The Magic in Creation

Last week Startup Grind TLV hosted Ran Krauss, co-founder and CEO of Airobotics, and a serial entrepreneur. In a refreshingly candid manner, Ran told us how he grew up in a home with a ‘do it yourself’ approach, that led him to start his first company while still in college. When encountering a problem, he naturally starts thinking of how to solve it. “Necessity is the mother of all innovation”, says Ran. He is now working on his third drone related startup (and fourth company), Airobotics, which raised over $80 million to date, raising $32.5 million alone in its recent funding round.

Ran thinks that being a founder is the hardest job there is, because a founder is a person who is always walking on untrodden ground, and must “always pave his or her own way”. That being said, he would never trade it for the world! To him, seeing his ideas come to life is like witnessing magic.

The two most critical factors for a startup are team and timing. Ran explained this with an analogy, that even if you are Kelly Slater, a famous American surfer, but there are no waves, nothing will happen. On the other hand, if you don’t have Slater’s surfing abilities, and there are waves, you will fall. In this way Ran hyphenated the importance of being with the right team in the right time.

Ran shared with us a few other items on his modus operandi, and keys to his success:

· Enjoy the path, don’t be in it for the exit: starting a business is like climbing a mountain — if you are only interested in reaching the summit, you won’t make it. But if you enjoy the climb up to the top, you will make it

· Working with people you trust is a must: above all else, trust is the most important attribute in the people you work with

· Choose the right investors: “investors are like entering a marriage that lasts for years”. When it comes to raising capital, choosing the right investors is no less important than the money you raise. Ran attests that some of his investors have been his best mentors, helping him make good decisions.

· Investors invest in people, not in ideas: “the biggest misconception is that investors are looking at your idea or the market, when in fact what they care about most is the people”. Obviously, the idea and the market need to make sense, says Ran, but they key factor is the founders. Investors consider questions like how a founder will cope with difficulties, react to feedback, and is he honest.

· Avoid overvaluation: it will only dilute your company when you sell or go public.