About Lucian Katzbach

What I did before

I come from software development. My agile scrum team delivered twice as much in half the time as the team at the market leader back then.

I scaled one marketing channel from a low four-figure budget to several million euros in annual revenue – in a SaaS business built on subscriptions.

I led a team of ten and helped startups reach their goals with it, including one company I took to market leadership within 18 months. Right now I'm writing a book.

FlightRoom: born because I wanted a holiday

FlightRoom is a role-playing game for teams. Together you fly a plane that's in trouble – as pilot, co-pilot, engineer, tower. Contradictory readings, time pressure, decisions under uncertainty. Afterwards you can see how your team talks when it really counts.

How did it come about? I know you're not supposed to admit this. But that's how it was.

At my previous company I worked really hard. The business was my baby, and the last thing I wanted was for something to go wrong while I was away.

At the same time I wanted something out of it. Not someday – now: being able to disappear for a few weeks at a stretch.

For that I needed a team I trusted completely. One where I wouldn't come home to a pile of broken glass.

I read up on how others handle it where communication decides between life and death – in aviation and in medicine. Out of that I built a role-playing game for my own team. That was 2017.

It was great fun, and the idea wouldn't let go of me for years afterwards. Last year I tested that old prototype on the market. Today it exists as a product: FlightRoom.

Haushelden: born because I was ill

Haushelden is an app for families. It makes visible who takes on what in the household, and helps children stick with it.

For a while I simply couldn't do anything around the house. It drove my wife mad that the kids never took anything on by themselves.

I looked around for solutions and tried a lot of things. Out of that came Haushelden – on the market since August 2026.

Independence instead of obedience.

It isn't about a child taking out the bin today. The app helps them carry responsibility over time, stay with it for a goal further out, and deal with setbacks.

Why I build things myself at all

Honestly, I didn't want to found anything else. My heart is in the consulting – that's the business I want to build.

But by now I see it as a challenge: I build these products so that I learn as much as possible from them. And what I learn goes straight back into the work with my clients.

What I run into along the way, I write down – in real time, as a series on the blog.

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