IT start-ups: who “eats away” venture investments
A message to thinking investors and start-ups. Part 1.
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What is this publication about
Investor
Project Manager
The team, without which we can not live
Marketer
Designer
Programmer
SEO optimizer
Content manager
Coder
System Administrator
Lawyer
Accountant
Conclusions and examples
Danger
Examples
What to do?
And who are we?
Despite the fact that start-ups among IT-specialists are not discussed only by the lazy, we still decided to raise this topic and consider it thoroughly in the context of the real problems of the Russian investor and the Russian start-up starter. In this and subsequent articles we will not deal with graphomania and write science-like texts (which you yourself can easily find on the Internet or marketing books), but try to reflect the Russian reality in the field of Internet start-ups and find answers to the eternal questions: "Who is to blame ? " And " What to do? " .
As you know, in any startup there are three main components:
Problems and mistakes of startups related directly to the idea of the project (relevance, perspectivity, organization of operating activities, marketing plan, etc.), we will consider in our subsequent articles. In addition, we decided not to consider the structure of start-ups, orientation and other technical issues that are known to all participants of this project.
Now we want to raise the topic of incompetence, lack of professionalism and the desire to grab someone else's piece of cake, which is characteristic of the overwhelming majority of Russian business, including the development of venture capital investments. This, in turn, seriously hinders investments in start-ups and, naturally, turns the active format into a swampy puddle.
So, we will carefully analyze the actions of the investor or venture companies that are considering incoming applications to raise funds. Along with the points that we do not consider here and which we have mentioned above - niches, topics, etc., there is one essential feature for potential investment.
Where would anyone do anything, in the questionnaire it is necessary to fill in one fundamental part - the presence of a team and the duration of its existence, which must be at least a year. Otherwise, the project is simply not considered. This is a kind of Rubicon, without which the chances of success are reduced to zero.
It is clear why there is such a position. After all, cadres decide everything ... or deprive of everything. In a startup, the frames must be cohesive and monolithic - they must be a team. Yes, it is the team that is able to solve standard and not so much questions, be able to concentrate and work on the result. It is in this that we will try to understand the psychological aspect of those components of the startup, which were reflected above, where a special place was given to the investor.
Self-conceit.
I am an investor. Such as I often call business angels. I am the owner of the money that needs to be invested somewhere. I have money, and that means I have everything. I am a risk-ready venture investor, but the risk is reasonable and reasonable. After all, I, like Warren Buffet, just need a team and a theme. And I have all the "trample." I will be happy and rich.
In fact.
The lines from the song come to mind: “I am not an angel, I’m not a besom ... I’m a tired wanderer." In our topic it is more correct to interpret as follows: "He is not an angel, he is not a devil, he is an ordinary wanderer."
Of course, he is an ordinary wanderer among the cash flow. And like any person who always comes from childhood, one more children's song is involuntarily recalled: “Oh, how you want ....” Yes, indeed, I want to make money, and a lot and, more precisely, a lot. Normal motivation and natural desire. Against this no arguing.
But, nevertheless, a venture investor is really a kind of business angel. He is looking for companions and associates, who, with a successful solution of the problem, he will easily sign off a share and help in domestic and everyday matters. As a rule, in the creative process for him, any active performers are essentially associates, and not just subordinates. Everything is possible for them - investments, preferences, full confidence. And later he is ready to go with them into the fire and into the water.
At the same time, it is necessary to understand that he really risks and therefore is really worthy to drink expensive champagne and eat oysters for breakfast.
If we talk about the psychological portrait and the real state of affairs, then the majority of those who have free money have a problem with communication. And this is due to the fact that, as a rule, only money comes to him, and they are treading in the waiting room with subservience and backbeat.
In reality, the leader in any aspect lacks the usual human, and when implementing an IT startup and creative communication. He wants to be understood, to actively discuss issues and to be, as we said above, associates and business partners.
Therefore, the investor deserves special respect. You do not need to treat him as a "profan", and just a rich turkey from which you can pinch golden feathers.
If the investor really earns money on the project, then he will certainly make all the active participants in the project and move with them further into the expanses of big, and maybe very, big money.
Venture investors are special people. Most likely, these are certain masters of the financial market of specialized orders, knights and thrill seekers. They must be respected and they should not be "thrown." They should be considered as partners and, accordingly, withstand the necessary rules of the game. And the rules of the game depend on the fundamental points that the investor has to choose, since it is he who is the guiding and guiding force of everyone and everything behind him in the hierarchy. And the next one in the “food chain” of any startup is, of course, its ideologist and immediate leader.
The project manager is the team captain. It can be characterized as follows:
"Captain Katalkin - trump jack,
Captain Katalkin - black gun,
Captain Katalkin - keen eyes
We are with you protection, mafia thunder. "
Yes, that is how it should be. Fart, lucky, ready for any vicissitudes and changes in the economic situation in general and search engine algorithms in particular. The head really should have keen eyes, sharp mind and snake grip. Additionally, we can say that with this approach, the investor - the business angel will get lucky. He will be able to solve all the problems and all the wishes. All fantasies in this case can become a reality, and the investment will be cleaned as in a Swiss safe.
This is ideally when the chorus of the famous song by Alexander Buinov becomes an objective reality.
And if not?
And the manager will be an ordinary rogue - a manager who has fallen into investor confidence and told him a fairy tale, under which money is most often given. Yes, they give money for a fairy tale, and the real leader almost always knows it.
Well, a fairy tale, so a fairy tale. In any case, successful or unsuccessful, both he and the investor will have a great time. How long it will last - only God knows. It all depends on the vigilance of the investor and the luckiness and professionalism of the team captain. Today, most often, leaders are forced to dance, and yours and ours. They must adapt to the team and appease the investor.
