Startup Operations

Overview

This chapter defines how Membership One GmbH is founded and operated to bring the Membership Management Software to market. The operating philosophy is lean startup with maximum automation: build, measure, learn -- and use the product itself to run the company.

Core Principles

1. Dogfooding above all -- Membership One uses the Membership One platform to manage its own CRM, support, invoicing, accounting, and analytics. Every internal pain point becomes a product improvement.
2. Minimum viable team -- The CEO handles all non-development business functions (sales, marketing, finance, legal, support) assisted by the platform's automation. The 4-person dev team focuses exclusively on product development.
3. Infrastructure frugality -- Hetzner Cloud (Nuremberg) provides enterprise-grade infrastructure at a fraction of hyperscaler costs. The entire production stack runs for approximately EUR 100/month.
4. Compliance by default -- German GmbH formation, GDPR-first data handling, DATEV-compatible accounting, and EU VAT compliance are baked into operations from day one.
5. Revenue before fundraising -- The company targets profitability through customer revenue, not venture capital. Break-even is achievable with approximately 20 Professional-tier customers.

Operating Model

The feedback loop is intentionally tight: the CEO experiences every product limitation firsthand while running the business, translates pain points into prioritized backlog items, and the dev team ships fixes and features in short cycles.

Legal Structure

GmbH Formation Checklist

Membership One GmbH is established as a German Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung (limited liability company) with the minimum share capital of EUR 25,000. The Musterprotokoll (standard protocol) simplifies formation for single-shareholder companies.

Total formation cost: approximately EUR 26,500 (including share capital) plus ~EUR 1,250/year recurring insurance and IHK fees.

Timeline: 4-6 weeks from notarization to full operational readiness.

Ongoing Compliance

The following obligations apply to every German GmbH on a recurring basis:

Key automation opportunity: The membership-accounting module with DATEV export capability handles the majority of recurring tax obligations by providing the Steuerberater with structured, machine-readable financial data. The CEO's role reduces to review and approval.

Service Providers

Membership One GmbH operates the Membership One SaaS platform. External service providers are contracted for specialized functions. Cash360, My-Factura, and CashControl are independent companies — not internal products.

Service Provider Registry

Contract Bundle for Customer Onboarding

When a new customer (Franchise, Studio, or Verein) signs up for Membership One, they enter into a bundled contract that covers three service relationships:

1. Membership One GmbH — SaaS Agreement (AGB) + AVV/DPA
2. My-Factura — Invoicing and billing service agreement
3. CashControl — SEPA Lastschriftmandat (via My-Factura)

This is presented as a single onboarding flow. The customer signs once. Membership One orchestrates all downstream contract creation.

Infrastructure Architecture (Hetzner Cloud)

Why Hetzner

Hetzner Cloud, headquartered in Gunzenhausen (Bavaria) with data centers in Nuremberg (nbg1), Falkenstein (fsn1), and Helsinki (hel1), offers:

• GDPR compliance -- German company, German data centers, no US Cloud Act exposure
• Price performance -- 3-5x cheaper than AWS/GCP/Azure for equivalent compute
• Simplicity -- Straightforward API, no hidden costs, no complex IAM
• Managed services -- PostgreSQL, Load Balancer, Object Storage, Firewall, Floating IP
• Kubernetes -- Managed Kubernetes (k3s-based) with auto-scaling node pools
• Connectivity -- 20 Gbit/s uplinks, Tier III+ data centers, 99.9% SLA

Architecture Diagram

Server Specifications

Note: Prices as of February 2026. Hetzner prices include 19% German VAT for B2C; B2B pricing (net) is approximately 16% lower. The table shows gross prices for conservative budgeting.

Network Architecture

Cloud Network: 10.0.0.0/16
├── Subnet: 10.0.1.0/24  (Kubernetes - app and infra nodes)
├── Subnet: 10.0.2.0/24  (Database - managed PostgreSQL)
└── Subnet: 10.0.3.0/24  (Storage - object storage gateway)

Cloud Firewall Rules:

TLS Configuration: - Edge certificates: Cloudflare handles TLS termination for public traffic (free, auto-renewed) - Origin certificates: Let's Encrypt via Dehydrated ACME client (DNS-01 challenge through Cloudflare API). Deployed to Hetzner Load Balancer via API post-hook. Daily cron check, renewal at 30 days before expiry. - Certificate monitoring: Icinga monitors all certificate expiry dates (check every 6 hours, alert at < 14 days). Provides independent verification that Dehydrated renewals succeed. - Cloudflare-to-origin: Full (Strict) mode with Let's Encrypt origin certificate - Internal cluster traffic: mTLS via Kubernetes service mesh (Linkerd or plain TLS)

