Chasing the unicorn: Top 5 tips for the next big startup
Every entrepreneur wants to create the next “unicorn,” a company that came seemingly from nowhere and was quickly valued at over $1 billion.
To the outsider, it seems like barely any time had passed between US-based taxi aggregator Uber or Chinese electronics company Xiaomi being discussed on geek forums and then going viral.
However, for every Uber in the US or Careem in the Middle East, there are many businesses that have started and failed, and still more that exist only in business plans waiting to see the light of day.
Bridging the gap between fantasy and reality, real-world Islamic entrepreneurs shared their experiences at the MPowered Summit held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre on the 9th and 10th of October this year.
Entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs in the rapidly advancing Islamic economy shared insights on what made them successful and what lessons to take away from failure. Here are their top tips.
1.) TAKE NOTES WHEN YOU FAIL
“No one counts your failures but you,” said Com Mirza, founder of Com Mirza Holdings and Fitness Expo Dubai, who happily lists nine businesses he started and failed at before he could count any successes.
The right approach to dealing with failure is to “develop a reactionary mindset that neutralises negative things you may encounter,” he said.
The idea is to do as Mark Twain advised: “We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore.”
2.) TELL THEM YOUR STORY
Be a Jay Gatsby when you’re a millionaire: Be gracious and open to strangers. Successful entrepreneurs say that customer development is something you do before you start up. Ahmed Abdulwahab, Managing Director at Dubai-based Turn8 Seed Accelerator, said, “Go out and listen first, and then talk to customers.”
Chris Blauvelt, CEO of crowd-funding website LaunchGood, recommends using crowdfunding as a tool to reach your audience and build their participation. “Crowdfunding is storytelling. Fundraising is a byproduct,” he said. But remember, a conversation is a two-way thing. Learn to listen and ensure that your product addresses a real need.
3.) GET TO THE POINT
Specificity is an asset. Take time to develop an elevator pitch instead of having to share your life story with random strangers each time they ask what you do.
This helps clarify your thoughts before you put them on a business plan, and it helps the audience—whether they are potential customers, funders or business partners—make up their minds about whether they would like to be a part of your venture. When you’re already a business, it helps put across your point of view in 135 characters. One of Blauvelt’s recommendations for creating an impactful crowdfunding project is to “have a specific, tangible initiative.”
4.) START
There are perfect plans, and then there are plans that are put into action.
In a fast-evolving marketplace, sometimes the point is to just begin. Abdulwahab calls this the minimum viable product, or MVP. An agile business development model starts with an MVP. Shahed Amanullah, founder of Affinis Labs, said, “Take a successful product, add value for your market and push it into the market.”
5.) DIGITAL CONVERSATIONS
The Muslim world is vast and full of variety. The digital universe makes it accessible to everyone.
According to Irfan Khairi, founder of the Irfan Khairi Institute of Business, creating and curating relevant content for your target market is one of the ways of increasing your social footprint.
This is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. You need to tailor customised content for different media channels. Audiences for blog posts, social media updates, videos and podcasts are all responsive to pitches that are specific to that medium. Even within social media, what you say on LinkedIn is likely to be very different from how you would connect to your audience on Facebook.
Shalini Seth