HOW TO GET THROUGH THE BUMPY ROAD OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Startups and their ecosystem are great; “the best university in the world” I keep telling my mum.
But, there is a dark side to that moon filled with bumps, sacrifices, and major challenges. I have learned four key principles that have retrospectively gotten me this far, and will definitely get me a lot further.
My startup story began with my co-founder George breaking his leg, and after a few online dating sessions realising that online dating sites/apps don’t actually want you to date. Because if you come to think of it, the more time you spend online, the more money they make; hello rendeevoo.
12th April 2014 — the first release of rendeevoo on the App Store. Being first time entrepreneurs, we knew a bumpy road lied ahead of us, full of disappointments, iterations, small wins, and more iterations in search for The Almighty Product-Market Fit.
Almost exactly one year later, in April 2015 our ‘every tech entrepreneur’s big wish’, got fulfilled. We got featured in TechCrunch! Our path was set.
In celebrating this big win with good friends and fellow entrepreneurs, it was the CTO of Intuo, Philip, who introduced me to Paul Graham’s Startup Curve, indicating this was just the beginning of an even bumpier road ahead; The Trough of Sorrow. “No way! We’ll prove this Paul Graham dude wrong!” I replied.
Retrospectively, Philip (and Paul Graham) turned out to be absolutely right…
Again, almost one year later I can certainly tell you the entire rendeevoo team has gone through The Trough of Sorrow; a period characterised by the increasing market and product knowledge, yet more challenges start to appear out of nowhere, disappointments tend to become a daily routine, and iterations often seem the only weapon to fight against them.
A desert land that has made many startups extinct. Not only do you need to persevere the desert, but you are also daily faced with one of my favourite graphs; The Entrepreneur’s Emotional Cycle:
Most likely in a startup, the Entrepreneur’s and the Investor’s Emotional Cycle fluctuate coherently.
A little while back one of our investors called me, returning from his ski holiday where he turned speechless when being asked the question “So how is that investment of yours -rendeevoo- doing?”.
There was no perceived growth while at the same time, we have been fully engaged in developing a complete new update and testing our marketing efforts.
I completely understand that must have been an awkward moment for him. But the truth is, every startup and most investors are probably faced with this dilemma at multiple times. There is no golden answer. I genuinely believe empathy is the only approach to understand each other’s point of view.
Now, with a team of four extremely talented and devoted individuals, rendeevoo has evolved into a mature brand, product, and team that have learned to stick to the following four principles:
1. Expect to fight with your co-founder. If you’re not fighting, you’re doing something wrong:
I firmly believe in the need to have a sparring partner to push your business and most importantly- a vision forward. A ‘luxury’ that single founders often do not have, unknowingly make them focus on day-to-day challenges whilst losing track of what’s ahead.
A lot of people declare us crazy that George and I have been living together for over two years, we have passionate fights all the time, but … never ever about who has to do the dishes.
2. The WHY will keep you going:
Believe and focus on what you stand for and what you are aiming to disrupt, rather than what you are trying to create.
People will like to ride in a pink taxi for a while, until there is a purple one they can order. Instead, redefine how people order any coloured taxi for that matter; hello Uber.
Rendeevoo was released on the App Store just as the Tinder game (let’s admit, it is a fun game to play) was spreading like a virus. We knew we were in too early, as people perceived us as simply “Tinder without chat”.
Now that Tinder’s flame has settled and people start to acknowledge its ineffectiveness in meeting new people, and more and more Londoners now relate with rendeevoo’s value proposition of simply enabling two people to meet at some of London’s finest cafes and bars.
3. The HOW is planning and opportunity, not luck:
Luck in business is an illusion. Enforced with the renowned proverb “Failing to plan is planning to fail” -we believe planning and execution are the key elements for every startup’s success.
Is it easy to systemise sh*t as you grow? — Nope.
Don’t know any investors? Create new opportunities to get to know them. At rendeevoo for example we wrote personal letters, put them in envelopes signed as “Your next bonus” and handed them on the doorstep of London’s financial district, Canary Wharf.
4. The WHO is surrounding yourself with the ‘right’ people:
We have done some bad hires in the past, but what we’ve learned is that culture is more valuable than cash. And this fuzzy concept of culture is exactly the WHY and the HOW you operate as a company. Hire people that believe, yet challenge the company’s WHY and HOW.
Surround yourself with advisors and investors on that same basis; great people who challenge, guide and advise you on the WHAT within your business.
Help each other, earn your “karma points” and take care of yourself.
In essence, running a startup has all the perfect ingredients for a depression: you are going through mud, yet you have this need to tell everyone things are going great.
Both James Routledge, and Joe Scarboro have written great articles regarding mental health issues in the startup world, and their guidelines, together with the top four principles I mentioned above, will hopefully help you keep that balance.
Good luck everyone!
