, , , ,

Global Trade for every Startup

One of the big hurdles for entrepreneurs trying to grow fast and go international, are trade rules, currency considerations, trust, transaction financing, dealing with letter of credits and much more. Global trade for startups is virtually impossible. After getting global four times with our previous businesses, we decided to make it easy for all young entrepreneurs to go international. We started to design a global trade network, leveraging latest blockchain technology, smart contracts and our own global business know how.

Most super growth tech companies were still too slow

When we look back in time, Facebook demonstrated an unbelievable power of growth, yet it was too late in Asia. The same goes for Uber, Tesla and others. On one side conservative investors argue about speed to go international. Yet later stage investors argue about missed opportunities. Conventional growth techniques just did not allow mach faster growth than the current world leaders showed.

We don’t want to support monopolies, but….

Amazon for instance had a great chance to go global without anybody copying it right way. However new contenders like Alibaba do not stop taking market share bit by bit. That means monopolies find their contender quickly and that is a good thing, because we need diversity and options. But maybe it’s a good idea to give fragile startups an opportunity to go international even faster and then learn to defend their innovation at a later stage.

Blockchain based global trade for startups

Global trading platforms are the most used example when blockchain technology get’s explained to industry executives. However global enterprises can’t just rip out their conventional IT system and replace their gigantic databases with a blockchain. Nobody even knows if a slower blockchain would hold the load. That is very different with startups. Their problem in international trade is the initially small volume. For a blockchain however just right. Bringing thousands of startups quickly on a centralized system would be a nightmare. But using a self regulated decentralized solution a great opportunity. Building out interfaces to adopt the blockchain by a startup is easy – for enterprises a life long project. Making global trade rules standardized through smart contracts can be very easy adopted by a startup that has no real rules today. Just creating all the smart contracts for an enterprise would be a complex undertaking with lots of risks and liabilities.

The Society3 Blockchain would allow technology resellers in any corner of the world to safely buy and sell innovative technology that also comes from any place in the world. Tokenized businesses where anybody can trade anything makes the business much more valuable and much easier to conduct.

What does that mean in reality:

  1. Instead of creating, negotiating and working based on tens of pages of a distributor or sales contract written in many languages and considering many currencies, we invented self executing contracts that define the trade process once and for all. If adjustments are needed in future situations they will be adjusted for future deals as well.
  2. Instead of trying to understand the other trade party and developing some vague sort of trust, all players on the trade platform are authenticated and clearly identifiable. Trust development is taken over by the system.
  3. Orders can be placed by anybody and send to any trade partner. The fully decentralized trade model does not need any “distribution organization” in between. The blockchain and the corresponding user interfaces take care of the transactions and processes.
  4. Shipments are  made by the companies (startups) using any of the freight forwarder who docked onto the platform. Tracking and processing of all documents are taken care of by the blockchain and the corresponding self executing contracts.
  5. Delivery can be made to business partners or directly to end customers. Payments are made in crypto currency and every party takes care of the conversion of crypto into the respective local currency and back.
  6. Smart contracts keep track on both, the order flow and the shipment flow in digital form. Tax and customs documentation can be either printed when necessary or also digitally transferred.
  7. In case of a return due to a defective product, the same process goes reverse.
  8. Transaction cost is covered through miners getting paid for their job in tokens and only over time there maybe a small fee in the sub % range necessary to keep the platform up and running.
  9. Producer, customer, shipper, customs authorities and any other participant can be rated and that way develop reputation over time.
  10. The system provides unparalleled transparency due to its decentralized management at lowest possible cost.

Never before it was so easy to sell and buy products from all over the world to all over the world. Most of the expensive and delay causing intermediaries are reduced to one: the decentralized blockchain.

If you like to be part of the Global Trade System project, influence functionality and beta-test the first version of the GTS as soon as it comes out, please join the group and apply for the project.

