Challenging Startup Conventions (cezary.co)
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CHALLENGING STARTUP CONVENTIONS
CEZARY PIETRZAK MaGIC Entrepreneurship Center
Cyberjaya, Malaysia October 15, 2014
@cezinho
SELAMAT PAGI!
@cezinho
@cezinho
MY BACKGROUND
2000 - 2004
2005 - 2008
CEZARY & CO
2008 - 2012
2012
2013
2014
@cezinho
WHAT I’LL SHARE TODAY
The story of New York tech
Malaysia and the Challenger approach
Contrarian views on growth
@cezinho
THE STORY OF NEW YORK TECH
@cezinho
@cezinho
IN 2008, NYC WAS NOT AN EXCITING PLACE FOR TECHNOLOGY
Few startups Few co-working spaces
Few accelerators and incubators Few VCs and angel investors
Very little tech culture No external support
@cezinho
BUT THE BANKING CRISIS TURNED INTO A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
Wall St. developers mixed with non-technical people First-time entrepreneurs became the norm
@cezinho
IN JUST A FEW YEARS, NYC BECAME THE #2 STARTUP HUB IN THE WORLD
Entrepreneurs took charge Startup excitement spread everywhere
VCs, accelerators, co-working spaces followed New York passed Boston and Seattle in funding
Even the local government got involved
@cezinho
WE STOOD OUT THROUGH OUR CONFIDENCE, ATTITUDE AND HARD WORK
We were self-reliant We helped each other out
We succeeded with limited resources and experience We weren’t afraid of starting during a recession “If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere”
@cezinho
WE PLAYED TO OUR STRENGTHS
Diversity in people Diversity in industries Welcoming attitude
Fantastic place to live Geographic proximity
Rise of tech-enabled businesses
@cezinho
AND WE NEVER ASPIRED TO BECOME SILICON VALLEY
Infrastructure is not our core focus We’re OK discussing revenue
We don’t only talk about startups :-)
@cezinho
SIMPLY PUT, WE WEREN’T AFRAID TO BREAK CONVENTIONS
convention (n): a way in which something is usually done,
especially within a particular area or activity
MALAYSIA + THE CHALLENGER APPROACH
@cezinho
@cezinho
MALAYSIA TODAY REMINDS ME OF NEW YORK TECH IN ITS EARLY DAYS
A few big exits A new crop of startups Rising number of VCs
Thriving startup communities + hubs
@cezinho
THE ECOSYSTEM HAS AN EXCELLENT FOUNDATION
Rapid economic growth Central location in Asia
Multilingual and diverse culture High Internet and mobile penetration
Low overhead to start a business Tax breaks for startups and investors
Low advertising costs MaGIC…and Cheryl Yeoh!
@cezinho
BUT DOUBTS AND QUESTIONS REMAIN
Lack of talent Lack of money and resources
Too much competition from Singapore Lack of trust in local companies
Difficulty expanding to Southeast Asia Second-mover disadvantage
Founder disagreements
@cezinho
TO SUCCEED, IT MUST TURN NEGATIVES INTO POSITIVES
Learn the skills you lack Use what you have and always give first Collaborate with other startup hubs Gain local validation via association Use cultural know-how to your advantage Exploit competitor weaknesses Do your homework ahead of time
Lack of talent Lack of money and resources
Too much competition from Singapore Lack of trust in local companies
Difficulty expanding to Southeast Asia Second-mover disadvantage
Founder disagreements
@cezinho
LEAN ON ITS STRENGTHS
Travel
E-commerce
Finance
Automotive
Retail
external validation (Rocket Internet / Zalora), rising stars (Christy Ng)
extremely large shopping malls, rise of BLE / iBeacons
access to foreign capital, top-tier Islamic banking, strong currency
rise of auto tech and car apps, existing industry (Proton, Formula 1)
#1 airline in Asia (AirAsia), growing tourism, world-class destinations
@cezinho
AND EMBRACE THE CHALLENGER MENTALITY
Try harderMake sacrifices
Be nimble and adaptive Become a thought leader
Don’t please everyone Develop a clear identity
@cezinho
CHALLENGERS ARE ALL UNDERDOGS, BUT THEY COME IN DIFFERENT FLAVORS
DemocratizerDavid
& Goliath
People’s Champion
Human Connector
MissionaryInformed
Zagger
Maverick
@cezinho
WHICH CHALLENGER STORY ARE MALAYSIAN STARTUPS TELLING?
“Quiet Success” Strong
Resilient Focused Subtle
Unassuming
CONTRARIAN VIEWS ON GROWTH
@cezinho
@cezinho
MY VIEWS ON GROWTH OFTEN RUN AGAINST STARTUP CONVENTIONS
Peter Thiel, Co-Founder of Paypal
“What important truth do very few people agree with you on?”
@cezinho
PUT PEOPLE AT THE CENTER OF YOUR COMPANY
People ≠ users People define your product
People also have lives outside of your product People are important in both B2B + B2C
!
#1
NOT USERS
@cezinho
ANSWER THE “WHY?” WITH DEEP HUMAN INSIGHTS
Be empathetic Observe your customer’s behaviors Focus on meaning, not information
Use quantitative data to inform, not dictate Develop right-brain skills
NOT DATA
!
#2
@cezinho
INVEST IN RELATIONSHIPS
Relationships require commitment Relationships have multiple layers
Mobile relationships are even more challenging But when nurtured properly, relationships are lasting
NOT SALES
!
#3
@cezinho
FOCUS ON ONE: CUSTOMER, NICHE, MESSAGE
You can’t be everything to everyone Clearly define your customers
Start small, expand later (think: monopoly) Repeat messaging multiple times until it resonates
NOT MANY
!
#4
@cezinho
CELEBRATE GREAT IDEAS
Ideas are grossly undervalued relative to execution VCs are the biggest culprit of this trend
As a result, there is surplus of poorly-built startup clones Great ideas get people excited, execution only gets you money
NOT EXECUTION
!
#5
@cezinho
CREATE A MINIMUM BEAUTIFUL PRODUCT
Mediocre is no longer good enough Build something customers will love
Use each opportunity to “wow” Beautiful ≠ overbuilt
NOT MINIMUM VIABLE
!
#6
@cezinho
THINK FIRST, TEST LATER
“Test it” is the answer to everything today But testing is often a symptom of weak hypotheses
Many people do testing incorrectly Testing tools are imperfect
NOT TEST FIRST
!
#7
@cezinho
CREATE A GROWTH PROCESS
There is no silver bullet for growth Process is an input, tactics (‘hacks’) are an output
Process is scalable, repeatable and industry agnostic Great process is captured in a playbook
NOT A HACK
!
#8
@cezinho
MAKE GROWTH A TEAM SPORT
No one person can grow a startup alone Marketing + design + engineering must all work together
The independence of these functions is only growing Growth must have buy-in at the CEO level
NOT SOLITARY
!
#9
@cezinho
IN SUMMARY, NINE DIFFERENT WAYS TO VIEW GROWTH
People Insights Relationships One Focus Ideas Minimum Beautiful Think First Growth Process Team Growth
Users Data Sales
Many Activities Execution
Minimum Viable Test First
Growth Hack Solitary Growth
@cezinho
WE’LL DISCUSS THESE GROWTH THEMES DURING MY TWO WORKSHOPS
Today Wed Oct 15th
2:00pm - 6:00pm
“Building a foundation for growth”
Tomorrow Thu Oct 16th
2:00pm - 6:00pm
“Creating a repeatable growth process”
MALAYSIA BOLEH!@cezinho
LEARN ABOUT MARKETING + GROWTH + MOBILE AT
CEZARY.CO