Transcript of Commerce Famous episode 15,
Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2025 8:27 am
an interview with Stefan Hamann, CEO of Shopware
Ben Marks:
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Commerce Famous podcast. I'm your host, as always, Ben Marks. It is a brand new year, 2024, and we couldn't think of a better way to kick it off than with someone who has been a part of ecommerce and if I may, a part of my own journey in e commerce. So this goes all the way back to the changing of the millennium. So I'd like to welcome Shopware co founder and CEO Stefan Haman. Stefan, welcome.
Stefan Hamann:
Thank you so much, Ben. Hi, everybody.
Ben Marks:
So, you know, my journey into the Shopware world was, let's see, that began, I think, almost a few years ago. We had known each other sort of informally. I think I'd met you and your brother at a argentina telegram screening community day back in 2016, back when I was working for that other ecommerce platform. And over time, I've watched Shopware continue to grow and grow. But that growth started somewhere, right? And that story, as I mentioned in the intro, goes all the way back to the year 2000. What was it like? This was the Haman media and design company that you and your brother started, I think, when you were both teenagers, right?
Stefan Hamann:
Absolutely. Yeah. I was 16 years old back then, my brother, 14 years. And to get the permission to start a business, you have to be at least 18. That means in Germany, we had to go to the government and get a kind of written permission, as it is for everything in Germany, that we can start a business and that we are already in the right condition to do so. And in the beginning, it was more or less, if you think around the time back then, early days, so to say, in e commerce and the Internet in general, and therefore many companies around asking for help. And, yeah, that was basically how we started. So we already had a lot of experience with myself in programming stuff and doing websites, but also individual programming in visual basic back then.
Ben Marks:
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Commerce Famous podcast. I'm your host, as always, Ben Marks. It is a brand new year, 2024, and we couldn't think of a better way to kick it off than with someone who has been a part of ecommerce and if I may, a part of my own journey in e commerce. So this goes all the way back to the changing of the millennium. So I'd like to welcome Shopware co founder and CEO Stefan Haman. Stefan, welcome.
Stefan Hamann:
Thank you so much, Ben. Hi, everybody.
Ben Marks:
So, you know, my journey into the Shopware world was, let's see, that began, I think, almost a few years ago. We had known each other sort of informally. I think I'd met you and your brother at a argentina telegram screening community day back in 2016, back when I was working for that other ecommerce platform. And over time, I've watched Shopware continue to grow and grow. But that growth started somewhere, right? And that story, as I mentioned in the intro, goes all the way back to the year 2000. What was it like? This was the Haman media and design company that you and your brother started, I think, when you were both teenagers, right?
Stefan Hamann:
Absolutely. Yeah. I was 16 years old back then, my brother, 14 years. And to get the permission to start a business, you have to be at least 18. That means in Germany, we had to go to the government and get a kind of written permission, as it is for everything in Germany, that we can start a business and that we are already in the right condition to do so. And in the beginning, it was more or less, if you think around the time back then, early days, so to say, in e commerce and the Internet in general, and therefore many companies around asking for help. And, yeah, that was basically how we started. So we already had a lot of experience with myself in programming stuff and doing websites, but also individual programming in visual basic back then.