GTS Project Application

Application link will be available soon

 

/0 Comments/by
, , , , , ,

The initial value of innovation is zero

Getting innovation to global markets

Bringing innovation successfully to market is key for prosperity

Nations all over the world pour millions and billions into innovation support – yet only a fraction of those inventions are ever seen their markets. Innovation officers consider bringing those innovations to market the sole responsibility of the entrepreneurs who created them. The job is done when an innovation was funded. An estimated 2% of the innovations funded by the European Commission become eventually successful solutions – the rest of the Millions in funding evaporate.

Instead of taking some of the grants to ensure that the major part of the investments in innovation even has a chance to survive – more money is thrown into ideas that all too often already from the beginning have no chance to get anywhere. This frustrating waste of money time and resources drove us to rethink the core values of innovation.

The initial value of innovation is zero

Any invention or innovative product or service has no value just because it exists. Assume, somebody develops a battery in the size of a matchbox that can host 1 Gigawatt of energy for 500 hours. As long as nobody has access to it, there is absolutely no economic value for our society. That power box does not create revenues, it does not create jobs, it does not give business to trade organizations and no added energy to its actual consumer.

Only if that invention is brought to market, it begins to create an economic value to the economy / society it is made available to. And the larger the geographic range is, the higher the value. Social networks have been in existence in very rudimentary forms before Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. But only once the innovation of digital social connections became a user friendly appearance and was brought to large numbers of the population it became of real value. And in almost all cases the value for the company is created when the value for the consumer is created.

Innovation Value

We see a clear correlation between consumer value and innovation value. If we stay with social media media for a moment, we see that correlation in several instances pretty clear. The US social media company LinkedIn started in 2003 and shortly thereafter German competitor Xing. Xing was even able to make it to become the first social media company in the world to do an IPO. However LinkedIn was more appealing to users and was strategically marketed on a global scale. Xing vanished away and LinkedIn dominates that part of the social media tools. The IPO for Xing did not help, the money they gained did not get them to the top. And exactly the same happens in the early phase of a business – when they are still startups.

Switzerland for instance is known for its innovative people and companies. It’s the country with one of the most patents per capita. Yet – in the past 20 or 30 years not a single tech company made it to the top. The innovation was purchased on an very early stage, investors and entrepreneurs chose the quick money over the economic value potential it could have for the country and sold the business, one after the other to companies who mostly siting other countries. The Innovation Value for country of Switzerland is nearly zero because the value creation, job creation, revenue and tax creation is happening in other countries.

Innovation Value and Valuation

Companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Intel, WordPress, and lately Bitcoin dominate the technology related behavior, data usage and providing across the entire planet. All those companies have been considered vastly overvalued and part of a crazy hype. Just a few years later we most realize that the value seem to be OK and even if not, those companies dominate the rest of the world. Recently however the US dominance is broken and another country is becoming the most critical enemy: China. Europeans, Africans, Latin Americans just turn their heads from west to east and now complain about overhyped companies like Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, Huawei, Xiaomi, Geely and so forth. All those companies shine with their high valuation. And the high valuation in turn attracts investors, talents, consumers and general attention. Only the combination of highly innovative products PLUS well marketed solutions create an economic value for a society by creating large amounts of jobs, revenue and taxes.  And the valuation from far sighted investors is the best indication for the economic potential in the future.

Innovation Value for a Economy / County

A country which does understand that network of value, innovation, valuation, and marketability of their startups and entrepreneurs has a great chance to benefit from the innovation they support, sponsor and fund. For others it is a risk of a large money and brain drain and even worst – like in Switzerland, large sums of money are poured into innovation and those who actually seem to have a great chance to grow are purchased long before the value could provide a return to the donor.

 

/0 Comments/by
, , , , , , ,

World Innovations Forum Kickoff

First global innovation gathering

In June 2018, for the first time, entrepreneurs, investors, enabler and government officers from around the world meet at the World Innovations Forum. The forum helps to get a better picture about the status quo of global innovation and entrepreneurship. This conference of the visionaries will show how far even emerging countries are and what we can do to help bring innovation  better to market.

