"We wanted to end Y7K as short and painless as possible".

At the age of just 23, Samuel Alder, Ruben Feurer, Joris Noordermeer and Yves Sinka founded Y7K. The startup quickly evolved into an agency that works for renowned Swiss companies and employs nearly a dozen experts. In the last five years, Y7K has worked for clients such as SBB, Vontobel, Kanton Zürich and Migros.

Nevertheless, the current owners have decided to close the agency to pursue new directions. This was announced by the owners on Friday morning. Feurer, Sinka and Krieg are of the opinion that they have personally developed in recent years and that the step to leave Y7K behind feels right. (Werbewoche.ch reported). Werbewoche.ch talked to co-founder Ruben Feurer about the surprising news.

Werbewoche.ch: Ruben Feurer, you write in Friday's announcement that the Y7K team has "developed personally" - what does that mean?

Ruben Feurer: Y7K has provided space for personal growth. We have grappled with what we do every day, how we work, how we interact with each other and with other people - in the process, each of us has matured and grown. We have developed new interests that we want to pursue. And in order to do that, we need to break away from Y7K.

Are economic reasons also responsible for the closure?

No, economic reasons did not play a role in the closure. Y7K has always been financially stable.

Why is the established agency being closed and not sold?

When we founded Y7K, we wanted to be able to live our values and attitude as fully as possible. These values include a work culture where no unpaid overtime is worked, or that quality always trumps quantity. In our Opensource constitution all principles and moral convictions are visible. In recent years we have received several takeover offers, but this would have put exactly these values in danger. That is why I have always opposed them. When we felt that we were longing for a new challenge, we wanted to end Y7K as quickly and painlessly as possible. Selling the agency would have delayed this process by several months, if not years. That would not have been worth it to me.

Was there also a question of looking for successors for the agency in order to keep the brand alive?

We talked about it openly within the team and for various reasons came to the conclusion that we wanted to close the agency.

Has the decision been in the offing for some time, or is this a more recent development?

We've been through several sensory crises in the five years, so it's certainly not a recent development. This time, however, it felt right to let go.

It's time to say goodbye: Y7K closes its doors and announces its farewell on the website (Screenshot Y7k.com).

Looking back: What was the highlight of the agency's five-year history for you?

I don't want to pin history down to one highlight. But I am very proud of the fact that we have always maintained our stance and had the courage to take radical decisions.

Apart from the closure, what was the most difficult moment?

In 2017, we decided to downsize the team in order to realign ourselves. Communicating this decision to those affected challenged me. But it was the right decision.

How has the market changed since the company was founded in 2014? 

We already realized in 2017 that we see little future for us in the website business. With new technological developments and tools like Squarespace, it has become much easier to develop websites. As a result, there are more and more players on the market and prices are coming under pressure. Agencies make life difficult for themselves by not taking a stance and giving in to all the requests or ignorance of the clients. Thus, unpaid pitches, overly elaborate tenders and too low budgets for the demands have become normal. This is not sustainable, ensures low quality, and ultimately hurts everyone. Real professionals advise their clients and point out mistakes. That's why we have focused more and more on more complex software projects in the last months. This has developed well and we have been able to realize successful projects with customers such as SBB and VIU Eyewear.

If you could start again in 2014: Would you choose the same name again? It could be described as not very memorable and difficult to remember...

I think one should dare the unconventional more often. The name may not be very catchy, but it has definitely polarized and thus provided food for thought. Yes, I would choose the same name again.

Is the topic of self-employment closed for you for the time being?

Why should that be? My business partner Yves Sinka once said: "Y7K was for me the best paid school on how to successfully build, shape and even close an organization". So I can definitely see myself working in a similar role again in the future. But first, I want to give myself plenty of time to explore different options.