fail conference 2012: toon vanagt

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Toon Vanagt (@Toon) Chronic Entrepreneur Source: http://www.gapingvoidart.com/fail-p- 2396.html

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Page 1: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Toon Vanagt (@Toon)Chronic Entrepreneur

Source: http://www.gapingvoidart.com/fail-p-2396.html

Page 2: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit A:

Business problem in 1998: • Underutilized X86 servers in datacenters, full

of racks, full of identical hardware…all running different OS-versions and applications.

Page 3: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit A:

Solution in summer of 1999• Add ‘abstraction layer’ software between hardware

and Operating System and name it ‘virtualization’…

Image by Vmware.com (2006)

Page 4: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit A:

Issues (while pitching to VCs in Silicon Valley):• Too early Laughing VC: “…not a single CIO will trust your mystic layer. They want to

know which disk holds their files and which processor computes their transaction…’

• No credible team • No track-record • No working prototype

http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=virtualization&date=1%2F2004%20106m&cmpt=q

Page 5: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit A:

Lessons: • Timing is everything• Consulting doesn’t count as ‘track-record’• Get a sparring partner / team• Build a credible prototype or mock-up: my

‘virtualisers’ later became known as ‘hypervisors’…

• Hold on to your domains in case of failure

Page 6: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit B:

Business problem in December 1999: • Find reliable

contractors and compare quotes to improve my house in down town Brussels.

Page 7: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit B:

Solution launched in spring 2000:

• Casius technology platform is the leading online marketplace in the Benelux to connect consumers with pre-screened residential contractors and home service professionals.

• Casius offers the most effective and targeted Internet marketing solution for residential contractors while providing consumers with better choices and guarantees for their home improvement projects.

• Service is free for homeowners.

Page 8: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit B:Issues:• We burned 4.000.000 EUR of VC money to

build a 1.850.000 EUR turnover business…• Chicken-Egg dilemma when you need to

build a national network• Off-line marketing is a very expensive way

to convert on-line leads• Human ressources are a crucial bottle

neck, but also your core asset• Too many founders (5 ‘chiefs’)• Unfocussed: lots of money in the bank

makes it very hard to kill your darlings, cut fancy features and skip your wishlist

Page 9: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit B:

Lessons:• Well timed for first dot.com bubble• Founders quiting day jobs shows commitment &

dedication to VC• Business plans are bull shit, but you need them

anyway• Tiny % of a huge market seems solid ground for

business plan• “Sweat for equity” stinks! • Cash is more important than your mother• Grow slow if you can’t scale fast

Page 10: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit B:

More lessons:Gravity does not apply to your sales funnel!• It takes hard work to ‘squeeze’ those leads

UP in order to win & keep customers

Page 11: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit C:

Problem:• Very expensive roaming fees

on mobile phone calls, while national ‘family’ subscriptions are cheap and ‘unlimited’…

Page 12: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit C:

Solution offered in Februari 2006: Get your personal telephone gateway with a mobile ‘family’ subscription on VoIP platform (eg Skype). Name it the Internet Phone and abbreviate it to “IPhone”…

Page 13: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit C:

Problems• Timing (roaming fees got cheaper)• Impossible to keep up with undocumented

software releases of third party VoIP providers (Skype, Google Talk,…)

http://www.google.be/trends/explore#q=iphone

Page 14: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit C:

Lessons: • Business case evaporated when

European commission limited those telco roaming ‘robbery’ fees

• Never build your ‘physical’ product on top of undocumented software platforms you don’t control

• Hold on to your domains in case of failure

Page 15: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit D:

Problem in 2011: Why is it so hard to find comprehensive business information for Belgian companies?

Page 16: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit D:

Solution launched in April 2012:Search engine & monitoring tool for business information that is:

• Intuitive

• Easy & fast

• Using centralized info

from public Belgian government websites

Page 17: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit D:

Issues:• Legal hurdles: Outdated privacy laws with respect to big data

technology and commercial information brokers

• Conflict of interest for government agencies: Free Open Data versus Closed Belgian company info

• High entry barrier: KBO/BCE sells a daily copy of its database to 6 commercial information brokers for 100.000/year. Belgian companies have to publish official data and must pay for entering these updates too…

Page 18: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Exhibit D:

Lessons

• Legal hurdles are very slow and uncertain to overcome

• Nowadays it is easier to build a lean technology start-up than a decade ago…

Page 19: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

Failure is a consequence of risk taking.

My 5 most valuable tips to limit risk:1. Focus2. Pivot3. Focus4. Pivot5. Keep it fun to enjoy the ride

Page 20: Fail Conference 2012: Toon Vanagt

You’ll fail until you succeed

Source :http://www.gapingvoidart.com/fail-often-p-2405.html

© & contact:Toon Vanagt

[email protected]+32 479 27 29 29

@ToonGhent 6/11/2012FailConference.be