Very difficult dilemma. Especially since they have completely different tasks. Investor - minimize investment package. While the team, with or without a manager, expands the investor’s budget to the skies. After all, at the same time, it will be possible to quietly pump out the social, drink coffee at work, tell fables about the difficulties and constant brainstorming, as well as write reports about the presence of a mass of obstacles and some kind of barriers.
It is in such a situation that the manager has to live, answering to the boss and crucifying to the team.
So, we turn to the personnel issue, which, in the person of an IT startup team, must ensure absolute success.
The composition of this team on the staffing of any IT start-up is seen as follows.
Main core:
Auxiliary figures - in fact. And the main participants in their own opinion:
Self-conceit.
I can promote any project. Only I know the psychology of buyers and all the right advertising moves. Without me, it will not work, because only advertising can attract buyers and bring profit to the project. Everyone should understand that marketing is the driving force of any business.
In fact.
One of the most ardent "proedatel" budget of any startup. If you give him will, then he most likely will not advance, but push the project to the back of the story. In this case, do not be surprised that soon you will see advertising banners of your project not only in the metro, the magazine “Oil and Gas of Russia”, but also you will watch the minibuses painted in the colors and logo of your startup. Often, the advertising marketer does not realize what he sells, to whom he sells and how he sells. Using the multipage textbooks of the great marketers of the 60s of the last century, which he read at the engineers' retraining courses, he will wisely prove to you the power of advertising brochures at popular page spreads, talk about the target audience and focus groups. Mandatory information for bad money is likely to be published on the internal print media of Aeroflot or Russian Railways with the confidence that it is on the way that any person will admire the marketing genius. And in many "marketing platforms", which, perhaps, were effective several decades ago.
The main principle of a team marketer is to beat out the lion’s share of the total project budget. To think about the effectiveness of a particular method of promotion is not his task. The principle here is that the more expensive the better. It is necessary to recall the joke about a tie, which can be bought at an exorbitant price more expensive around the corner. He would rather be engaged not in effective sales of the product, but rather play on the ambitions of the investor and the captain, proving that the more prestigious the advertising space is, the more advantageous it is for the status of the project.
And when you ask him to write a selling, we emphasize selling, letter and send it to your potential counterparties, you will most likely see there only banal phrases praising your product and your company. There is no talk about any sales and attracted contractors, the conversion from the activities of such a marketer tends to zero.
Self-conceit.
I am a creative independent person. I am a creator. Only I can give unforgettable charm and uniqueness to any project. Yes, I think and create day and night. Everyone should admire the unusualness of my thoughts and artistic skills.
In fact.
A rare bastard with a keen sense of beauty (at best, and often a person who graduated from an art school and who has, of course, studied well, an initial basic sense of taste), which, in his opinion, the whole team must plow, realizing his fantasies in life.
Otherwise, a sharpened brain striving for creative self-realization will give commands to reflex muscles.
Surely you will see tears in his eyes, wringing his hands, rolling his eyes. If you are lucky, then the offenses will disappear in a day, if not - then, perhaps, the process can drag on to infinity. At the same time, an attempt will be made to form public opinion, then his talent was underestimated, but he himself was not understood.
He harbors a special offense on someone who can reveal the true essence, which borders on some feminine principle characteristic of these actions. In general, this kind of feminine for the designer is very characteristic. Here, it seems to us, it is worth thinking about its real nature and to understand whether he is a man or not.
You also need to understand that quite often, "fantasies" he communicates from other sites, changing the colors and directions of the lines.
But at the same time, he is trying in every possible way to delay the process in order to create his own significance.
Self-conceit.
I can do everything, I can manage everything. I will create a megaproduct, and my technical task is worthy of at least a universal grant. Without me, they are all insects, and with me - the team.
In fact.
The programmer is the original product of the binary system. This is the main of the Scottish clan Binar. He constantly knocks, sometimes while thinking. And sometimes, just driving in the program code, with the help of which, and this is his personal opinion, he can communicate with all the people around him. Without control, there is no question of any usability of the admin panel or the ease of use of the other participants in the human resource. After all, he creates a megaproduct, not realizing that in this case he creates it only for himself. And he is comfortable for others or not - he is on the drum, because he is an immortal kind of Binars.
At the same time, he always strives for perfection and he insists that his own engine be written for any project. In general, the number of engines that a programmer must write is incalculable: for every breath - a module, for every sound - its own program. And often the samopisny engine is noodles on the ears of the customer, which is clearly defined as “kangaroo”.
To make it clear to everyone, the Lapseed code does not adapt to anything. It is easily destroyed when trying to adapt. As a rule, such codes are written by those who are afraid that at some point they will not be needed. And so they can pull the thread and destroy the entire project overnight.
You also need to know that with such an approach there can be no talk of any UNI test. And we can talk about the fact that such a product can create a bottleneck - a bottleneck that will slow down the transfer of information and the Internet platform will look like a tortoise tortilla.
And there are still nuances of such code, about which programmers are well aware and often use them. In other words, the self-written code of lapsevid engines is generally unacceptable for more or less serious startup programs. However, this approach is very frequent when selling even serious products. About the established commercial engines, the product of the genesis of the binary code - he is a programmer - often says something like this: “Yes, they are no good. Yes, their adaptation and finishing work will cost like a wing from an airplane! ” In this case, you need to remember that a programmer can come out not only as a wing, but as a whole plane with electronic stuffing.