Innovation of no value

Around the globe, billions are invested in innovation. However as long as no support is given to bring those innovations to market, the large majority of great ideas evaporate. The World Innovations Forum will address that and help make a change. More innovation need to find their markets and contribute to global prosperity.

Technology at Risk

Artificial Intelligence, Crypto Currency, Robotics, Autonomous Vehicles, Technical Implants, DNA Manipulation and more are considered risky technologies and at the same time great advances of the human mind. We don’t want to have neigh sayer pound on the technology and obsessed engineers defend it. Instead we will discuss many of those topics with those who have a common sense and explore the future evolution of those technologies.

Getting startups into global markets

It’s always too late and always too early when young entrepreneurs grow international. Today’s networked world, digital and online practices and new technologies open up all new opportunities. How can a startup from Nigeria go global 2 years after founding and be in 20 countries a year later? Yes it’s crazy, not health, too fast, irresponsible and way too risky. And yes, it’s the core spirit of entrepreneurship. With the Society3 leadership team having brought 4 companies international within their first four years and today’s technology we will help startups go broad faster than ever before imaginable. Of course with all the risks and challenges and with all the opportunities.

A global entrepreneurial mindset

After all, it is the unbelievable spirit in Silicon Valley that is responsible for driving all the other advantages of the area. Silicon Valley is known to be the epicenter of innovation, the best place to get funded and the most compelling place to work. But if you do a deep dive analysis you find an interesting chain: The amazing mindset of all the like minded people makes working more like fun – not work. With that it makes it easy to learn from each other, probably 10 times faster than anywhere else. If you combine the work energy and the super fast learning, top notch companies are only the result. That attracts investors who in turn learned to nurture that spirit and develop it even further. NOW – since we cannot send millions of startups to San Francisco / Silicon Valley, we need to get creative if we want to increase the success rate of all entrepreneurs.

Creating that spirit in other places has been proven to be possible. Now we want to create it across the world. This is one of the key projects we are kicking off at the World Innovations Forum in June this year.

TICKETS

Unfortunately we have only a very limited number of tickets for this year, about 10 for each of the 25 countries, so please register early to make sure you can join.

Ticket sales is now open.

/0 Comments/by
, , , , ,

San Francisco Accelerator now online for entrepreneurs from around the world

With 50% external funding rate since its start in 2014, the S3 San Francisco Accelerator is one of the most successful accelerator programs out there. In 2015 Society3 was named top 100 most influential accelerator. Now we will make it available for all entrepreneur in the world – no matter where they live.

AN ONLINE VERSION OF THE SILICON VALLEY MINDSET

It is impossible to get millions of startups to San Francisco / Silicon Valley and have them participate in the unique spirit of open minded people, breaking all barriers to find solutions and collaborate day in and day out to create world class solutions. But what we can do is to create that same spirit and the same connectedness online so everybody can benefit. A mindset is not something that works physically and therefore is independent of the online or offline world.

EIGHT WEEK PROGRAM

The program is restructured for attendees to completely participate online. All workshop sessions will be done during the 8 week program wherever the entrepreneurs live. The typical program requires entrepreneurs to participate in the weekly online sessions on Wednesday where knowledge transfer, reviews and discussions take place. During the week, local or remote mentors maybe available. The anchor elements of the program include:
* Vision & Purpose of your business (1 week)
* Leadership, Talents & Culture (1 week)
* Disruptive business model development (2 weeks)
* Go-to-market strategy (1 week)
* Traction & Growth Hacking (2 weeks)
* Fundraising, from Seed to IPO (1 week)

The first online accelerator program (Flight 7) starts April 11.
Graduation and Demo Day is during the World Innovations Forum in Switzerland in June 2018

APPLICATION PROCESS

If you are interested in joining:
1) Make yourself more familiar with the PROGRAM DETAILS
2) Apply here: PROGRAM APPLICATION

 

 

/0 Comments/by
, , , ,

WIForum on Asia Roadshow

The two founders of the World innovations Forum, Axel and Marita will be visiting ambassadors in 8 countries in Asia, co-organize local “Entrepreneurs Night Events” and explore key challenges and opportunities to increase success rates of entrepreneurs and corporate intrapreneurs.

