The QDE story: ten years of querdenker engineering

Driven by the wish to bring something good into the world

For Florian Seibold one thing was clear from the start: “I want to do something good for the world.” With that conviction he founded an electronics start-up with two partners after finishing his bachelor's degree. It soon became clear, however, that enthusiasm for technology and the pleasure of developing were not enough on their own to create a business environment built on mutual respect. After eighteen months the three parted ways over irreconcilable basic attitudes.

One illusion poorer but one important experience richer, Florian Seibold continued with his master's degree and gained insights into business as a working student at well-known companies. Nowhere, though, did he find a working environment that matched his values. So in 2014 he decided to take the step into self-employment.

At the time, job advertisements were often looking for “Querdenker” (lateral thinkers). Florian Seibold looked into the term and concluded that lateral thinking is an excellent way to work and a fitting description of his engineering firm. querdenker engineering was born.

The patent and trademark office, however, took the view that lateral thinking is the basis of any good development work and therefore not eligible for trademark protection. After long discussions, Florian Seibold's arguments prevailed, and the querdenker engineering mark was officially confirmed in 2016.

For personal reasons the electronics freelancer moved from Munich to Freiburg in 2016. There, halstrup-walcher GmbH was quickly won as a first major client, which gave the young company's growth a strong boost. A further move to Neuried and the opening of an office on Hauptstraße in the Ichenheim district followed in 2017.

The long-standing collaboration with the EMS provider AXON Electronics brought in further clients, among them the medical device manufacturer OPED. To handle this volume of work properly, the company urgently needed staff and quickly found the experienced software developer Nico Klaas. Within only two years the team grew from two to six. That called for more office and laboratory space, which the existing site could provide.

From the outset, Florian and Nico agreed on establishing a professional way of working. In 2018 they started with the first virtual EEPROM implementation, which became the basis for the company's own C++ library semf (smart embedded framework) and made development simpler and faster. Beyond that, all processes were set up to comply with ISO 13485 (medical devices) and ISO 9001 (industry standard), and Scrum-based project management was introduced for agile development.

The philosophy of querdenker engineering is built on technical expertise and on an open, equal and respectful way of working together. Democratic rules inside the company have been discussed intensively since 2018; in 2021 a works agreement was concluded that sets down the binding nature of these values and norms. A democratic pay model has been in place since 2022, and a “Charter of Democracy”, a constitution of sorts for querdenker engineering, was adopted in January 2025.

For Florian, the lessons of the first ten years are clear: “Working deliberately according to our own values is a key factor. Combined with open communication, it has so far always let us resolve even conflict-laden situations positively.” For him it matters to stand up for one another and to help each other across the whole supply chain. Electronics development is always teamwork, and enjoying the work, combined with professionalism, is the precondition for bringing something good into the world.

Milestones: ten years of querdenker engineering

• 2016: registration of the word and figurative mark querdenker engineering GmbH
• 2017: move to Neuried, Ichenheim district; an office on Hauptstraße after a six-month search
• 2018: first employee, Nico Klaas, who becomes a shareholder a year later; project and quality management set up to ISO 13485
• 2019: the team grows rapidly to six; office extension, stage one
• 2020: Scrum-based project management introduced for agile development; marketing and sales professionalised
• 2022: the team has grown to ten; office extension, stage two; a democratic pay model introduced
• 2023: project management and quality assurance implemented to ISO 9001
• 2024: the team grows to fifteen; official certification of the quality management system to DIN EN ISO 9001