Project history through three startups
Recently, I often come across references to various start-up tours. Having direct experience of participating in them, and in order to begin to acquaint Habr with our project, I decided to tell you about start-up tours. Moreover, the history of our project is to some extent connected with them.
2011. I don’t even know the word “startup”, I don’t know anything about the venture capital market and government support systems, I’m not familiar with anyone who will later form the project team and have no idea where to start. There is only experience as a programmer and project manager in the gaming industry, and a keen desire to realize the idea, which then seems to me unique and ingenious.
')
I still don’t like the words “start-up”, “start-up” and especially their declination in Russian, but in this article it will be difficult to manage without them.
And so, while the topic of start-ups is becoming increasingly relevant. With the help of Skolkovo, as well as organizations of the federal level that joined it, the Russian StartUp Tour is launched. These are visiting sessions of Skolkovo specialists who, as part of a tour (15 cities), are driving around the country, listening and teaching those who have a keen desire to do something, but do not know where to start.
The idea is simple: 1 day - 1 city, in each city a “start-landing” of experts holds workshops, seminars, lectures, business games, consultations, etc. This is a great chance to “light up” for those who, like me, are not at all in the subject at that time. For me, firmly convinced that such things generally occur only in Moscow or, closest to us - in Novosibirsk, but not in their native Krasnoyarsk - it seemed just a ticket to the world of twitter and facebook. And so it turned out, with one small caveat - it was a ticket to the spectators' stand, the opportunity to look at this world and understand that there is still a lot to learn and work on the project to enter the playing field. And the only “magical” meeting, after which everything goes on by itself, like a clockwork (as young “startupers” imagine it to be), if it happens, this is not our case.
Russian StartUp Tour was really useful, it gave primary knowledge and ideas about what I “got involved”, acquaintance with other entrepreneurs of Krasnoyarsk and, of course, experience, including a public presentation. The idea of ​​the project was noted, they saw potential in it, and invited to participate in the All-Russian Youth Innovation Convention in Moscow. There were even more people with his projects on it, I saw that not one “suffers such garbage”, we met many people and continued communication. And it really is worth a lot when not just the abstract Zuckerberg creates a product that is claimed by millions of people, but a person you know personally. The convention was the first of a series of events in the next six months, which pushed me to quit my job and take up the project closely. This tour has become part of the very "magic kick" that gave acceleration to me and the project.
2012 was completely dedicated to work. We launched the first scary and buggy, but still working prototype in the summer. At the same time they became a resident of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Innovation and Technology Business Incubator , and I personally, realizing that my first technical and managerial skills for implementing the project were obviously not enough, I studied at the Krasnoyarsk Regional Youth Business School , the benefit of both was free . In the same year, we managed to visit more start-up events, but more on that later. In 2013, we took part in another startup tour.
The scheme was the same - the Startup Search team came to Krasnoyarsk and held its event, which resulted in awarding the winners. But this time the event was rather a cold shower. I once again heard all the same things that were on the first start-up tour and many other events that we managed to pass in a year (and in many of which collected awards), but did not endure anything but approval or criticism already knew.
The prizes in the form of books and technology also did not approximate the goals of the project itself, although they did give working tools, one of which now contains this article. Labor costs for preparation are incomparably greater, and the prizes in such contests, as well as contests with prizes in this area in general, are, in my opinion, just a mockery. By the way, at one of the events I met a professional “winner”, who does projects just for the prize, and has quite good success. If the goal is to implement the project, then it is important not to play in start-up contests. At a certain stage, you realize that it takes an unacceptable amount of time that you can devote to work, and the joy of winning in the next competition replaces the goals of the project.
Then it was decided that further participation in such events as a whole is an unjustified waste of time, while the project itself requires more impact. And yet, in parallel with the work on the project itself, it is necessary to earn money so that the team can exist and continue what has been started. Such earnings were provided to the team by third-party orders in the areas adjacent to the project, and continued to work like money from the sales of the company. But this is a topic for a separate article.
For those who do not know: “Sabantuy” is a bright national holiday in Tatarstan, which is celebrated by the whole republic. Something like a holiday carnival in the Russian tradition, only it is celebrated in June, and marks the end of field work. The name of the start-up tour of Tatarstan - “ Startup Sabantui ” - came from the same. Initially, they did not want to participate in it, for the reasons described above. However, everything decided that to participate it was necessary only to go down to the first floor of the incubator, where we worked, and the presentation was taken from a recent start-up search, even despite the logo of the last on the slides.