There is an enormous engagement to increase the level of innovation all over the world. However most societies work isolated from the other and still live in the old paradigm of keeping everything close to their chest, distrusting others and maintain a rather closed mindset. Our mission is to change that.

It takes a special mindset to bring innovation successfully to global markets.

An economy is only as good as their ability to innovate and progress. What was the US in the last century, the UK before that is China today. And while China is the economic leader in Asia right now, other Asian countries like South Korea, Malaysia, or Japan are high on their heels. Yet, bringing innovation to global markets requires a paradigm shift in mindset. Our mission is not to create even more innovations – but bringing the good ones successfully to global markets. Only then, businesses grow, create jobs, and spark new businesses again.

We are visiting Thailand, Nepal, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mainland China, South Korea and Japan.

Entrepreneurs Nights

Tue Mar 6 Kathmandu, Nepal
Thu Mar 8 Hanoi, Vietnam
Tue Mar 13 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Thu Mar 15 Singapore, Singapore
Tue Mar 20 Hong Kong
Thu Mar 22 Shenzhen, China
Tue Mar 27 Seoul, South Korea
Thu Mar 29 Tokyo, Japan

In each city we will have time to meet with ambassadors, investors, entrepreneurs, sponsors and governments.

We are extremely excited about this tour, meeting many amazing people and sharing our vision of a globally connected innovation meta space that helps entrepreneurs from all corners of the earth to work with each other as if they would sit in the same co-working space.

 

/0 Comments/by
, , , , , , ,

Global Online Meeting April 5

SOCIETY3’S FIRST GLOBAL ONLINE MEETING

After creating one of the most successful accelerator programs and working with entrepreneurs for the past 4 years, we decided to take our vision global. Today we are represented in 25 countries. And since we cannot bring millions of entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley – we need to do something radical different. We, the founders of Society3, are used to disrupt and make a difference. Today we begin to make a difference in how entrepreneurs in all countries get supported, treated more equally and have a chance to become a big company as if they would have started in Silicon Valley.

We need to rethink our abilities to permanently collaborate on a global scale. Creating a simple copy of Silicon valley is not going to work and definitely not the very spirit of Silicon Valley. Disrupting the main disrupter is. The digital world already holds all the necessary assets. We don’t won’t to ‘improve’ Silicon Valley but stand on it’s shoulders taking the amazing culture that was created there to an all new level.


REGISTER CON CALL EAST
Best for attendees from Europe and Asia


REGISTER CON CALL WEST
Best for attendees from Europe, Africa and Americas

AGENDA

* THE NEW EXCHANGE
Creating a global exchange for innovative minds.
How can entrepreneurs, investors and enabler benefit.
What’s our experience after 20 years Silicon valley.
How can every entrepreneur around the world leverage
global connections.

* GLOBAL ACCELERATOR
Running the first global online accelerator so every
entrepreneur can join, no matter where they are.
Main topics are: Bold visions, disruptive business models,
zero budget go-to-market strategy, traction and growth
hacking, fundraising,

* INTERNATIONAL TRADE FOR EVERY STARTUP
Building the first global trading & transaction system for
young entrepreneurs using blockchain technology.
Getting business rolling into almost any country faster then
ever before imaginable – at nearly no cost.

There is no substitute for a great in person meeting, like there is no substitute for an amazing live concert. Yet we hear MP3 music every day. This online conference is about online engagements, creating a mindset for online collaboration and an experiment to create a permanently connect online ecosystem – very much like Silicon Valley.

HOW TO CREATE A SILICON VALLEY CULTURE?