There is another feature of this subject. Quite often, he reminds an athlete from the society of bodybuilders who needs sports nutrition, anabolic steroids and is ready to pump up every muscle - every cell, row and file - 24 hours a day. Would pay money.
Self-conceit.
I'm the smartest. I am the strongest. I am the bravest. I fight with both Yasha and Google. Their algorithms are not a hindrance to me. I twist everything, turning and searching for myself to work I want to make.
In fact.
SEO-optimizer - secret cardinal and executioner in one person. In general, when talking about seo-technologies, you must be very careful and cautious. If your interlocutor once came across a seo master, he can easily hit you with a cudgel on the head, grab your face, and if you have a cutlery, start cutting off the portions from you. Therefore, before you say the word "SEO", you need to find out how your counterparty contacted this conductor of the other world, and how his meditation ended. It should be understood that this usually ends in a waste of money, the sale of personal property and the ruin of a number of groups of financiers. CEO is something. These are fraudsters inside the fraudsters, who at the same time scammers chase.
Based on this, we can safely say that if “seo” is removed from the Russian lexicon altogether, the number of heart attacks will decrease to a large extent, the number of people with high blood pressure will probably decrease. And it will almost wipe out diseases such as stroke, heart attack, angina pectoris from the statistics of medicine. The number of suicides, depressions and despondency will sharply decrease. Our Ministry of Health in this case will be able to safely report that his works were not in vain, at least for the last 10 years.
Self-conceit.
I write, but they are not enough. I write again, but they are not enough again. Well, how much content you need - I'll never know. If I stop writing, everything will rise, and no one will move anywhere. Therefore, I am probably one of the most important.
In fact.
There is some truth in this conceit. There is a fact that you need a lot of content, but for a good project - a lot. This is a product that can be easily compared with strategic material. It is like bread in the food market. It is like oil in the energy market. He as the air and water provides the livelihoods of the entire project. But the content must be of excellent quality.
As the great Yandex says, the text should be unique and readable, unique and readable ... and again, or more precisely, again, unique and readable. But there is another aspect. It must correctly reflect the essence of the problem, have the necessary number of occurrences of keywords, it must be framed with infinitives, “verb”, “introductory” and a mass of other components. It is these components that determine the format for generating client traffic. But few people know how to spell normal traffic-generating content. There are practically no schools where this is taught, where this is told and where the requirements for this problem are formalized.
But there is a shortage of rewriters, copywriters, content managers. And this is despite the huge offer of content exchanges, where every sandpiper praises its own swamp. Attempts to contact these exchanges are very risky. Paid text is often sold in another aspect. And if you are not the first to post the received text, or if the search engine did not index you first, then the truth will not be found later. Honestly, writing morphologically correct texts under Yandex and Google is a whole science. This science, which is no less complex than the program code. And it is not clear who is more important and more important among the defendants described. One thing is obvious: you cannot see happiness without high-quality content.
Self-conceit.
I bring everything out, form, reflect. Without me, no one will give the desired format. And if not me, then the site will not be. It will be crooked, oblique and stupid. And about the formalization of the search engine and there can be no question. But at the same time I am constantly extreme with any failures. And if everyone catches courage, then I’m not supposed to be there.
In fact.
Web layout is one of the final stages of creating a product and opening it for a search engine. Therefore, at this stage and all the shortcomings, kosyachki and deficiencies. Therefore, the coder with failures is always to blame. As the saying goes: “who is the last is the one and the father”. The fate of this. Do not go anywhere.
Objectively, we can safely say that this subject is really one of the driving forces of any Internet project. Without it, nowhere. Without him not a step forward. And if the pros are clearly aware of the term “code uniqueness,” then the investor, and in some cases the captain of the entire team, is not aware of this problem. Not a single, even very high-quality project was the victim of ignorance of this situation. Layout code should also be unique and easy to read for a search engine. It uses a variety of tools and points. No wonder they say: "the code is clean and high quality." It is impossible to litter the code. Each speck is a minus for the entire project. He must be reconciled. Almost always, the quality of the code is judged by the quality of the code. Therefore, a quality designer who knows the above and other nuances can dramatically improve the quality of the project. And in the absence of knowledge and kryvolapstve - dramatically drop him down.
Self-conceit.
Only I understand in office equipment and software, and only I can customize the work of the office so that everything works as it should and without failures.
In fact.
An unhappy person who constantly complains about Microsoft for creating a reliable and fault-tolerant Windows 7 (over which it is not necessary to arrange constant dances with a tambourine to restore and reinstall, and which any user with initial skills in mouse and keyboard skills can install). He also hates computer companies for selling already assembled computers with pre-installed software. Joy in the life of a sysadmin - cloud storage, set up a backup of information in which can, of course, only he, the great System Administrator.
In general, if the sysadmin is given free rein and an impressive budget, with proletarian hatred he will ravage the investor’s wallet for licensed software and modern computer hardware. Well, this is understandable: how can you make serious projects on some open-source software, which is used by poor companies and cheap start-ups. For serious work, you need to install licensed Windows, MS Office, Adobe Master Collection, etc. All results and the core of the project should be stored on the most powerful office server, the system administrator must personally buy and collect (otherwise there is no guarantee that the server will work at all). It will all be purchased, of course, at a company where a sysadmin has a maximum discount, but nobody knows about it. In addition, data must be backed up using modern cloud technologies.Therefore, the sysadmin in the team becomes a master of software and hardware, armed with a keyboard and mouse.
