Worldclass Enterprise Software & Design Startups in Southeast Europe Vassil Terziev, Co-founder and CEO, Telerik
European Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Stanford School of Engineering
January 27, 2014
Few Words About Me
• Co-founder and CEO of Telerik • Based in Sofia, spending time in Palo Alto • Entrepreneur by chance • Startup mentor and angel investor • Great friends with other co-founders, still
in the company
Bulgaria on the Map
Location • Southeastern Europe, to the North of Greece and
Turkey
• Controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia
• Easy access to EU markets
Population and Society • Around 7 million people
• 42.3% aged 25-54 years
Government • Parliamentary representative democratic republic
• EU Member since 2007
Economy • GDP - $102.7 billion (2012 est.)
• Lowest Corporate Tax in EU – 10% Flat Rate
Great Engineering Talent and Innovators Hub in BG
Bulgaria is: • One of the first European countries to develop serial production of
PCs in the 1980s • 6th country in the world to send a man in space • Ranks among the first in Europe in terms of IT-certified specialists • Bulgarian IT and math students won more than 50 Olympic medals
in the past 10 years
Leading global IT companies have regional technology development centers and offices in the country
The Wonderful City of Sofia
Best of Everything: Vibrant startup and tech community Beautiful, safe city with a lot of parks Great places to dine or go out Events for everyone – from music and design fans, to science and technology enthusiasts
TELERIK TODAY
Bringing Telerik 3.0 to Life
Launch of the Telerik Platform
What Telerik Does
“Develop experiences” Telerik empowers developers to create compelling experiences across web, mobile and desktop applications. Our end-to-end, adaptive platform uniquely combines industry-leading UI tools with cloud services to simplify the entire software development lifecycle.
Our Customers In numbers: • 1.2 million
developers
• 94 Countries
• 130,000+ customers
• 40,000 organizations
• 450+ of the Fortune 500
TEAM
Over 800 people staying true to our mission to deliver more than expected every day
CULTURE Work hard, play harder While Telerik grows and our culture evolves, our values stay the same: • Integrity
• Trust • Respect
• Team work • Hard work
• Meritocracy of ideas
11 Offices in 6 Countries on 4 Continents
LIFE We are all one Family Life is a game! mentality Make every day at the office a fun one
DevReach - Bringing Top Tech Experts to CEE Celebrated 8th edition in 2013 1,000 people from 25 countries 43 renown speakers 54 sessions in 6 halls Latest technologies
COMMUNITY
THE BEGINNING
From College Buddies to Cofounders
First Customer Telerik Sofia, Bulgaria
(Headquarters)
2002
5
First Product, Website and Client
• Web-based business model
• First Product -r.a.d.Editor • First Client - Urs Tobler
08/28/2002 • Validation of product and
online business model
The Breakthroughs
• Paid features - our clients funded our products’ development
• Focus on UX and design • Fanatical dedication to
our customers
• Getting stable internetJ
First Customer Telerik Sofia, Bulgaria
(Headquarters)
2002
Telerik Boston, USA
2006
First International Office
5 >44
First International Office – Boston, MA (2006) Then Today
From Lifestyle Business to Professional Business
Still, focus on our colleagues, culture and work environment to
date remains unchanged
GROWTH & EXPANSION
First Customer Telerik Sofia, Bulgaria
(Headquarters)
2002
Telerik Boston, USA
2006
First International Office
Summit Partners Investment Telerik Germany
2008
5 >44 >124
First Customer Telerik Sofia, Bulgaria
(Headquarters)
2002
Telerik Boston, USA
2006
First International Office
Summit Partners Investment Telerik Germany
2008
2009
Telerik Academy
5 >44 >124 >200
Telerik Academy – Innovation in Recruitment and Education
1 96 115
2500
10050
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000 Telerik Academy Growth (number of students)
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
• Free IT education for all ages (kids, high-school students, university students, and professionals)
• 12,000 onsite and online students in 2012-2013
• 35 courses; 1,600+ videos; 1.1 million views
Telerik Palo Alto Telerik Denmark
2013
Silicon Valley Office
>800
Silicon Valley Office
Startup Scene in Bulgaria is Amazing!
Today • Lively, supportive start-up ecosystem and entrepreneurial culture • Angels, seed funds, VCs • Amazing start-ups and a strong community around them • Incubators, co-working spaces supporting these young startups
• Numerous initiatives and events taking place daily
The Startup Scene – Then & Now A lot has changed since we started in 2002: + Supportive Infrastructure and Incubators + Thriving Ecosystem + Mentorship programs + Educational Initiatives Yet, some things remain the same = You still need a great idea and team to make it = A lot of hard work, dedication, patience and passion = And a bit of luck to turn your idea into a successful business But, if others have done it before you, then why can’t you?
THANK YOU!
Vassil Terziev
www.telerik.com
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/vassil-terziev/0/42/242