COPYCAT HOW TO COPY AN EXISTING
BUSINESS MODEL
BALTHAZAR DE LAVERGNE
“GREAT ARTISTS COPY, GOOD ARTISTS STEAL”
PABLO PICASSO
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
NEW ERA FOR COPYCATS
GREAT WAY TO LEARN✓ Following your own vision is tough✓ JolieBox - Frichti
OLIVER SAMWER: THE MOST AGGRESSIVE GUY ON INTERNET ON
THE PLANET
SUCCEED WHERE NO-ONE ELSE SUCCEEDS
✓ THEY GO (SUPER) FAST
✓ THEY PROCESS EVERYTHING
✓ THEY REPLICATE
5 PILLARS✓ FUNDRAISING
✓ RECRUITING
✓ INTERNATIONALISATION
✓ EXECUTION
✓ IDEA
FUNDRAISING✓ Done by Oliver Samwer himself✓ 3Bn raised ✓ Untraditional money✓ Every country is a funded startup with
(almost) no spending rules
RECRUITING✓ EMPOWERING PEOPLE
✓ GIVING THEM A FRAMEWORK
✓ “NO” EQUITY ✓ IT’S A PROCESS TOO
INTERNATIONALISATION✓ Moving founders ✓ Cross border teams✓ Drastic control
EXECUTION✓ “We don’t have the innovation culture, we have the
export culture” Oliver Samwer✓ It’s where they innovate✓ It’s their #1 strength
PROCESSES✓ Recruiting✓ Marketing✓ Sales✓ Operations
IDEA✓ Bn $$ startups✓ Capital Intensive✓ First Mover Advantage
THEY FAIL TOO✓ Pinspire, Payleven, Wimdu✓ Mercenaries VS Missionaries✓ Overall ?
YOUR STRENGTHS✓ FUNDRAISING
✓ RECRUITING
✓ INTERNATIONALISATION
✓ EXECUTION
✓ IDEA
BIG IN THE US DOESN’T MEAN BIG SOMEWHERE ELSE✓ The fundraising proxy✓ Markets are different - ZocDoc✓ They have secrets
POSSIBLE MARKETS✓ Hyper-Local✓ Regulated✓ Time to market
EXIT STRATEGY✓ US companies move earlier✓ Do they grow by M&A ?✓ For talent ? Revenue ? Network ? ✓ Become profitable
TIME TO MARKET✓ Rocket goes fast (6weeks)✓ You can go fast too ✓ With the right team
:YOU’RE LIKELY NOT BUILDING WHAT YOU
THINK YOU ARE✓ Start with copy (real copy)✓ Learn by doing✓ Dominate or conquer your market
BURN THEM ALL✓ Process✓ Automation✓ Inovation ✓ Week over Week
YOUR MISSION ✓ Care for your customers✓ Growth
GROWTH ✓ Track one metric weekly✓ Focus on things that work✓ Do thing’s that don’t scale
PLAYBOOK✓ Write everything down every day✓ Find the key learnings✓ Write the cookbook✓ Move faster than expected