After all hardware has been purchased and collected, licensed bourgeois software has been installed, computers are networked and multiple information backups are set up, the sysadmin’s work is just beginning. Every day he goes around the computers of other members of the Team, launches only known utilities for him and looks at some logs and protocols. And God forbid any girl content manager complain that something is wrong with her computer. In response, you can hear something like: “If a person’s arms and legs grow from the same place, then this is no longer a person, but a creature from an order of arthropods ...”. And, of course, the indispensable and curvature of the rest of the sysadmin’s team members will be communicated daily to the project manager, emphasizing in every way his exclusive and crucial role in the success of the entire enterprise.
Self-conceit.
I need and the main. Without me, they are no one to call them in any way. They will simply be torn as a hot-water bottle if they do not obey me. Without me, no one will make any paper, without me no one will sign any document. I ... I ... I ...!
In fact.
I ... I ... I ... - ... "poppy head". Well, just asking for it. This is one of the strangest team members and he has one of the strangest roles in a start-up IT project. Briefly describe it as a Cerberus, winemaker and a skilled master of home-salted in one person. Involuntarily the question "why so?"
Firstly, he is like a three-headed dog, a Kerber, who gave the name to the Cerberus in an allegorical manner, is obliged to keep all the secrets of the company and not to let them out. In principle, according to external signs, he creates it in this perspective, but how he does it is a separate song.
If you called the IT start-up company, you are its counterparty and suddenly you heard the phrase “a document (contract) with a lawyer” - then all is lost. After all, any document that came to the lawyer on the table, goes there indefinitely. He is like an expensive whiskey or brandy should be maintained preferably "not 1 year." It seems that if the contract is not maintained, then the lawyer cannot proceed to it, and therefore be kind enough to wait.
When the papers are aged and, in the opinion of this very three-headed dog with poisonous foam in his mouth, are ready for use, he will, like the master of pickles and fermentation, begin their tasting. At least two hours, he will lay them on the table, and because the table he must be large, and, consequently, the room where this table is with a lawyer, must take more than a dozen meters.
In principle, all contracts are identical, but not for him. He will here and there add a pinch of salt, a sprig of cumin, and often poison, and certainly, 100% will find a couple of lines that will not suit him. As a rule, these lines are ordinary, but again not for him. He necessarily interprets them, will give them a veiled form, in order to annoy a partner in whom even a person who is not well-versed in jurisprudence will find a catch, and send him to you. Everything.The exchange of homemade and often poisoned pickles began.
You, accordingly, get angry, give your version of the document, and the process can be delayed indefinitely. The joke lies in the fact that the dog is in business, and at the same time she puzzled you. Puzzling anyone with their processing is the paramount task of a lawyer in the state.
On this occasion, he will make more than a dozen reports not only to the captain, but also to the business angel. He will definitely begin to shape public opinion for his exclusivity. He will try to fold the saga about how the hero of our time in his own face exposed the malicious intent and prevented the destruction of the foundations of the structure. But this is only a saga. And the saga dog.
Therefore, a lawyer must be outsourced. A lawyer in the state is necessarily an intrigue and empty talk about anything. This is an attempt to create a conspiracy. It is also necessary to understand that two lawyers are already eight opinions, and if there are more of them, then opinions cannot be counted.
Self-conceit.
Yes, without me here all swagger. Yes, without me everything is stolen. A state. The authorities generally tear everyone into the British flag. I, and only I can save everything, save and increase. I am the most important here. And no nails.
In fact.
The accountant should treat the maintenance staff, without any particular opinion. I must clearly shift the papers, submit reports on time, monitor the financial flows and not create administrative barriers.
If this is not a service staff, and the accountant will win the palm, then the case will be exactly the joints. It will resemble the well-known saying “when I have a car, not when the car has me.”
And if the accountant heads up the hierarchy of everything that happens or takes one of the key positions in it, then for all, we emphasize, terrible times will come for everyone and, in fact, there will be eternal darkness. The investor will have to pay for everything and everyone. He and the leader will have to listen to the cry of a captured Turk in Armenian captivity about sleepless nights during the reporting period, eyes that were inflamed at that time, and much more.
Listen to them, poor fellows, and do not rehear. All other members of the team will be lined up like brave soldiers to sew in one uniform. At the head of the frunta will become the nickname "reporting". They will report for everything and everyone.
You will need to be accountable for each, we emphasize, every penny, for a pen, a piece of paper, for a roll of napkins and a ticket in the subway. And it does not matter that at the same time paper and cartridges will be spent on the ruble. And nobody can calculate the time for reporting. In principle, it can take all the working time and even capture the weekend. This will concern not only the money already spent, but also the upcoming costs.
Let's give an example.
To buy napkins on the table or a pair of nails will need to place an application. The application must be signed by the team captain, and the investor is better. Since all calculations will be carried out by bank transfer, even shoe polish for shoes will have to be purchased under the contract. Well, here ... A lawyer will intervene in the case ... No further explanation is necessary. But if necessary, then we say: the purchase of any soap box will drag on for two months.
As a result, nothing will happen to the company. There will be no sugar and water, there will be no paper and pens. Everything will be on standby. And at the same time get rid of the accountant will not be easy. After all, he is in charge. A particularly terrible situation will be when an accounting department is created and all problems then triple at least.
And the conclusion? Very simple: accounting should also be outsourced.
There are still a number of figures with their own role and unforgettable fate (drivers, cooks and others). But, to be honest, there is no desire to describe them, and there is also no expediency.
Hazards.
It should summarize the foregoing and provide examples. Let's start with a generalization.
Who in the world is more terrible and dangerous for the project?
100% sure that this is a marketer, programmer and seo-shnik. Moreover, the degree of their deceit, cunning and danger is very, very significant. Any one of them can bungle up a project in an easy way - by design or without it.