Every group of autonomous people can create a culture. We are on the verge of creating an all new entrepreneurs culture and significantly increase startup success rates no matter where they are located.
We do not want to change anybody or their culture. But we want to connect those, globally, who already have a good idea about an open and sharing ecosystem where we all can learn from each other and build businesses who can grow fast, create new jobs and provide value.

On April 5 we want to talk about how we can do that and how the culture in Silicon Valley was created.
All you need is an internet connection and a way to listen and ideally talk online.

Please register here:


REGISTER CON CALL EAST
Best for attendees from Europe and Asia


REGISTER CON CALL WEST
Best for attendees from Europe, Africa and Americas

There is no charge to attend

/0 Comments/by
, , ,

Society3 & World Innovations Forum Merging

1) Society3 & World Innovations Forum Merging
Leveraging existing ecosystem and technology platform

The World Innovations Forum is merging with Society3 and brings a global innovation and entrepreneurship event to Society3’s engagement in this space. The existing Society3 Eco-System of approximately 6,000 entrepreneurs and investors will become the immediate base also for the Forum. The existing Society3 Platform will be extended to accommodate the needs of the combined organization. The Society3 Accelerator will be made available globally to all ambassadors and their ecosystems and introduced in all 25 countries and the new countries to come.

2) Eco-System building start in Asia
Visiting 7 key Asian countries in March this year

As part of our community building focus, we will be visiting our key Ambassadors in China, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Together with them we will organize a local event, meet local startups, investors and enabler, as well as potential sponsors.

3) Blockchain & Crypto Currency
Creating a blockchain system to empower startups conduct international business at lowest possible cost

Blockchain and crypto currencies are here to stay. I didn’t quite see that when I was confronted with Bitcoin in 2009 for the first time, but now, almost 10 years later it is very clear to me that it will have a major impact and its place in our world. We already had some ideas to use a blockchain inside Society3 to accelerate international trade for startups. When starting to go global it is not only the challenge to develop connections, establish a presence and start with local engagement but almost more so it is hard to overcome the issues of trust, transaction cost at small volume, letter of credits, trade financing and more. A Blockchain is not only a fun tool but may be the only way to significantly reduce cost and accelerate trade for startups like it was never possible before. And on top of all that we start to alleviating one of the biggest roadblocks for crypto currency acceptance: lack of trading physical values rather than just speculation. Imagine when 5,000 startups become merchants. This would be 50 times as many merchants than we have today in the Bitcoin eco-system.

4) World Innovations Forum
The annual event about global innovation & entrepreneurship acceleration

Ambassadors had spoken and we decided to organize the World Innovations Forum in 2018. We are adjusting the event content and give entrepreneurs access to technology circles like best practices to start or grow AI, Blockchain, mobile or other technology related businesses or on the business side techniques to come to a disruptive business model, get financing, building up valuations and so forth. Investors will be able to join investor circle meetings discussing topics like due diligence practices, investment strategies, exit models and others for investors, Accelerator content, community building, mentorship requirements and similar content for the enabler community, and so forth.

We will verify the new event concept with startups, investor groups and ambassadors and finalize our event strategy in the next few weeks. There is a good chance that we will hold the event in the EWL Selnau (former power plant) in Zürich. It would help drive down the overall cost and is more convenient for the attendees who mostly will fly into Zürich. We estimate 200 people from roughly 20 countries to join us. See also WIForum.com

5) Local Society3 Entrepreneurs Nights
The local startup competitions of the World Innovations Forum as well as the Startup Nights from Society 3 will continue as Society3 Entrepreneurs Nights. With the experience of over 100 events in Europe and the US, all WIForum Ambassadors will benefit from merging the brands and have it easier to conduct their local events.

The joint organization results in one of the most active global innovation support organizations.

/by
, , , , , ,

Starting a startup in 5 steps

When you start your business, you don’t need anything other than your brain and working through the following 5 steps. If there is anything unclear to you, use Google. Finding your own way is part of this exercise. You will do that for the next 10+ years – finding your own way. If you are not 100% if entrepreneurship is even the right thing for you, check out the 10 most relevant founders traits – and also here find your own way to get there or chose something else.

