20130527 HappyFarm Growing Sexy Starups: panel discussion with Tristan Kromer and Vitaliy Golomb
- Tristan Kromer
- http://www.happyfarm.com.ua/bi/mentors/advisors/tristan-kromer/
- http://www.linkedin.com/in/tristankromer
- when talking about startups - ninjas, rockstarts and gurus - are bullshit
- tech industry
- I've been into music industry - similar to tech.
- some people are rockstarts and they know how the sound should be like
- in order to be successful you need
- technical cofounder - a drumer in music
- a wrap - connection to venture
- startup is like music industry - people don't want to earn money - they want to be famous
- they think I get an idea - if they would hear it - everybody would love it.
- give up the idea of rockstars
- Rockstart beleive their solution is best - if only people would see it.
- they fail.
- can we solve a real problem for real people
- can we stop building another button? (check in)
- I'm done building tech for rich white people
- I whish we would focus on users and help them to solve problems, rather than technical solution.
- Be passionate not about the tech - be passionate about the people that would use the tech
- Vitaliy Golomb
- http://www.happyfarm.com.ua/bi/mentors/advisors/vitaliy-golomb/
- http://www.linkedin.com/in/vitalyg
- designer, founder, mentor
- Steve blank said - silicon valley is new Holywood
- it is fashionable to do a sexy startups
- at the end of the day startup is a business
- much more interesting to solve problems people would be willing to pay for.
- that's really sexy - that's innovation.
- had grown up in silicon walley
- first thing was constructing BBS systems
- got an opportunity to be paragraph international
- powering the apple newton software recognition
- got and opportunity to show great tech at age of 13
- you are a product of your environment
- now ist is fashionable to do a startup
- you don't do a stratup - you build a business
- you must create value
- it's not about fortune
- it's about wannabies going for fame
- this is your one chance - you will be focusing on it for several years
- absorb as much as you can - think about problems you know best
- try to find a problem you can solve the best.
- I don't know how to grow sexy startups - I know how to grow unsexy, but profitable
- Sexy for whom? Customers!
- Questions
- How often you meet unique projects?
- we often hear it's difficult to find unique idea.
- the answer is - the solutions ARE generally unique
- for any idea you can possibly have somebody else who have the same one.
- it's ALL ABOUT execution
- idea
- team
- this would be unique
- a greek phylosopher said - there are no new ideas
- can be compared to holywood - only several film ideas that go around
- box.com was first to talk about cloud storage, but dropbox came. it's about different ingridients you use to solve the problem
- there is no way you can beat a big companies in their own way - they would outspend you in a moment - you have to come at a problem at a completely different way. you have to find much better way to solve. you have to think how to be better.
- somebody came and say I would build a social network
- would you beat facebook? no.
- you come to the problem completely different way
- you can do it again and again.
- if you had found an idea and you had not found someone working on it - eithere there is no market or
- Let's imagine you are doing an app. what is the main battle that you would do while producing design for it application?
- think - what's your problem? who's your customer?
- how long people have been working on it
- who work on it?
- who esle kicks who's ass?
- a customer is an average person...
- an average customer does not care!
- you have to think about people who are DESPERATE
- we can do something
- how many people are on your team?
- we have a team of two
- how many teams of two are there in big players?
- why you are better than them?
- how many people are on your team?
- you have to find better angle!
- you have to find completely different way to use tech.
- a correct answer - we have a better understanding of users than they do.
- think - what's your problem? who's your customer?
- if
you are from exSoviet and you have a startup what are you chance to
success? Is it valuable to go to San Francisco and work there? How much
percentage of success you get if you are international?
- if you want to be an actor you move to LA
- 2/3 of the venture capital are accumulated in SV
- outside of Valley you have a network to people who can help you to build
- The idea to get global in States comes from the point that USA generates 25% of GDP
- China is another option GDP generator - you can start in china.
- Do you speak chinese?
- You can prove the business locally - then go global.
- It's easier from Eastern Europe to go to Western Europe - than US.
- You can be very good here - you'd be average there (in Silicon Valley)
- if may be a lot harder for companies to operate from there.
- it would definitely cost much more.
- you have to come - check them
- go to conferences
- meet people
- talk to people
- the truth is - it's very competitive - that's best of the best accumulated in one place
- you have to have a REAL reason to go there.
- What is the main idea of design driven development?
- design goes first
- design is not about being visual - it's about problem solving - not the art.
- everything goes back to - who's the customer - what's the problem.
- Venture summit in Ukraine - in December?
- we putting on the conference in Ukraine - bring a lot of people to look for Eastern Europe
- Europe is stagnating - the growth in Europe would come from the East
- there are 300million russian speakers
- Some unique things for exUSSR.
- Ecosystem is growing.
- Credit Card penetration is growing.
- Broadband.
- Lots of engineers.
- Market is growing
- Investors would come
- it won't happen in a year - nor in two
- our goal is to start the ecosystem.
- bring the mentors
- then teach western europeans, who would want to learn, about the market.
- How often you meet unique projects?