The marketer can kill any idea with trivial miscalculations in the marketing strategy. For example, an incorrect definition of the target audience leads to an incorrect presentation of information about a service or product in website design, advertising and ways to promote a product. As a result, huge advertising budgets simply fly into the pipe. Even the wrong choice of advertising slogan is able to completely destroy the project, blocking all sales. Let's not grovel much about this, because there are a lot of clever books and articles written about marketing and advertising. Come on.
The programmer can easily negate the efforts of one and all. He is especially dangerous if he managed to convince the investor and the captain that a samopisny engine is necessary for the project site. The engine may be necessary, but the captain must know in what format it is written. Is there an option, in which case, the transition to conventional engines like bitrix, umi, and the masses of others. If not, then everything will be very tight.
All the talk about which engine is better is endless reasoning about nothing. Better that engine, which is convenient for formalization. Better the engine that is supported by the system organization. If this is one and not a dozen of two sites, and if the cost of the project is not three kopecks, then it is easier to adapt something that will be supported later. Otherwise, the consequences can turn into a nightmare.
The dangers of SEO-optimizer are clearly stated in its essence. And his fornication, grimaces and jumps will be able to lead the structure into such a fornication, from which neither get out nor exit. And if this reptile does something wrong, and the search engine pessimizes you, or worse, it is banned, then it will be easier to start all over again.
All correspondence with Platon Schukin, his golden words about the algorithms that made the decision, and recommendations that it is necessary to continue working on the site, making it for people, will simply fury the investor, the captain, and everyone else. This project can be written off for scrap as a dead site.
The designer is not particularly dangerous. It can easily be replaced, and the squad will not notice the loss of a fighter.
The negative consequences of the activities of other defendants are reparable, but they can also create a lot of problems if layout designers, content managers, and sysadmins turn on the steer and start sabotaging the entire project. In general, the sabotage of the entire project can be a local disaster. Why can this happen? And because, due to the fault of the programmer or seo-optimizer, the project will start to slip, and its end will not be visible. Everyone will start betting. Rates on how long the investor will last, and what a gold reserve the chieftain has.
At this time, all members of the team can visit the thoughts of their citizenship. Revolutionary consciousness will keep the proletarian mechanism to select and divide everything. If, in the collective mind of the whole structure, the civil position will take on ugly forms, then accordingly, it may seem to the investor to taste all the charms of ruin and move into the skin of ordinary citizens.
In this case ... what can I say, what will happen in this case. In this case, everything will collapse like a house of cards. And this is a headache for the manager and the investor.
Examples
Perhaps it is time to give some examples. According to the Forbes magazine, in 2013, in the competition for the best startups, the first place was taken by the project from the real sector, the second - a purely Internet project for searching doctors DocDoc.ru . Well DocDoc so DocDoc. Let's take a closer look at it.
The investor of this project was Alisher Usmanov, a Russian billionaire with Asian roots. The investment fund Aurora Venture Capital issued 1 million green to the service in question. As Vsevolod Topolyansky, managing partner of Aurora Venture Capital, noted (quoting verbatim): “We invest in DocDoc not only as one of the main resources where Internet users can find a specialist doctor, we appreciate, first of all, the team of this portal , which has a successful and undisputed experience in the IT-industry, associated with the promotion of medicine and pharma. Our evaluation of the DocDoc project was the highest among similar projects, and we associate our expectations with people who have managed to do a lot in this sector. ” The investor reminded that the fund is interested in projects working at the intersection of medicine and Internet technologies.
At the same time on the same portal 1prime JPMorgan analyst Alexei Gogolev said that DocDoc portal has significant growth potential. “IT projects in medicine are one of the most promising areas. For example, the American portal ZocDoc has recently attracted about $ 50 million from the DST Global fund by Alisher Usmanov and Yuri Milner. I believe that such projects have a great future, especially in Russia, ”said Alexey Gogolev.
So, in fact. There are two twin startups. 50 million greens are invested in American start-ups, in Russia - 1. Well, somehow not patriotic. What is this? It turns out that we are second to Obama about the exclusivity of the American people. Or, perhaps, we do not understand something in business angel thoughts. Well, okay, for that he is a business angel to have his own opinion, incomprehensible to mere mortals.
But let's continue to deal with DocDoc. Pay attention to the design. Apparently, the same designer worked here as at ZocDoc. Or he carefully, just before the hole in the monitor, studied the American project and decided that the decision of the Americans was optimal and did not need to be corrected.
Now about the CEO. Since this project is purely focused on the Internet public, SEO optimization and attracting targeted search traffic here should have been given paramount importance. What do we see after 2 years of the project and spent millions of budget dollars? Only 10-15 thousand visitors per day. And it is on the website of general medical subjects !!! Gentlemen, yes, only in dentistry similar projects like 24stoma.ru gather more people. And besides dentistry in medicine, there are 50 more major and about 180 narrowly focused areas. Count yourself what traffic a site should have with such investments and two (!) Years for promotion.