1) IDEA STAGE
You have an idea and you are excited about it. Often times young entrepreneurs would like to get a validation from some experienced entrepreneurs or investors. Validating your idea is a great first move. But instead of talking to other entrepreneurs or investors – talk to potential customers. Do that before you even invest time and resources in building prototypes. However, if you feel better to make sure your idea works, it is OK to invest in a prototype.CHECK LIST
1) Did you speak to at least 10 potential customers to verify that your idea is solving a real problem and providing a much-needed solution.
2) Use a presentation or document to share your idea

 

2) ASSEMBLE YOUR TEAM, FIND CO-FOUNDERS
Before you do anything other than writing down your idea, attract at least another co-founder. Our world is too complex to do everything alone. And more importantly, our world is moving too fast for a single human to start a successful business and grow it fast enough before others enter their space. None of the top investors will ever invest in a solopreneur, no matter how cool the idea is.If you are a business person, find the technical co-founder. If you are an engineer find a business co-founder. If you can’t attract another entrepreneur, consider your idea is either not good enough or your skills and personality is not well enough developed to attract others which will always be necessary as you need to attract talents, customers, business partners, investors and more. Only two engineers or two business people is no better than a solopreneur – it’s all about the diverse skill set on the business leader bench. Be committed to give your co-founders at least 20% of your company and stay away from being the dominating “main” owner.CHECK LIST
1) Do you already have a diverse founders team with business as well as subject matter expertise?
2) Did you make well documented arrangement between founders regarding the equity ownership distribution.

 

3) DEVELOP YOUR SOLUTION CONCEPT
You and your co-founder will now want to develop the whole concept of your company – together. This includes defining the problem you are solving or the need you are fulfilling. It determines who your target audience will be and what you are bringing to your market. Describe what’s unique about you and your solution and make some intense research who else is offering similar solutions. Research other potential companies in the US, all over Europe and Asia. Define what the SINGLE most important function of your business is. If you have a list of important features – select one. If that one is too weak, strengthen that feature instead of growing a list. If the unique aspect of your solution is that you offer a complete suite of features while other businesses deliver only parts of it, re-think your idea as there is almost always some missing aspect of your concept.
CHECK LIST
1) Do you have a written down business concept – not necessarily a fully blown business plan?
2) Have you selected your unique single most important functionality that you want to be known for one day?

 

4) MARKET VALIDATION
Now put together a short presentation deck with no more than 10 slides. Create a list of 50 individual people who are potential customers (people not companies). Then try to make an appointment to present your idea. When you meet them – we highly suggest to NOT argue with them – just listen super carefully. Make notes what they don’t like, did not understand, did not need, and what they liked. IMPORTANT: Ask what of their current problems you would solve. Ask if they would buy your solution and what they’d be willing to pay. Make sure you end up speaking with at least 23 relevant people who are interested in your solution. If you don’t have the 23, ask more people. Document each and every interview. You may notice that you do not need a product to do any of the above.CHECK LIST
1) Did you speak to at least 23 people who have been willing to explore your solution for their business or individual use and it at least ort of solves a problem they have?
2) Is the feedback motivating enough to begin investing serious time and resources to build a first prototype? If not go back to step 3.

 

5) BUSINESS MODEL
With all the feedback you received, you may now develop a concept how you will produce, market, sell, deliver and service the product. All overall: How are you going to make money and compete with others. Then ask yourself if there is any way to make the engagement between you and your customer especially attractive – more attractive than your competitors. Determine the cost of building your solution and the price you like to sell it for. Consider a margin for distribution channels if you are addressing a large market (B2B or B2C).CHECK LIST
1) Do you have a written down business model that includes a possible pricing, a concept how to bring it to market and how you service customers?
2) Do you have an idea how you will compete against similar solutions or educate customers about your solution that has no competition?