Backup Strategy

Restore Testing: - Monthly automated restore test to a staging namespace - Quarterly full disaster recovery drill (see Disaster Recovery section) - All restore procedures documented in runbook with step-by-step instructions

Monitoring Stack

Alert Channels: - Email -- All alerts, sent to CEO and dev team distribution list - Telegram Bot -- P1/P2 alerts for immediate mobile notification - Grafana OnCall (free tier) -- Escalation and acknowledgment tracking

Key Alerts:

Disaster Recovery

Disaster Recovery Procedure:

Infrastructure as Code: All infrastructure is defined in Terraform (Hetzner provider) and Helm charts stored in GitLab. A full environment can be reproduced from scratch in under 2 hours.

Dogfooding: Business Automation Map

Membership One GmbH uses its own Membership One platform as Tenant Zero -- the first and most demanding customer. Every business process that can be automated through the platform is automated. This serves two purposes: (1) it reduces the CEO's operational burden, and (2) it ensures the platform genuinely works for real business operations before any customer sees it.

Automation Matrix

The remaining CEO time (~25-30h/week) is allocated to strategic activities: product vision, market research, partnership development, investor relations (if applicable), and hiring.

Tenant Zero Configuration

Sales Pipeline Stages

Lost deal stages: LOST (with reason code: price, features, competitor, timing, no_budget) and DISQUALIFIED (not target market).

Conversion targets (Year 1): - Lead to Demo: 40% - Demo to Trial: 60% - Trial to Won: 30% - Overall Lead to Won: ~7%

Cost Structure

Monthly Cost Breakdown

Personnel costs (not included above):

Total monthly burn rate: EUR 30,802 (personnel + fixed costs)

Annual burn rate: EUR 369,624

Revenue Model

Membership One follows a tiered SaaS pricing model that scales revenue with client upgrades:

No zero-euro strategy. Every user must have a billable account to ensure reachability and commitment. Even the Starter tier at EUR 0.99/month validates payment credentials, ensures the user has a real identity, and creates a commercial relationship from day one. The traditional freemium model (EUR 0) is replaced by a Trial Studio (14-day free evaluation, full features, see Chapter 02) that drives conversion to the Starter plan.

Professional tier: EUR 99/month (EUR 999/year) for mid-size organizations with up to 2,000 members. Includes check-in, resources, events, CRM, and analytics.

Break-Even Analysis

Note: Break-even calculation includes the full cost of the 4-person development team (estimated at EUR 4 x EUR 6,000 = EUR 24,000/month gross including employer costs). This is the dominant cost component and is explicitly included in the "Monthly Costs" column below. The CEO salary (EUR 4,000/month) and fixed costs (~EUR 802/month) are also included.

*Costs increase with hiring per Personnel Scaling Timeline.

Realistic break-even timeline: 18-24 months after launch, assuming steady growth of 10-20 new customers per month from month 6 onward. The EUR 0.99 Starter tier drives high acquisition volume; revenue relies on conversion to Team/Professional.

Key insight: The Starter tier (EUR 0.99) is a pure acquisition funnel -- it validates payment credentials and creates a commercial relationship at near-zero cost. Upselling from Starter to Team (EUR 29) or Professional (EUR 99) is the primary revenue lever. Sales should prioritize mid-size organizations that need Professional-tier features (check-in, resources, CRM).

Personnel Scaling Timeline

Hiring Roadmap

Role Definitions

Phase A: Foundation (Months 1-6) -- 5 persons

Phase B: Customer Operations (Months 7-12) -- 6 persons

Phase C: Market Expansion (Months 13-24) -- 8 persons

Phase D: Scaling (Months 25-36) -- 11 persons

Team Structure Evolution

Fixed costs increase modestly with additional tooling licenses, higher SMTP volume, and expanded marketing spend.

Go-to-Market Playbook

Target Customer Profiles

Three ideal customer profiles (ICPs) define the initial go-to-market focus. All are located in Germany and Austria (DACH region).

ICP 1: Small Fitness Studio

ICP 2: Local Sports Club (Verein)

ICP 3: Dance / Martial Arts School

Customer Journey Map

Pricing Strategy

The pricing structure is designed to minimize friction at entry while scaling revenue with customer success:

All prices net (plus applicable VAT).

Pricing principles: 1. No zero-euro strategy -- Every user must have a billable account. The Starter tier at EUR 0.99/month validates payment credentials, ensures a real identity, and creates a commercial relationship from day one. A 14-day Trial Studio (full features, no payment required) replaces the traditional freemium model. 2. No annual lock-in for Team -- Monthly cancellation keeps the barrier low. Annual discount (2 months free) incentivizes commitment. 3. Per-member scaling is transparent -- Customers see exactly what they pay and can predict costs as they grow. 4. Enterprise is negotiated -- Large organizations have unique needs (SSO, white-label, data migration, SLA) that justify custom pricing.