In terms of CEO can be noted another amazing project - autospot.ru. This is generally a “storehouse of disgusting combinatorics of a designer and SEO” (according to some analysts). And the complete failure of the team captain. Investment there has been directed several times more. At the same time, CEO is at absolute zero, and more precisely, in a deep well ... bold minus. The design, again, is very reminiscent, painfully simple, of his American ancestor, truecar.com. And more ... more ... more ... Well, why is the site content not unique? Probably, the seo-optimizer knows the anecdote perfectly well: “Why does the gorilla have wide nostrils? Because her fingers are thick. ” How much search traffic on autospot.ru? Not at all. And because even after 1.5 years of the existence of the project, according to the January 2015 pages in the index 209, and that's it. And the real traffic on this project is being charged with referrals and contextual advertising. Apparently, the marketers of the project, together with seo-mags, decided that the advertising banners in Skype are much more effective than the search results of Yandex and Google. They were convinced of this by investors and managers and calmly continue to " drink whiskey in expensive bars, mastering all the new cash injections ." The problem of attracting a client is simply killed by money. But, judging by the importance of the Fastlane Ventures Dmitry Razorenov and Sergey Gobestro, the project will definitely not be allowed to die. It is invested as much as needed. Once spent 6.5 million dollars, then spend the same amount. After all, the idea was taken from the Americans. And because the business model is unsinkable reinforced concrete.
I would like to emphasize and at the same time with sadness to state that for some reason all projects are oriented to the west. It is mandatory for any startup eyes of investors looking abroad. As if they were bees, and this very overseas is a storehouse of honey and a flowering meadow. Why so? Unclear.
Well, if you decide to copy, you need to know clearly and clearly, and this is true in art, a copy should always be better than the original. Otherwise, the copy at the auction does not sell. But you have to.
We assure you, in addition to seo-optimizers and marketers, whose performance is visible, in these projects there are also accountants and lawyers, and maybe even some Adventists. We do not know about it. But they are. More precisely, they can not not eat. And their role in the successful realization of the dream of a business angel sometimes resembles a shadow government.
We give a banal example. You have decided to enter into an agreement with Auto Slot or Dock. Guess how long it will take to reconcile? You can’t guess what it is. And if God forbid, send your version, then within a few days you will absolutely hear what we wrote earlier - the sacramental “contract with a lawyer” ... And then, as usual, the end of a telephone conversation.
What to do?
What should an investor and a start-up start-up do in a situation of general incompetence and the desire to get money for doing nothing?
We can advise novice captains to begin to independently understand the applied aspects of marketing, to obtain basic programming skills and SEO optimization. Or, if you are strong in one aspect, attract a full partner, strong in another aspect. It is the captain who must fully formalize the project and write out to each team member clear roles and a strict algorithm of actions. He should conduct the orchestra, and not dance to the tune of the team. Of course, in the process of project implementation there can be ingenious finds for each member of the team that go beyond the limits of the algorithm. But the captain should be able to assess their quality and usefulness for the project, so that at first glance a good idea does not turn out to be a time bomb and does not cross out months of work and millions of invested funds.
And what should an investor do? And the investor does it very simply: invests in startups whose captains have more than one successful project behind their backs. But how then do business beginners get into this closed venture investment club? If you have a super idea three times, no one will invest in a project if you don’t have a pair of assets at least DocDocs or Autospots. On objections that there are special structures for helping start-up start-ups and attracting investments for new projects, we will answer in one of our next articles. And we will show what real “help” is provided by these organizations.
And who are we?
Well, a little PR, where do without it;)
Now you can say to yourself: “Yes, I see that any, even the best idea of a startup can be destroyed by the executors of the project. But where are the guarantees that the people who wrote all this do not represent the same Cerberus, Binars, CEO-VUDA of shamans, etc. And, turning to them, I will not waste my money and nerves, but earn a decent return on invested capital ?
As stated in any respected society, we thank you for a very good question. But think about this. If we were able to describe all the people involved in the project (many of the facts are certainly confirmed by your personal experience with them), then it is logical that we went through all the stages of working with programmers, seoshniki, marketers, etc. personally. We have done a lot of work and have really accumulated a lot of vital knowledge. All of the above, we checked on various examples.
And now we can say that with a large degree of correctness, we are just such captains who are able to pick up a team (or replace an entire part of this team) and implement any, even the most ambitious project.
With us you can start a new startup, and what else is very important, with us you can reanimate a failed startup. Often, only some correctives in marketing are needed, as well as “formalization and standardization of site content in terms of search engine optimization.” And believe, failures and problems will remain in the past. After all, you cannot butt with the search engine, you need to be friends with it, you need to listen to it, you need to adapt to it. In this case, the search engine will respond with much-needed gratitude for any form and state of the startup.
In addition, we are confident that there are a huge number of brilliant, but not realized ideas due to lack of investment or lack of knowledge of their generators. Let's change the situation together. Let every good idea have its own business angel, and every investor have a real captain Katalkin, able to put his idea into practice, and make an investor's story come true.
Regards and best wishes
Startup Assistance Group Team
PS Time does not wait! Now, in our country, we all are witnessing an economic recession and a certain economic breakdown. But CRISIS is the best time for startups . Do not miss the opportunity to launch an interesting project while the existing market players are absorbed in solving current financial problems. The crisis will end early and late, but the question is: “who will be on a horse after its completion?”.
PPS Read in our following articles:
No bad ideas. And there are no bad startups.
There is a poorly defined task and brainless performers.
And, of course, there are a lot of people who want to trade other people's money.
PS The article has real examples of some well-known Russian startups who successfully “cut investors' money” and, most importantly, analyze why this is happening.
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Content
What is this publication about
Investor
Project Manager
The team, without which we can not live
Marketer
Designer
Programmer
SEO optimizer
Content manager
Coder
System Administrator
Lawyer
Accountant
Conclusions and examples
Danger
Examples
What to do?
And who are we?