At this stage it makes sense to look for a successful entrepreneur as a mentor, an office in a co-working space and others to connect with. Too early to discuss with investors. Forget seeking for an investor to build the business. Find some capital and seek for investors when you are ready to grow the business from a few early customers to a real company.

/0 Comments/by

Best founders are co-founders

The single best resource you as a founder can – and really really should – look for, is a co-founder.

1) Solopreneurs have the least success rates of all founders
2) A stellar business focused generalist will always be at best a mediocre product creator
3) The most talented developer is probably the least likely CEO

It takes teamwork to make a dream work ;)
The best founders are co-founders

Here is the rational behind a founders team versus a solopreneur:

  1. TIMING
    While the engineer creates the product the business person prepares the market.
    If you do both at the same time it takes twice as much
  2. SOCIAL SKILLS
    One reason for solopreneurs to stay alone is that they cannot attract a co-founders. If one cannot attract partners in the company, they mot likely can’t attract business partners, customers, top employees…. definitely is not attracting investors.
  3. SHARING ATTITUDE
    Another reason to stay alone is that people don’t want to share the success with others. Also this is an attitude that is scary for investors and questionable in itself. It maybe better to stay alone but also without investors.
  4. 1+1 MIND = MORE THAN 2 MINDS
    Having two powerful and complementary entrepreneurs work together is more than double the brainpower. The evolution of joint thoughts brings an unprecedented wealth of optimization and improvements.
  5. HIRED MANAGERS
    Hiring a co-founder equivalents is absolutely not an option. In case things go wrong, the employee may quite start his or her own business and create a powerful founders team. The original founder would have no chance.

All that said, solopreneurs have the hardest time to get funding. In the past 50 years no solopreneur made it all the way to the top. Our globally interconnected business world has grown too complex for a single person to successfully conquer it. And even if one person would be able to do that, a competitor with three top notch founders will always outperform a single founder.

 

 

/0 Comments/by
, , ,

Are you a passionate founder?

Forget it, passion is for pussycats. You need to be obsessed.

 

You heard all that many times. But what does it actually mean? What constitutes such a great founders team?

  1. Team means team. A founders team is not one founder with a few people joining him or her somehow but multiple founders with more or less equal equity share in the startup. Together thay sculptured and shaped the concept of the business. It takes teamwork to make a dream work.
  2. The best founders are obsessed, not just passionate about what they do. They make any humanly possible effort to make their idea come true. If they have to move to a different country, they will. If they have to sell everything they posses they will. If they have to live in a shed and have just barely enough to survive they will.

    Passion is for pussycats – great founders are obsessed

  3. Great founders are truly intelligent. Meaning they have the skill to solve a problem by simply thinking through most of its permutations even though neither they nor anybody else ever ever found a solution for a similar problem.
  4. Having assembled a team of very diverse skills and behavior. Having a generalist working with two specialists (CEO, CTO, CMO). A doer, a a visionary and an detailed subject matter expert are best.
  5. Bold thinking. Not just a hypothetical billion users or billion dollars but an intelligently constructed ways and a reasoning why and how to get there. Having a reasonable idea about the technology development, the societal trends and industrial movements over the next 10 years, The ability to draw the future like a picture.
  6. NO respect for anything. Breaking all rules except the law. They do what they think it takes to achieve their goal no matter what anybody in the world tells them to do.
  7. Complete independence of capital.  Great founders make things happen with nothing. To the contrary those who need somebody else’ money to start are definitely not great founders. The only money they need is to grow their company faster than organic growth.
  8. Top founders are people who can easily attract others: Attract co-founders, attract customers, attract talents, attract investors…
  9. At least one of the founders in the team is a marvelous communicator. Has the ability to get the message out in a simple way and crafts those messages, so that others can share it as well. Founders are not living in offices and labs but in the market.
  10. High sense of urgency. Great founders do things significantly faster that their competitors. They have no time for anything but run. From idea to prototype, less than 6 month. from prototype to production less than 6 month. From being in the market to first major market share wins, less than six month, from first market share wins to first international business less than 6 month…

 

/0 Comments/by