In the human space, I have been impressed by the business model, quality and service that Whoop provides to their customers.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
From a leadership perspective: Delegate early, trust your people.
'Who is flying the plane if you are in the back serving the coffee?'
What drives or motivates you each day in a work environment?
We have built the company with friends, and a ton of friendships have been created over the years since Tractive was founded.
While you can not be best friends with everyone anymore, if the business grows, I still have a ton of close friends here and love to create amazing products with them, that actually impacts people’s lives positively.
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
One certainly can not neglect to be on social media or work with social media 'influencers' these days. A lot of things have changed over the years, and a lot of the marketing budget now goes to the artists/creators themselves, rather than to the social media giants.
Since the content on most social media channels is already getting overfilled with marketing and ads, I think people will soon look to the next social network that will start a bit cleaner.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
I am personally not much on social media in general, since it used to be a huge time killer for me. If LinkedIn counts - then this is my platform of choice.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever been a mentor to anyone?
I am very lucky that I have a handful of successful entrepreneurs in my close circle. While I would not see them as mentors per se, I still ask them for advice regularly and very much listen to their feedback, filter and apply what I deem right for me.
This has served me well in the past. Since I received a lot of valuable input in the past, I also try to help people who approach me, in case I have any useful tips to share.
How do you network? What is your prefered way to network?
I have met way too many people that forgot to run their company because they went from one networking event to another.
I love meeting people over lunch or even better, over 1 or 2 beers and have a focused conversation.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work?
Bring a lot of passion, dedication and the right people with you, and you can be successful. More likely than not, you will need all three of them.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Because they are overengineers, want to build it all and fail to get anything delivered to the customer.
A good sentence I used a lot in the past was "Better done than perfect". This changes as you mature as a company, but is a good starting point.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
Success is when you have a stable or growing business/job that you love going to every day in the morning. Well, 99% of the days.
What skills do you feel have helped you to become successful?
Fast decision making with a limited set of information that can drive the decision.
Speed – which is the great advantage of entrepreneurs and non-corporates – comes from fast decisions.