How a single experience changed my life
When I was in San Francisco with my girlfriend in 2011, we got up extremely early to enjoy a sunrise at the Golden Gate Bridge. There we met a jogger and after talking to her in English for almost 30 minutes, we suddenly realized that she is also from Germany and moved to San Francisco over 10 years ago. She knew the area very well and decided to recommend us one of her favorite places nearby. I still remember that feeling of endless happiness as we enjoyed the sunrise on this magical beach called Kirby Cove.
I couldn't stop thinking about how else I would have found this place without this random encounter. Searching on the web usually results in the same most popular places, while social media offered other perspectives, but it was almost impossible to get information on how to find the place. So I decided to solve my own problem after the idea stuck with me for multiple years and the first version of the platform went online in the fall of 2014.
Welcome to the reality
It took me about three weeks to develop the first version, and I went live the night before I left for a trip to Chicago. Armed with business cards, I talked to as many people as I could at typical photo spots around the city. An unbelievable 100 percent of the people loved the idea and couldn't wait to try it out. I was so sure I had done a good job with the conversations, but when I got home and checked my analytics, I saw that exactly 0 people had opened the site from the US.
Learning: Whatever you do, please remember that starting something new is difficult for everyone, and success doesn't come overnight.
The same is true for this photo from Chicago where I was super tired after a long day. Sitting in the train on my way back to the apartment, I gave myself a jolt in the very last second, left the train at this station and took the photo I was hoping for after I researched and planned so long for it. Until today, this is the photo that opened me so many doors and connections that I used to talk about Locationscout. It's basically the second experience that changed my life in a very positive way.
So, why am I talking about these experiences?
In my opinion, life is all about those random experiences that we never forget and will remember for a long time. Maybe it's a great story that we tell our friends, or it's just a feeling we like to think back on during a tough day. Whatever it is for you, I hope Locationscout will help you to find your favorite places around the world and fill them with experiences you will still think about when you are older.
So that's my journey with Locationscout in a nutshell, with many ups and downs, especially during Covid-19 when traveling suddenly became a thing of the past. To this day, I work as a web developer for clients, while investing my evenings and weekends in running this platform and the community I appreciate so much and can't thank enough for their support.
However, thanks to every single Premium Subscriber, after 8 years of work, I am now trying to build a sustainable business around Locationscout that will hopefully allow me to pay the running costs, earn a living, hire more talented people and continue to offer the best possible solution to find beautiful locations around the world.
Let's make a real difference together
With everything I do, creating value for others is always my main goal. While this is essential for any startup, I always thrive to go a step further. Offering 0% licensing fees or financially supporting non-profits to protect wildlife and nature while the platform is not financially sustainable yet are just the first steps.
But most important to me is personal contact with you. I know that's easier said than done, but I really care that you are satisfied with Locationscout. If that's not the case, or you just want to say hello, feel free to drop me a line at
