Nils Kornder
We caught up with Nils, cofounder of mealmates and resident of Cologne, Germany. (Shout out to technology for making calls around the world possible!)
Good St. is about making giving a part of our daily routines… What is a quirky daily routine of yours?
I always have to get a second coffee in the office in the morning as the first one is cold when I take the first sip — And every day I mourn it :D
What’s one GOOD change you’d like to see in the world?
What I’m very passionate about is inequality. I live in a country where I can pursue my ideas, goals, objectives… but in the larger part of the world, people are born and stuck in some frame they often can’t escape. That’s simply unfair.
What is a cause or organization you’re particularly passionate about? And why?
There’s one charity called Andheri-Hilfe based in Bonn, Germany. They work to improve the lives of children in India and Bangladesh. I’m passionate about this, because it’s the first charity I came into touch with. I met the founder of the charity, and she’s one of the most inspiring people I’ve met. I’ve had the chance to observe one of the projects they made, and I saw the impact they made moving forward. It’s been great to follow them and see them grow and grow.
On Good St. we believe that small change (like our quarters) can lead to big change… can you think of a particular experience in your life that you believe changed you, whether in a big or small way?
I bought myself a pretty nice blender recently. Now I have a smoothie a day. No big deal, no big effort — but I do feel the difference in the form of leftover energy after a hard day of work.
Tell us about mealmates!
My friend and I studied business, and I didn’t really think about what I wanted to do after graduation, so I traveled at the end of my studies. The sudden loss of a friend towards the end of my travels has been the biggest change in my life so far as I learned not to wait with stuff you want to accomplish. When it happened, me and my friend decided to build something up ourselves, which has now become mealmates. We asked our families for support and asked ourselves how long we were willing to work without payment, so we dropped all other ideas to move forward and went directly into being self-employed. We wanted to create meaningful change to people in our hometown region. We noticed Germans eat really poorly; German people spend less than 10 percent of their income on food. It’s a startup from scratch. We had three founders and soon acquired a young and talented cook who serves as our culinary advisor until today. We did all the steps ourselves — website, cooking, delivery, support. I was the only delivery man at the time. Slowly it got bigger and bigger and involves a team of over 30 people now.
Rapid Fire Good:
Good quote?
“Love and food is what you give all your heart to” — Dalai Lama
Good musician?
Nina Simone (she’s brilliant!)
Good gift?
Swiss chocolate
Good place to visit?
Nice, France
Good word?
Fortitude
Good food?
Chicken Tikka Masala — first delivered meal with mealmates!
