About us
Our mission
think-cell is the de facto standard when it comes to professional presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint. With our lean structure as well as above-average levels of automation and profitability, we can fully concentrate on improving our existing software and innovating new products.
To continuously meet the demands of our customers with a product that is expertly tailored to their needs, we make no compromises with regard to code quality. Our software developers are accomplished experts in their field. We give them room for cutting-edge ideas and solutions, and we only release our software once it is ready.
Our management
Alexander von Fritsch
CEO
With over 15 years of experience in sales, management consulting, and entrepreneurship, Alexander is responsible for think-cell's overall success through delivering growth, innovation, and customer value. His expertise lies in leading international teams, strategic planning, business development, and enterprise sales. He studied business administration & management and holds a master’s degree in finance & strategic management from HHL Leipzig School of Management.
Arno Schödl, Ph.D.
Founder & CTO
Arno is responsible for the development of all our software products. He oversees our R&D team, quality assurance and customer care. Before founding think-cell, Arno worked at Microsoft Research and McKinsey. Arno studied computer science and management and holds a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech with a specialization in computer graphics.
Christoph Hobo
CFO & COO
Christoph is responsible for the commercial and operational management of the company. He has many years of leadership experience in both private and publicly listed companies, and is in charge of finance, human resources and operations. Christoph studied business administration at the European Business School in Oestrich Winkel.
Dr. Markus Hannebauer
Founder & Chairman
Markus oversees think-cell's strategic development from a board perspective and advises the company on various business aspects. Before founding think-cell, Markus was a project manager at Fraunhofer. He studied computer science and business and holds a doctoral degree from TU Berlin with a specialization in artificial intelligence.
Our story
Here is how think-cell came to be:
950,000+ paying users
900,000+ paying users
850,000+ paying users
think-cell 11 supports powerful integrations
800,000+ paying users
750,000+ paying users
think-cell 10 supports macOS
700,000+ paying users
think-cell 9 released
600,000+ paying users
Standard C++ Foundation
We become a sponsor of the Standard C++ Foundation – the world's leading not-for-profit C++ community.
500,000+ paying users
think-cell 8 released
think-cell 7 released
400,000+ paying users
Meeting C++
We become the key sponsor of Meeting C++ – Europe's largest C++ conference – and invite 50 students to join free of charge.
300,000+ paying users
think-cell 6 released
think-cell joins C++ ISO committee
We start funding and participating in the standardization of our preferred programming language.
think-cell 5.3 released
200,000+ paying users
think-cell's 10th anniversary
think-cell 5.2 released
100,000+ paying users
Deloitte Fast 50
A five-year revenue growth of 3,154% makes think-cell number four in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Germany.
think-cell 5.1 released
50,000+ paying users
think-cell 5.0 released
Deloitte Rising Star
Without much marketing effort, news about the benefits of our software spread by word-of-mouth. According to Deloitte, think-cell becomes one of the fastest growing software companies in Germany and takes 1st place in the Rising Star awards.
30,000+ paying users
think-cell 4.3 released
20,000+ paying users
think-cell 4.2 released
15,000+ paying users
think-cell 4 released
Internationalization starts
Revenues keep growing in 2004, but the real break-through is in 2005, when several consulting firms become customers and internationalization takes place. Also, client organizations pick up the best practices from their consultants and order larger numbers of licenses themselves.
1st German lead customer
think-cell quickly develops the charting package think-cell chart. The German branch of a leading strategy consulting firm becomes our first customer and is still an important mentor today.
Company built
Within a few weeks, Markus raises money from private and public sources to cover the development costs for the first product and think-cell comes to life.
StartUp 2002
think-cell wins the 2002 Berlin StartUp award by Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband, McKinsey, Stern and ZDF.
Schoolmates reunited
Arno contacts Markus Hannebauer – a former schoolmate and Artificial Intelligence researcher at Fraunhofer – with the idea to join forces and apply their research findings to make slide production more efficient.
Problem identified
During his PhD studies in Computer Graphics at Georgia Institute of Technology Arno Schödl spends some time at Microsoft Research and McKinsey. There he faces the problem of slide production from both sides of the coin: as a software engineer and as an expert user.
Our management
Alexander von Fritsch
CEO
With over 15 years of experience in sales, management consulting, and entrepreneurship, Alexander is responsible for think-cell's overall success through delivering growth, innovation, and customer value. His expertise lies in leading international teams, strategic planning, business development, and enterprise sales. He studied business administration & management and holds a master’s degree in finance & strategic management from HHL Leipzig School of Management.
Arno Schödl, Ph.D.
Founder & CTO
Arno is responsible for the development of all our software products. He oversees our R&D team, quality assurance and customer care. Before founding think-cell, Arno worked at Microsoft Research and McKinsey. Arno studied computer science and management and holds a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech with a specialization in computer graphics.
Christoph Hobo
CFO & COO
Christoph is responsible for the commercial and operational management of the company. He has many years of leadership experience in both private and publicly listed companies, and is in charge of finance, human resources and operations. Christoph studied business administration at the European Business School in Oestrich Winkel.
Dr. Markus Hannebauer
Founder & Chairman
Markus oversees think-cell's strategic development from a board perspective and advises the company on various business aspects. Before founding think-cell, Markus was a project manager at Fraunhofer. He studied computer science and business and holds a doctoral degree from TU Berlin with a specialization in artificial intelligence.