Every day, we search the web for impactful content, projects, ventures and ideas by Sandboxers. Twice a week, we choose the most inspiring, funny or brilliant piece and publish it here on our blog.

This week Marcus Kuhn tells the story behind Connex.io, a new tool that helps you keep your address book clean and organized. Check them out on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news.

1. Tell us the story of your project – how did everything begin? What motivated you to start this project?

connex.io started by someone pointing out a problem – address book management – and me thinking that there had to be a solution. Since there was none I started to develop one. This was in a networking seminar i attended at my University. The coach mentioned how much of a hassle it was to manage your address book and knowing the potential of smart phones, open APIs etc. I was convinced that there must be a solution to this problem. After a little research it became clear to me that many had tried but that there was no satisfactory solution to the problem. After mulling over the idea for a few nights I still had this tingling feeling in my stomach so I went for it. The idea and its potential excited me and I felt that it should be a relatively simple, small thing. Obviously that last part was wrong and the project turned out to be very complex. But the excitement is still here.

The story behind our startup is kind of special anyways. Ata is from Turkmenistan, I am Swiss and we met in Singapore. We started seriously pursuing the idea there – about 9 months after it first had appeared on my radar screen – and since March 2010 have been a virtual team and only met again in July 2011. This setup makes for quite a few good stories but those will have to be told another time.

2. What was the biggest success of your project, so far?

Biggest success is hard to define as we are only launching in a few days. It definitely was a great feeling to sign the contract with the first investor, it was very rewarding to see people start using our product and giving us very valuable and extensive feedback. But the best moment probably was when we got our first prototype working and contacts were synced between a Google Account and a Thunderbird Email Client. It just got real and it felt like we had achieved something. It just put a big smile on our faces and gave us an enormous push to put our product in people’s hands.

3. What is your project’s biggest challenge at the moment?

Our going-to-market. The product is now at a stage where it is good enough to distribute it to a larger circle but finding that larger circle will be a challenge. Obviously we have a lot of ideas but we will have to test them and see what works and what does not. It will be another huge learning process which we actually try to avoid be hiring someone with a lot of experience in this area.

5. How do you see your project evolve in the next:

a) 6 months: In the next 6 months we will launch our product gain our first few thousand paying users and expand our product to more platforms as well as improve our product and continuously adapt it to the feedback we receive from our users.

b) 3 years: 3 years is a long time in the future and I can only guess. Our vision for connex.io is for it to become the default address book. You start your phone, laptop or even car navigation system for the first time, you enter your connex.io credentials and your address book will be there. Kept up-to-date by us.

6. What advice would you give to young people that want to start their own project?

I am a big fan of the Lean Startup Methodology which we apply in our own business. What it basically boils down to is that you build something, measure if it does what it should and then iterate. So my advice would be to go for it and not let the fear of failure stop you. Build a prototype of what you want to do. Put it in people’s hand and see what they thing. Then take those learnings and iterate.

7. How could other Sandboxers and the outside world support your project?

We are launching on the 30. September. I would ask people to give our solution a spin and help us out with feedback so we can improve it into something that is even more valuable to our users. And if they like what they see we won’t stop them from recommending our solution to others, quite the opposite.

Meet Sandboxer Tobias Jaeger. Born 1985 in Germany, Tobias founded his first company during his International Business studies at Maastricht University. He encourages everyone to consider becoming an entrepreneur to realize their own dreams. Find Tobias on Twitter and Facebook.

1. Tell us the story of your latest project / occupation.

In the beginning of the year I assumed the position of CEO at Entrepreneur Academy. I became the new partner and guy to internationalize our operation and take it to “the next generation”. We are the World’s Leading Personal Empowerment Authority, working with amazing entrepreneurs and other highly committed individuals around the world to enable them to reach their personal next level.

2. What are you doing and how did you get there?

I got to know the company as a client. My passion for the topic of personal empowerment led me and my partner to consider joining forces and taking the entrepreneur academy itself to the next level. I am in charge of taking the concept global and reach as many people as possible. We have set ourselves some big, hairy and audacious goals. You can imagine what I do like being the producer of a movie: I make sure everything runs smoothly.

3. Tell us about the biggest successes and failures in your life. What worked, what didn’t, and what did you learn?

My biggest successes are based on the fact that I continuously strive to expand the boundaries of my comfort zone. Becoming an entrepreneur has been one of the best decisions so far and I can honestly say that with my 20something years I am living my dream. I love and embrace every day.
The biggest failures would be some of my decisions that I took for my last online-startup. I think I made every mistake in the book: From misplaced trust in some key people and unrealistic expectations I guess I can tick all the mistake checkboxes.

5. What was your most inspring moment during the last two weeks?

We had a training session last week and I saw a client “puke” out all the anger that was in him for about 10 years. He literally broke out of his old self and discovered it to be OK to be who he really wanted to be. We work with exciting achievers in all kinds of fields. I am inspired by those moments in which people easily, freely, and happily change patterns and habits to do the things they really want to do.

6. How could other Sandboxers and the outside world support you and why would that be exciting for them.

Supporting us means to tell everyone about us and participate in our coaching and training. This world is full of great people and I love contributing to people going far beyond their own boundaries. Working with us or supporting us means to participate in those moments where people grow and use even more of their great potential.

Tobias’ favourite:

-book: (Oldschool) “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill (1937 Classic Edition) / (Newschool) “Rework” by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
-movie: “The King’s Speech”
-place on earth: Kauai, Hawai’i, United States
-travel destination during last year: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
-food: Anything truly authentic is appreciated
-drink: Espresso
-quote: “To be is to do” – Immanuel Kant

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Antoine is a Co-Founder and the CEO of Sandbox. He is flying to Berlin tomorrow morning where he will attend the Palomar5 final Summit, together with a dozen other Sandboxers from all around.