Even then I noticed that the feelings from Sabantui were different, but so far it was hard to say what. In the summer, already in Chelny, the final event “Startup School” took place, to which two projects from Krasnoyarsk were invited - us and LangPrism . I went there on the recommendation of the guys from LangPrism, who had already passed one of the educational programs, from those that were promised at Sabantuy and did not regret about it, despite the fact that they began to approach the events more selectively, even before us.
Indeed, despite the fact that we had a year and a half work experience, and in our hometown we were considered to be already experienced “startups” - there were really useful things at Startup Sabantuy at that stage, and not the sadly familiar principles of distribution of lines in Excel and roles in team, innovation theory, formula 10-20-30 for slides, liftopresentation and other things from the category of tips CEP. But most of all, the very attitude of the guys working there to what they are doing and what they are trying to help you with, and not zatrolit hooked on.
In the same place, we met Mikhail Kazartsev, who was there as a representative of an investment fund and became a mentor of our project, with whom we are actively working until now. By the way, before that, I also didn’t believe in the effectiveness of such a fashionable thing as “mentoring”, although there were 5 or 7 attempts to work with different people according to this principle. Over the past six months of working with Mikhail, we have real results that will be valuable even if we do not agree with the foundation that he represents. Even more interesting is that from the illusion of omniscience in this area, through the already completed start-up tours, we again returned to the situation of understanding how much we still do not know and continue to learn.
Today the company is a resident of the second site of Kazan IT-Park in Naberezhnye Chelny . We with the family and part of the team moved to this city. Despite the four-hour time difference, we are effectively working as a team, now scattered between Krasnoyarsk, Novosib, Chelny and Moscow, periodically rolling from one city to another and staying at each other.
We continue to work on order, which greatly slows down the development of the project. We believe in what we do. We are building our company, and not a beautiful venture history with an emptiness inside, in order to light up, it is profitable to sell out and go out to the CASH. We didn’t have, and perhaps we don’t have enough experience, so we collected a lot of rakes and will probably still collect them, but it's worth it.
Returning to start-up tours - they are useful, but it is at the right stage of development. If you are not ready for the knowledge that you can get, or if you have outgrown it, it will equally be a waste of time. But at the right stage, the right event can be a turning point for the entire project.
Start or "Magic Pendel"
2011. I don’t even know the word “startup”, I don’t know anything about the venture capital market and government support systems, I’m not familiar with anyone who will later form the project team and have no idea where to start. There is only experience as a programmer and project manager in the gaming industry, and a keen desire to realize the idea, which then seems to me unique and ingenious.
')
I still don’t like the words “start-up”, “start-up” and especially their declination in Russian, but in this article it will be difficult to manage without them.
And so, while the topic of start-ups is becoming increasingly relevant. With the help of Skolkovo, as well as organizations of the federal level that joined it, the Russian StartUp Tour is launched. These are visiting sessions of Skolkovo specialists who, as part of a tour (15 cities), are driving around the country, listening and teaching those who have a keen desire to do something, but do not know where to start.
The idea is simple: 1 day - 1 city, in each city a “start-landing” of experts holds workshops, seminars, lectures, business games, consultations, etc. This is a great chance to “light up” for those who, like me, are not at all in the subject at that time. For me, firmly convinced that such things generally occur only in Moscow or, closest to us - in Novosibirsk, but not in their native Krasnoyarsk - it seemed just a ticket to the world of twitter and facebook. And so it turned out, with one small caveat - it was a ticket to the spectators' stand, the opportunity to look at this world and understand that there is still a lot to learn and work on the project to enter the playing field. And the only “magical” meeting, after which everything goes on by itself, like a clockwork (as young “startupers” imagine it to be), if it happens, this is not our case.
Russian StartUp Tour was really useful, it gave primary knowledge and ideas about what I “got involved”, acquaintance with other entrepreneurs of Krasnoyarsk and, of course, experience, including a public presentation. The idea of ​​the project was noted, they saw potential in it, and invited to participate in the All-Russian Youth Innovation Convention in Moscow. There were even more people with his projects on it, I saw that not one “suffers such garbage”, we met many people and continued communication. And it really is worth a lot when not just the abstract Zuckerberg creates a product that is claimed by millions of people, but a person you know personally. The convention was the first of a series of events in the next six months, which pushed me to quit my job and take up the project closely. This tour has become part of the very "magic kick" that gave acceleration to me and the project.
