keynote at venture cup 2011
DESCRIPTION
My keynote at the software finals for Venture Cup 2011.TRANSCRIPT
Why you should not start a company
Venture Cup, January 2011
In most cases you will fail (forget about 1/10 odds, it’s more like 1/1 million chance of creating something valuable)
Why is it stupid to create a startup?
People will look down upon you when you fail
(your banking advisor will tell you he told you so and people will be whispering behind your back)
You will on average earn more the rest of your life if you take one of the many easy safe jobs
(Like banker, venture capitalist or start-up advisor)
So when should you create a startup?
If you feel like this after listening to why not to do it
The story about how Tradeshift became an overnight success
We spent 2 years failing with our first startups.
We then spent 5 years working really really hard learning about a domain and the business rules behind it
…and then we launched Tradeshift.
Wait a second… you didn’t just like create a plugin for twitter and put it on the Interwebs?
(3500bc)
(1933)
(Today)
10 pct. of all trees cut down worldwide 64B € in EU alone spend on typing and retyping
50 pct. of all business mail Stupid…
Business software is broken
Global 5.000
500.000 – 1.000.000 middle 0er business
125 million small business globally without accoun0ng so<ware
SAP ORACLE
1000x legacy accoun0ng systems, ver0cals
(Microso<, Netsuite, Salesforce, etc. )
?
The market was broken down into millions of small islands of software, not connected.
And an army of people, printing, carrying and typing paper in between these islands
But it’s about more than just wasting time and paper, it’s about the speed and cost of relations between business…
…globally!
That’s (luckily) a tough problem to solve
Enterprise deal status
The solution, a new kind of business platform, working just like a social network
Supporting real business relations
We then got a frontpage on Wired
Today Tradeshift is used in more than 120 countries
Advice
§ DON’T compromise, ever! § Avoid the MBA’s the bankers and the
start-up advisors § Pick people with a bias for action § Know your self and pick people who
challenge your weaknesses § Get the best designer you possibly
can…
Team
§ Build something real!
§ Make sure it is something that can make you passionate, angry/happy every day!
§ Solve the right problems everyday and dont care if everything else is on fire
§ All the good stuff is really complex, so LEARN
Product
§ Start pitching now!
§ We pitched more than 100 VC’s before we got the valuation we wanted. § Dont believe in smart-money, it’s all just money.
§ Having somebody on the team who understands the game is ideal, just make sure your interests are aligned!
Funding
The mobile network in Sri Lanka is faster than the one I have here
The cost of technology is now so low that you can start the next Google everywhere
Build technology for the world market, you are competing there anyways
In the end if you WANT do it, don’t be afraid, nothing can stop you
Christian Lanng CEO, Co-founder Email: [email protected] Twitter: @christianlanng Skype: christian_lanng
Contact:
SHIFT HAPPENS We are hiring! tradeshift.com/jobs