What is this publication about
Despite the fact that start-ups among IT-specialists are not discussed only by the lazy, we still decided to raise this topic and consider it thoroughly in the context of the real problems of the Russian investor and the Russian start-up starter. In this and subsequent articles we will not deal with graphomania and write science-like texts (which you yourself can easily find on the Internet or marketing books), but try to reflect the Russian reality in the field of Internet start-ups and find answers to the eternal questions: "Who is to blame ? " And " What to do? " .
As you know, in any startup there are three main components:
- startup idea;
- presence of an investor;
- leader and team that implements the idea.
Problems and mistakes of startups related directly to the idea of the project (relevance, perspectivity, organization of operating activities, marketing plan, etc.), we will consider in our subsequent articles. In addition, we decided not to consider the structure of start-ups, orientation and other technical issues that are known to all participants of this project.
Now we want to raise the topic of incompetence, lack of professionalism and the desire to grab someone else's piece of cake, which is characteristic of the overwhelming majority of Russian business, including the development of venture capital investments. This, in turn, seriously hinders investments in start-ups and, naturally, turns the active format into a swampy puddle.
So, we will carefully analyze the actions of the investor or venture companies that are considering incoming applications to raise funds. Along with the points that we do not consider here and which we have mentioned above - niches, topics, etc., there is one essential feature for potential investment.
Where would anyone do anything, in the questionnaire it is necessary to fill in one fundamental part - the presence of a team and the duration of its existence, which must be at least a year. Otherwise, the project is simply not considered. This is a kind of Rubicon, without which the chances of success are reduced to zero.
It is clear why there is such a position. After all, cadres decide everything ... or deprive of everything. In a startup, the frames must be cohesive and monolithic - they must be a team. Yes, it is the team that is able to solve standard and not so much questions, be able to concentrate and work on the result. It is in this that we will try to understand the psychological aspect of those components of the startup, which were reflected above, where a special place was given to the investor.
Investor
Self-conceit.
I am an investor. Such as I often call business angels. I am the owner of the money that needs to be invested somewhere. I have money, and that means I have everything. I am a risk-ready venture investor, but the risk is reasonable and reasonable. After all, I, like Warren Buffet, just need a team and a theme. And I have all the "trample." I will be happy and rich.
In fact.
The lines from the song come to mind: “I am not an angel, I’m not a besom ... I’m a tired wanderer." In our topic it is more correct to interpret as follows: "He is not an angel, he is not a devil, he is an ordinary wanderer."
Of course, he is an ordinary wanderer among the cash flow. And like any person who always comes from childhood, one more children's song is involuntarily recalled: “Oh, how you want ....” Yes, indeed, I want to make money, and a lot and, more precisely, a lot. Normal motivation and natural desire. Against this no arguing.
But, nevertheless, a venture investor is really a kind of business angel. He is looking for companions and associates, who, with a successful solution of the problem, he will easily sign off a share and help in domestic and everyday matters. As a rule, in the creative process for him, any active performers are essentially associates, and not just subordinates. Everything is possible for them - investments, preferences, full confidence. And later he is ready to go with them into the fire and into the water.
At the same time, it is necessary to understand that he really risks and therefore is really worthy to drink expensive champagne and eat oysters for breakfast.
If we talk about the psychological portrait and the real state of affairs, then the majority of those who have free money have a problem with communication. And this is due to the fact that, as a rule, only money comes to him, and they are treading in the waiting room with subservience and backbeat.
In reality, the leader in any aspect lacks the usual human, and when implementing an IT startup and creative communication. He wants to be understood, to actively discuss issues and to be, as we said above, associates and business partners.
Therefore, the investor deserves special respect. You do not need to treat him as a "profan", and just a rich turkey from which you can pinch golden feathers.
If the investor really earns money on the project, then he will certainly make all the active participants in the project and move with them further into the expanses of big, and maybe very, big money.
Venture investors are special people. Most likely, these are certain masters of the financial market of specialized orders, knights and thrill seekers. They must be respected and they should not be "thrown." They should be considered as partners and, accordingly, withstand the necessary rules of the game. And the rules of the game depend on the fundamental points that the investor has to choose, since it is he who is the guiding and guiding force of everyone and everything behind him in the hierarchy. And the next one in the “food chain” of any startup is, of course, its ideologist and immediate leader.
Project Manager
The project manager is the team captain. It can be characterized as follows:
"Captain Katalkin - trump jack,
Captain Katalkin - black gun,
Captain Katalkin - keen eyes
We are with you protection, mafia thunder. "
Yes, that is how it should be. Fart, lucky, ready for any vicissitudes and changes in the economic situation in general and search engine algorithms in particular. The head really should have keen eyes, sharp mind and snake grip. Additionally, we can say that with this approach, the investor - the business angel will get lucky. He will be able to solve all the problems and all the wishes. All fantasies in this case can become a reality, and the investment will be cleaned as in a Swiss safe.
This is ideally when the chorus of the famous song by Alexander Buinov becomes an objective reality.
And if not?
And the manager will be an ordinary rogue - a manager who has fallen into investor confidence and told him a fairy tale, under which money is most often given. Yes, they give money for a fairy tale, and the real leader almost always knows it.
Well, a fairy tale, so a fairy tale. In any case, successful or unsuccessful, both he and the investor will have a great time. How long it will last - only God knows. It all depends on the vigilance of the investor and the luckiness and professionalism of the team captain. Today, most often, leaders are forced to dance, and yours and ours. They must adapt to the team and appease the investor.
Very difficult dilemma. Especially since they have completely different tasks. Investor - minimize investment package. While the team, with or without a manager, expands the investor’s budget to the skies. After all, at the same time, it will be possible to quietly pump out the social, drink coffee at work, tell fables about the difficulties and constant brainstorming, as well as write reports about the presence of a mass of obstacles and some kind of barriers.