Startup Startup
2012 was completely dedicated to work. We launched the first scary and buggy, but still working prototype in the summer. At the same time they became a resident of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Innovation and Technology Business Incubator , and I personally, realizing that my first technical and managerial skills for implementing the project were obviously not enough, I studied at the Krasnoyarsk Regional Youth Business School , the benefit of both was free . In the same year, we managed to visit more start-up events, but more on that later. In 2013, we took part in another startup tour.
The scheme was the same - the Startup Search team came to Krasnoyarsk and held its event, which resulted in awarding the winners. But this time the event was rather a cold shower. I once again heard all the same things that were on the first start-up tour and many other events that we managed to pass in a year (and in many of which collected awards), but did not endure anything but approval or criticism already knew.
The prizes in the form of books and technology also did not approximate the goals of the project itself, although they did give working tools, one of which now contains this article. Labor costs for preparation are incomparably greater, and the prizes in such contests, as well as contests with prizes in this area in general, are, in my opinion, just a mockery. By the way, at one of the events I met a professional “winner”, who does projects just for the prize, and has quite good success. If the goal is to implement the project, then it is important not to play in start-up contests. At a certain stage, you realize that it takes an unacceptable amount of time that you can devote to work, and the joy of winning in the next competition replaces the goals of the project.
Then it was decided that further participation in such events as a whole is an unjustified waste of time, while the project itself requires more impact. And yet, in parallel with the work on the project itself, it is necessary to earn money so that the team can exist and continue what has been started. Such earnings were provided to the team by third-party orders in the areas adjacent to the project, and continued to work like money from the sales of the company. But this is a topic for a separate article.
Sabantuy is a holiday
For those who do not know: “Sabantuy” is a bright national holiday in Tatarstan, which is celebrated by the whole republic. Something like a holiday carnival in the Russian tradition, only it is celebrated in June, and marks the end of field work. The name of the start-up tour of Tatarstan - “ Startup Sabantui ” - came from the same. Initially, they did not want to participate in it, for the reasons described above. However, everything decided that to participate it was necessary only to go down to the first floor of the incubator, where we worked, and the presentation was taken from a recent start-up search, even despite the logo of the last on the slides.
Even then I noticed that the feelings from Sabantui were different, but so far it was hard to say what. In the summer, already in Chelny, the final event “Startup School” took place, to which two projects from Krasnoyarsk were invited - us and LangPrism . I went there on the recommendation of the guys from LangPrism, who had already passed one of the educational programs, from those that were promised at Sabantuy and did not regret about it, despite the fact that they began to approach the events more selectively, even before us.
Indeed, despite the fact that we had a year and a half work experience, and in our hometown we were considered to be already experienced “startups” - there were really useful things at Startup Sabantuy at that stage, and not the sadly familiar principles of distribution of lines in Excel and roles in team, innovation theory, formula 10-20-30 for slides, liftopresentation and other things from the category of tips CEP. But most of all, the very attitude of the guys working there to what they are doing and what they are trying to help you with, and not zatrolit hooked on.
In the same place, we met Mikhail Kazartsev, who was there as a representative of an investment fund and became a mentor of our project, with whom we are actively working until now. By the way, before that, I also didn’t believe in the effectiveness of such a fashionable thing as “mentoring”, although there were 5 or 7 attempts to work with different people according to this principle. Over the past six months of working with Mikhail, we have real results that will be valuable even if we do not agree with the foundation that he represents. Even more interesting is that from the illusion of omniscience in this area, through the already completed start-up tours, we again returned to the situation of understanding how much we still do not know and continue to learn.
Today the company is a resident of the second site of Kazan IT-Park in Naberezhnye Chelny . We with the family and part of the team moved to this city. Despite the four-hour time difference, we are effectively working as a team, now scattered between Krasnoyarsk, Novosib, Chelny and Moscow, periodically rolling from one city to another and staying at each other.
What's next?
We continue to work on order, which greatly slows down the development of the project. We believe in what we do. We are building our company, and not a beautiful venture history with an emptiness inside, in order to light up, it is profitable to sell out and go out to the CASH. We didn’t have, and perhaps we don’t have enough experience, so we collected a lot of rakes and will probably still collect them, but it's worth it.
Returning to start-up tours - they are useful, but it is at the right stage of development. If you are not ready for the knowledge that you can get, or if you have outgrown it, it will equally be a waste of time. But at the right stage, the right event can be a turning point for the entire project.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/211074/
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