Tips on starting and maintaining growth for your startup
Within just three months, Veertly has already accumulated over 30 companies and 4000 attendees that follow and use our virtual event platform! As a startup, we definitely understand—and have gone/still go through — many of the struggles startups normally encounter. To help you with kick-starting your own startup, we thought we could provide a bit of advice and tips that has helped us grow to the platform we are today.
Don’t be afraid
When you start your startup, it’s normal to feel as if your product is incomplete or not ‘perfect’. However, just build it — deploy your product, and introduce it to the market! Most of our improvements and feature ideas came from real people using and testing our platform. These beta users are extremely valuable in creating a product that successfully tailors to your audience/market. The quicker you deploy your product, the better!
Don’t be discouraged
When Veertly started up, we often heard discouraging comments such as “a video conferencing platform already exists” or “but that’s what that other platform does.” Often times, your idea may not be entirely original, however there are many ways you can differentiate a user experience from your pre-existing competitors; this can include different packaging, different pricing, different features or market focus, different experiences, different branding, and more. Listen to what others have to say, but all in all, believe in yourself and pave your own path!
Execution is key
When you create a product, most successes are attributed to how you can execute something; it is not about what you are doing, but rather, how you are going to be doing something. The development process is a large component of the creation process, bridging the immense gap between ideation and deployment. Think of it this way, there were over 20 search engines before Google launched — it’s not about who does it first or the product you made, it’s how you develop your product and the unique values within your product that differentiate you.
Embrace change
Don’t always stick to your initial ideas or thoughts. Many businesses fail because of their lack of ability to adapt or to recognize that they need to change. Be humble and acknowledge when you need to change direction, and adapt based on what you learn. At Veertly, our UI case is a great example. We had an idea of a networking area and we stuck to it for a long time. However, after realizing that many users did not understand how this feature worked, we have to change the UI after receiving user feedback, and finally found our “Aha” moment when developing a new UI. Now, our platform is a lot more intuitive to follow and use!
We hope that you’re able to apply some of this advice to your idea, product, or startup! To learn more about Veertly’s startup tips, our story, and about our platform, check out this video with one of our co-founders, Joao, about ‘Failing fast’ here. Follow us for more tips about startups, networking, hosting events, and more!
