In our special column, we are delighted to feature an interview with Friederike Hesse, Co-Founder and Managing Director at ZERO44, who shares the story behind the establishment of her company in the maritime industry.
Although she had no prior connection to shipping, her expertise in digital solutions aligned well with the market’s needs. Today, she finds the industry full of exciting opportunities and enjoys her work immensely. However, she hopes to see more shipping companies experiment with new solutions and tools. For Friederike, the most important factor at work is finding the right people—those she trusts and enjoys working with. In this regard, she aims to be generous rather than judgmental, trusting rather than suspicious, and positive rather than negative. She emphasizes the importance of creating an environment where psychological safety prevails, enabling people to truly thrive.
SAFETY4SEA: How did it come about that you joined the shipping industry and your field of expertise specifically?
Friederike Hesse: ZERO44 is a software company that builds digital solutions to manage carbon regulations like the Carbon Intensity Indicator, the EU Emission Trading System or FuelEU Maritime. I founded this company in 2022 together with my co-founder Nils Obermann and Flagship Founders, a venture studio that initiates businesses in the shipping industry. My expertise is in building digital businesses and I had not been in shipping before. I am an economist by training and had worked in the German government in the past – so I am very familiar with public regulations and their effect on markets. The maritime industry was the perfect opportunity to apply this expertise to a new market and field, so when I met the Flagship Founders team and explored this opportunity I was hooked. First readings included Martin Stopford’s “Maritime Economics” and Matthew McCleary’s “The Shipping Man” which helped to lay a first foundation. Since then I have learned tremendously from our customers and users across all segments of the industry.
S4S: What about your current job/ role most excites you and why?
Fr.H.: I love that we are solving a complex problem and that each customer brings specific challenges based on their various business models that we aim to tackle with a unified product. Every day, this requires me to listen and learn and work on good solutions with the ZERO44 team. The carbon regulations we are dealing with are new to this industry and together with our customers we are creating completely new strategies and business processes. This is very interesting and meaningful work and I enjoy doing this a lot.
S4S: What is the most worthwhile career investment (in energy, time, money) you’ve ever made?
Fr.H.: I have made a lot of changes in my career and in retrospect I think that was a good investment. Why an investment? Because by changing industries and job profiles you are losing career momentum as you have to start again in an unknown field. So I started my career almost 25 years ago as a strategy consultant in a large US firm. I only took this job because I could not find a job in government right after university. So when that opportunity came two years later, I left consulting and became a civil servant in the German government. I really tried to like it for three years but I learned that this role was not the right fit for me; so I left. I did the same several years later when I worked for a large corporation in a leadership position and decided that I don’t like to work in large organisations. So again I left. And only by doing that, have I found the thing that I like most: building a company and building products that solve relevant and complex customer challenges. When I left university I did not even know that the job I am doing today existed. Only by leaving what I did not like could I find it. So that’s my career investment: only sticking to a job that I really enjoy.
S4S: In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your business life?
Fr.H.: When I started ZERO44 I was doing this with people I had not worked with before. When finding my co-founder or hiring the team, I was obviously looking for smart, talented and motivated people. But more importantly, I was looking for people that I trust and that I like to work with. And my habit is to work on keeping it that way. So, I try to be generous rather than judging, trusting rather than suspicious and positive rather than negative. And to keep that up when things get stressful or someone makes a mistake or things fail. I very much believe that human beings need an environment of psychological safety to be happy and successful, I definitely know that I need such an environment – so that’s what I try to achieve for my business life.
S4S: What would you like to change in the current maritime landscape and your area of expertise specifically and why?
Fr.H.: Selling digital solutions in this industry can be tough. People perceive new software more as a burden than a relief. There is a limited willingness to try out new ways and make quick decisions. While I do understand that this comes from negative experiences in the past and a general industry sentiment that being a first mover is not necessarily a winning strategy in maritime, I strongly believe that this attitude is hindering innovation and progress. So I would love to see more shipping companies experiment with new solutions and tools, iterate quickly (i.e. get rid of them when they fail) and force suppliers like us to do our best while giving us the opportunity to do it.
The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
