In 1984, Iko founded TRADOS Inc, together with his high-school buddy Jochen Hummel. The company, back then German, specialized in developing software for language translation.

Both Iko and Jochen were developers by trade and kept programming for many years, slowly wearing additional hats in their growing organization.

In late 1997, as the Chief of Business Development and the CEO/President of TRADOS US, Iko raised and negotiated a 20% investment by Microsoft. After 13 years in business, this was the company's first round of external funding.

Additional investments by reputable firms like Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, and Sequoia Capital followed.

Over time, TRADOS had become the leading language technology provider to a wide variety of customers, including many of the Fortune 500 companies in the US and abroad.

Despite its Internet ambitions and the "Internet-bubble" in 2001, the company survived, and came out stronger than ever before. In 2005, TRADOS was acquired for 60m$ by SDL plc, a publicly traded language services and technology provider.

In late 2002, Iko took a short sabbatical and traded the hectic life of a TRADOS executive for a new startup idea. Not that this new venture would be any less busy, but it allowed him, once again, to spend a lot more time hands on.

"Talking to clients and translating their requirements into functionality of the product, is what I love doing. If you can sell your product along the way and keep the feedback cycle going, for me, this is as good as it gets."

To date, Iko keeps developing major portions of the code behind Softalot products. With over 150 installations in the first year of market presence, also a rewarding experience.

Besides developing software, Iko also enjoys movies. Hence the slightly "groovy" name of his new company.