Michael Boland: "Startup founders should do their homework"
Entrepreneur in Residence in Albania (September-October 2017)
What are you taking away now from your mission in Albania?
The start-up scene is still relatively new in Tirana, and because of it, the ecosystem is not yet fully connected or integrated. There is a lot of potential here and I truly believe if the people with ideas could be connected with the people who design or develop the ideas, there could be a lot of successful projects/businesses in the future.
It is not as much about ideas or hustle as it is about a cultural shift. With this potential, it is more about providing the right tools and support at the appropriate times. Beyond business plan development and early-stage funding, these start-ups need marketing support, scalability advice, and other valuable resources.
Do you have any observation regarding the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Albania, what grabbed your attention?
The work of the various projects at OpenLabs grabbed my attention. Many of the products or services were fully developed and being tested by others around the world. Redon’s HackerSpace should be tapped into for its developers and projects — it is a great resource being under-utilized for the ecosystem.
Something else that grabbed my attention was the fact that developers/programmers were building products and services that some of the entrepreneurs were thinking up at accelerators and mentoring sessions. I think it would be great if the business world, creative world, and computer science world could come together to ideate, design, and prototype different ideas — building networks and businesses in the process.
How would you define your overall experience here by using one word?
Challenging — It was great to see the beginnings of the start-up ecosystem taking root in Tirana. I think something that was challenging though was attempting to connect various actors together to communicate and try to collaborate. In the early stages, I think it is important that all of the start-up resources in Tirana cooperate and build each other up. Once the ecosystem is healthy and sustainable, each can go its own way and find a niche.
I would love to see all of those involved to come together to form some sort of network, cooperative, or something similar and appropriate for Tirana, sharing expertise, connections, and resources for all of the entrepreneurs in the ecosystem.
What is your One advise to accelerator program managers?
Please remember that EIRs are not meant to be your ‘free’ employees for the next 3–8 weeks. We are here to provide strategy, support, and challenge you (in a good way) to form new ideas, think of new approaches, and pioneer new resources for your community. Our goal is to pick your brains, provide you with alternative and different perspectives, and help you make a greater positive impact in the ecosystem. Please utilize our support appropriately.
Also, we’re here to help with meet-ups, chats, events, etc. We can speak and facilitate or help market and host. Take advantage of those opportunities.
What is your One advise to startups?
Please do your research. Investigate your users or customers, find a market/product match, and devise a good marketing strategy around that. Get out into the world and test your product or service locally.
This process may confirm your product, reveal that there is no significant need, or send you on an adventure in a completely different direction. You’ll never know until you share your idea with the world. You may end up with a new product or service you had never thought of before.
Nëse të pëlqeu ky artikull, mund të Duartorkasësh sa herë të duash (si më poshtë) e ta bësh më të dukshëm për miqt e tu.
If you liked this article, please clap as much as you want (see picture below) and make it visible to your friends.
