Meet The Startup Founder Behind A Reading Revolution

Holger Seim, co-founder of Blinkist doesn’t think like most entrepreneurs. He makes time for coffee with each of his 140 employees, washes dishes after team events, and prefers to stay out of the spotlight. It’s early Monday morning, he’s the first in the office, and totally focused on the job in hand—to help millions of people read more books.

‘Everybody loves reading, but no one has the time. We’re trying to fix that, by getting more great books to more people.’

Holger Seim

After graduating from university, Holger and his co-founders noticed they no longer had the time to read as much as they wanted.

‘We grew frustrated that we couldn’t read the latest business or productivity books—books that really interested us. We knew they had a lot of great information that would positively benefit us in our professional or personal life.’

Blinkist started when three university friends Holger Seim, Niklas Jansen and Sebastian Klein quickly realized full-time work left no time for reading. They wondered how (or if) they could still gain knowledge from books, but in less time.

Finding the time to read is tough, but Sebastian had a brainwave. When he read nonfiction books, he would write notes to help remember what he had learned.

‘Sebastian was passionate about learning and self-development—he would read a lot of nonfiction books and write notes to help himself remember what he’d read. He would email the notes to friends so they could benefit from what he’d read, then make their own personal improvements.’

The friends thought it would be cool if they could put Sebastian’s notes into an app to read on-the-go and optimize unproductive time during the day—like during their commutes. They soon teamed up with their friend Tobi Balling, who became the fourth co-founder, and they quickly got to work building Blinkist.

‘The idea then remains the same now–we want to make it possible for people to read more nonfiction books. Everyone loves reading, but nobody seems to have the time. Blinkist is here to fix that.’

But despite their early enthusiasm, others didn’t take kindly to Blinkist.

‘The early days were tough. We faced some resistance because the concept was new. Initial download numbers were low, but then we introduced audio and things got much better.’

The introduction of audio means every title on Blinkist can be accessed super quickly when on-the-go or multi-tasking. Now Blinkist customers can make the most of their time, by fitting learning into their hectic schedules.

But Holger explains, with any type of change or innovation there will always be some backlash.

‘Sometimes change is difficult, but it’s inevitable and without any change there’s no progress. We want to make progress and to provide a solution to a problem a lot of people have.’

By focusing on the problem of not having time to read—Blinkist has developed a way to keep on top of reading, even for those with little time.

As soon as the doubters gave Blinkist a chance, they understood the intention and potential.

‘Only once people gave us a shot, did they understand it. For example, one of the first books we did was The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. We turned the 7 main points into 7 short chapters, giving readers enough information to understand the book. Then there’s a link to buy the book for those who’re interested or inspired to read it in full.’

By introducing people to more books and providing links to buy each book, Blinkist is an exciting discovery platform that benefits both readers and writers.

‘We now have 11 million people who use our app. That’s 11 million people who are finding amazing books by amazing authors every day. I’m proud that we’re able to expose great writers to people who care about reading.’

Plus, just because you’re short on time doesn’t mean you don’t like reading. Many of Blinkist’s users are already keen readers, but use Blinkist to squeeze extra reading into their day.

‘If you’re a full-time mom, or an entrepreneur trying to launch a new company it shouldn’t mean you have no time to read. These people aren’t lazy, they’re far from lazy—they just don’t have the time to keep up with their reading. But with Blinkist, they do.’

By encouraging people to read more, Blinkist is a pioneer that’s responsible for a reading revolution.

‘In this day and age, just because we have little time doesn’t mean we have little curiosity. Books are the best way to satisfy our curiosity, and Blinkist is the best way to fit books into our busy lives.’

If you’re someone who loves reading, but struggles to find the time—download Blinkist and explore the new way to fit reading into everyday.