Company: V12 workingspace GbR
Founders: Jessica Ferri and Viet Anh Nguyen
Date of foundation: February 2025
Industry and company: Real estate & office rental

What drives you? What is your motto?
Courage beats perfection - if you start, you grow along the way.

What is your start-up about and what is special about it?
We have transformed a listed city villa in Wiesbaden into a modern workspace. V12 is not an anonymous coworking space, but a lively place. Our USP: historical charm meets smart working environments and a strong community.

What are your initial successes?
We have impressed the owner, transformed the urban villa in record time and created a place that connects people and allows them to grow with V12. It feels great to see how the villa is alive again today - thanks to the people who shape their future here every day.

What is your professional background?
We are architects who already mastered teamwork together during our studies and dreamed of setting up our own office. After years in more traditional company structures, self-employment was the logical next step. Today, we create spaces in which new things are created.

What prompted you to set up your own company?
We could have simply worked on the Stadtvilla as an architectural project. But we saw more: the opportunity to create a completely new usage concept - co-working in a historic villa, an offer that hardly exists in this form. A place for exchange, progress and community. Instead of abandoning this vision, we decided to set up our own business. Because we believe that architecture must have an impact - and we want to take responsibility when we see potential.

Who advised you, who are your helpers and mentors?
Family and friends gave us support, founders from our network openly shared their learnings. And the owner of the villa believed in our vision - his trust and openness made it possible to found the company in the first place.

How did you experience the first few days as founders?
Our idea became reality in the very first days as founders. When the first tenants moved in, we realized that we hadn't just designed a space: We weren't just designing spaces, we were creating an environment in which people could come together and create the future - our concept was becoming a living place.

What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
Our biggest challenge was financing the furnishings and marketing as well as the tight schedule between setting up the website, the booking and administration system, the delivery and installation of the furnishings and the opening. This only worked out with good coordination and initiative.

How do you draw attention to your company? What is your best marketing idea?
We rely on social media that not only advertises, but also tells stories - real stories, real people. We also create encounters: Events, workshops, network meetings. This is how V12 can be experienced. And this is exactly what creates organic reach and real, sustainable visibility.

How did you finance your start-up?
A mix of equity and bank loans. Bold, but solid planning.

What dream would you still like to realize?
We would like to turn our V12 Workingspace into a label. A new regional meeting place that promotes inspiration and exchange between different professions.

Please complete the following sentence: If we had more time, we would...
... create more spaces for encounters and inspiration.

What is your special tip: What would you recommend to founders?
Start before everything is perfect. Unlike us, look for mentors and build up networks in advance - they open doors that capital alone cannot open.