Outreach Templates

Cold Email (to studio owners found via Google Maps):

Subject: [Studio Name] -- a question about your member management

Hi [Name],

I noticed [Studio Name] on Google Maps -- impressive reviews! Quick question: how do you currently handle member billing and class bookings?

We built Membership One specifically for studios like yours. It replaces the spreadsheet/WhatsApp/manual-billing juggle with one app: members book and pay themselves, SEPA runs automatically, and you see everything on a dashboard.

Would a 15-minute demo be worth your time this week?

Best, [CEO Name] Membership One GmbH

LinkedIn Connection Message (to Vereinsvorstand):

Hi [Name], I see you manage [Club Name]. We are building a modern management tool specifically for German sports clubs -- automated Beitragseinzug, member self-service, and clear Vorstand reports. I would love to show you a quick demo. Interested?

Demo Follow-Up Email:

Subject: Your [Studio/Club Name] demo -- next steps

Hi [Name],

Thanks for taking the time today! As discussed, here is what Membership One can do for [Organization Name]:

• [Pain Point 1] solved by [Feature 1]
• [Pain Point 2] solved by [Feature 2]
• [Pain Point 3] solved by [Feature 3]

I have set up a 14-day trial for you: [trial link]

Your data from [current tool] can be imported via CSV -- I am happy to help with that.

Shall we schedule a 30-minute onboarding call for [day]?

Proposal Structure: 1. Executive summary (organization name, pain points identified, proposed solution) 2. Feature mapping (current pain vs. Membership One feature) 3. Pricing (tier, member count, monthly/annual) 4. Implementation timeline (data import, configuration, training, go-live) 5. Terms (contract period, cancellation, SLA if Enterprise) 6. Customer references (similar organizations)

Channel Strategy

Year 1 channel mix priority: 1. Direct outreach (CEO cold emails + LinkedIn) -- highest conversion, zero cost 2. SEO / Content -- builds long-term organic pipeline 3. Referrals -- highest quality leads, built into platform 4. LinkedIn Ads -- targeted DACH sports/fitness professionals

Risk Assessment

Business Risks

Risk Heat Map

Top 5 Risks and Action Plans

1. Cash flow pressure (R3) -- Critical/High - Action: Secure 12-month runway (EUR 370K) before first hire - Action: Apply for Gruendungszuschuss (up to EUR 18,000 over 15 months) - Action: Consider EXIST-Gruenderstipendium if eligible - Action: Defer CEO salary until MRR exceeds EUR 5,000 - Metric: Monthly cash runway in months (target: never below 6)

2. Product-market fit failure (R1) -- Critical/Medium - Action: Conduct 20 problem interviews before writing code - Action: Launch with 5-10 design partners (free, in exchange for weekly feedback) - Action: Track activation metrics (% of trial users who complete onboarding) - Action: Weekly NPS survey from active users - Metric: Trial-to-paid conversion rate (target: > 20%)

3. Slow customer acquisition (R2) -- High/High - Action: Build email list and waitlist 3 months before launch - Action: Publish SEO content targeting "Vereinsverwaltung Software" keywords from month 1 - Action: Attend 2 trade shows in year 1 (FIBO, local Sportbund events) - Action: Implement referral program with 1-month-free incentive - Metric: Monthly new paying customers (target: 5+ from month 6)

4. Key person risk (R4) -- High/High - Action: All business processes documented as standard operating procedures (SOPs) - Action: All SOPs executable through the platform (CRM, support, billing) - Action: Hire Customer Success Manager as first non-dev hire (month 7) - Action: CEO vacation coverage plan (CSM + Dev Lead can handle 1-2 weeks) - Metric: CEO bus factor coverage (target: all critical processes have documented backup)

5. Cash360 dependency (R9) -- Critical/Low - Action: Payment integration abstracted behind PaymentGateway interface - Action: Implement SEPA XML direct generation as fallback - Action: Monthly integration health check (API response time, error rate) - Action: Contractual SLA with CashControl / My-Factura (external provider) - Metric: Cash360 API uptime and error rate (target: 99.9% availability)

Operational Playbooks

Weekly CEO Cadence

Monthly Operational Checklist

Quarterly Business Review Template

1. Financial Summary -- Revenue (MRR, ARR), costs, cash runway, burn rate trend
2. Customer Metrics -- Total customers, new customers, churned, NPS, CSAT
3. Pipeline Health -- Leads, conversion rates per stage, average deal size, sales cycle length
4. Product Metrics -- Feature adoption, API usage, uptime, response time
5. Team Health -- Headcount, open positions, team satisfaction, velocity trend
6. Competitive Intelligence -- New competitor moves, pricing changes, feature launches
7. Next Quarter Goals -- OKRs (3-5 objectives with measurable key results)

Technology Operations

GitLab CI/CD Pipeline

The entire software delivery lifecycle is automated through GitLab CI/CD:

Feature Branch → Merge Request → Pipeline:
  ├── Build (Maven, Docker image)
  ├── Test (Unit, Integration, Testcontainers)
  ├── SAST (Static Application Security Testing)
  ├── DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing)
  ├── Container Scan (Trivy)
  ├── Code Quality (SonarQube free)
  └── Deploy:
      ├── staging (auto on merge to develop)
      └── production (manual trigger on merge to main)

Deployment Cadence

On-Call Rotation

Phase A (5 persons): Dev Lead is primary on-call. CEO is escalation contact. No formal rotation (small team).

Phase B+ (6+ persons): Weekly rotation among Dev Lead, Full Stack Dev, and QA/DevOps. On-call engineer has a Hetzner admin account and kubectl access. Escalation: on-call → Dev Lead → CEO.

On-call expectations: - Respond to P1 alerts within 15 minutes (Telegram) - Respond to P2 alerts within 1 hour (email) - P3/P4 handled during business hours only - Compensatory time off for after-hours incidents

Success Metrics and Milestones

Key Performance Indicators

Milestone Timeline

Appendix

Useful Links and Resources

GmbH Formation Document Checklist

• Gesellschaftsvertrag (Musterprotokoll) -- signed at Notar
• Handelsregister Eintragung (HRB certificate)
• Gewerbeanmeldung (trade registration certificate)
• Steuernummer (tax number from Finanzamt)
• USt-IdNr. (VAT ID from BZSt)
• Geschaeftskonto (business bank account confirmation)
• Betriebshaftpflicht Police (liability insurance policy)
• Cyber-Versicherung Police (cyber insurance policy)
• D&O-Versicherung Police (D&O insurance policy)
• DATEV Mandantenvertrag (tax advisor engagement letter)
• Datenschutzerklaerung (privacy policy -- published on website)
• Verarbeitungsverzeichnis (GDPR processing register)
• Impressum (legal notice -- published on website)
• AGB / Nutzungsbedingungen (terms of service -- published on website)
• Auftragsverarbeitungsvertrag (DPA template for customers)

Hetzner Terraform Quick Reference

# Example: Provision the full infrastructure
# See infra/terraform/ in the repository for complete configuration

resource "hcloud_network" "membership" {
  name     = "membership-network"
  ip_range = "10.0.0.0/16"
}

resource "hcloud_network_subnet" "k8s" {
  network_id   = hcloud_network.membership.id
  type         = "cloud"
  network_zone = "eu-central"
  ip_range     = "10.0.1.0/24"
}

resource "hcloud_server" "app_node" {
  count       = 3
  name        = "app-node-${count.index + 1}"
  server_type = "cx32"
  image       = "ubuntu-24.04"
  location    = "nbg1"

  network {
    network_id = hcloud_network.membership.id
    ip         = "10.0.1.${count.index + 10}"
  }

  firewall_ids = [hcloud_firewall.default.id]

  labels = {
    role = "app"
    env  = "production"
  }
}

resource "hcloud_server" "infra_node" {
  count       = 2
  name        = "infra-node-${count.index + 1}"
  server_type = "cx22"
  image       = "ubuntu-24.04"
  location    = "nbg1"

  network {
    network_id = hcloud_network.membership.id
    ip         = "10.0.1.${count.index + 20}"
  }

  firewall_ids = [hcloud_firewall.default.id]

  labels = {
    role = "infra"
    env  = "production"
  }
}

resource "hcloud_load_balancer" "web" {
  name               = "membership-lb"
  load_balancer_type = "lb11"
  location           = "nbg1"
}

resource "hcloud_firewall" "default" {
  name = "membership-firewall"

  rule {
    direction = "in"
    protocol  = "tcp"
    port      = "443"
    source_ips = ["0.0.0.0/0", "::/0"]
  }

  rule {
    direction = "in"
    protocol  = "tcp"
    port      = "80"
    source_ips = ["0.0.0.0/0", "::/0"]
  }

  rule {
    direction = "in"
    protocol  = "tcp"
    port      = "22"
    source_ips = ["ADMIN_IP/32"]
  }
}