It is in such a situation that the manager has to live, answering to the boss and crucifying to the team.
So, we turn to the personnel issue, which, in the person of an IT startup team, must ensure absolute success.
"Team, without which we can not live"
The composition of this team on the staffing of any IT start-up is seen as follows.
Main core:
- Marketer;
- Designer;
- Programmer;
- Layout designer;
- Seo optimizer;
- System Administrator;
- Content managers - rewriters and copywriters.
Auxiliary figures - in fact. And the main participants in their own opinion:
- Lawyer;
- Accountant;
- Other actors (drivers, cooks, etc.).
Marketer (he is an advertiser)
Self-conceit.
I can promote any project. Only I know the psychology of buyers and all the right advertising moves. Without me, it will not work, because only advertising can attract buyers and bring profit to the project. Everyone should understand that marketing is the driving force of any business.
In fact.
One of the most ardent "proedatel" budget of any startup. If you give him will, then he most likely will not advance, but push the project to the back of the story. In this case, do not be surprised that soon you will see advertising banners of your project not only in the metro, the magazine “Oil and Gas of Russia”, but also you will watch the minibuses painted in the colors and logo of your startup. Often, the advertising marketer does not realize what he sells, to whom he sells and how he sells. Using the multipage textbooks of the great marketers of the 60s of the last century, which he read at the engineers' retraining courses, he will wisely prove to you the power of advertising brochures at popular page spreads, talk about the target audience and focus groups. Mandatory information for bad money is likely to be published on the internal print media of Aeroflot or Russian Railways with the confidence that it is on the way that any person will admire the marketing genius. And in many "marketing platforms", which, perhaps, were effective several decades ago.
The main principle of a team marketer is to beat out the lion’s share of the total project budget. To think about the effectiveness of a particular method of promotion is not his task. The principle here is that the more expensive the better. It is necessary to recall the joke about a tie, which can be bought at an exorbitant price more expensive around the corner. He would rather be engaged not in effective sales of the product, but rather play on the ambitions of the investor and the captain, proving that the more prestigious the advertising space is, the more advantageous it is for the status of the project.
And when you ask him to write a selling, we emphasize selling, letter and send it to your potential counterparties, you will most likely see there only banal phrases praising your product and your company. There is no talk about any sales and attracted contractors, the conversion from the activities of such a marketer tends to zero.
Designer
Self-conceit.
I am a creative independent person. I am a creator. Only I can give unforgettable charm and uniqueness to any project. Yes, I think and create day and night. Everyone should admire the unusualness of my thoughts and artistic skills.
In fact.
A rare bastard with a keen sense of beauty (at best, and often a person who graduated from an art school and who has, of course, studied well, an initial basic sense of taste), which, in his opinion, the whole team must plow, realizing his fantasies in life.
Otherwise, a sharpened brain striving for creative self-realization will give commands to reflex muscles.
Surely you will see tears in his eyes, wringing his hands, rolling his eyes. If you are lucky, then the offenses will disappear in a day, if not - then, perhaps, the process can drag on to infinity. At the same time, an attempt will be made to form public opinion, then his talent was underestimated, but he himself was not understood.
He harbors a special offense on someone who can reveal the true essence, which borders on some feminine principle characteristic of these actions. In general, this kind of feminine for the designer is very characteristic. Here, it seems to us, it is worth thinking about its real nature and to understand whether he is a man or not.
You also need to understand that quite often, "fantasies" he communicates from other sites, changing the colors and directions of the lines.
But at the same time, he is trying in every possible way to delay the process in order to create his own significance.
Programmer
Self-conceit.
I can do everything, I can manage everything. I will create a megaproduct, and my technical task is worthy of at least a universal grant. Without me, they are all insects, and with me - the team.
In fact.
The programmer is the original product of the binary system. This is the main of the Scottish clan Binar. He constantly knocks, sometimes while thinking. And sometimes, just driving in the program code, with the help of which, and this is his personal opinion, he can communicate with all the people around him. Without control, there is no question of any usability of the admin panel or the ease of use of the other participants in the human resource. After all, he creates a megaproduct, not realizing that in this case he creates it only for himself. And he is comfortable for others or not - he is on the drum, because he is an immortal kind of Binars.
At the same time, he always strives for perfection and he insists that his own engine be written for any project. In general, the number of engines that a programmer must write is incalculable: for every breath - a module, for every sound - its own program. And often the samopisny engine is noodles on the ears of the customer, which is clearly defined as “kangaroo”.
To make it clear to everyone, the Lapseed code does not adapt to anything. It is easily destroyed when trying to adapt. As a rule, such codes are written by those who are afraid that at some point they will not be needed. And so they can pull the thread and destroy the entire project overnight.
You also need to know that with such an approach there can be no talk of any UNI test. And we can talk about the fact that such a product can create a bottleneck - a bottleneck that will slow down the transfer of information and the Internet platform will look like a tortoise tortilla.
And there are still nuances of such code, about which programmers are well aware and often use them. In other words, the self-written code of lapsevid engines is generally unacceptable for more or less serious startup programs. However, this approach is very frequent when selling even serious products. About the established commercial engines, the product of the genesis of the binary code - he is a programmer - often says something like this: “Yes, they are no good. Yes, their adaptation and finishing work will cost like a wing from an airplane! ” In this case, you need to remember that a programmer can come out not only as a wing, but as a whole plane with electronic stuffing.
There is another feature of this subject. Quite often, he reminds an athlete from the society of bodybuilders who needs sports nutrition, anabolic steroids and is ready to pump up every muscle - every cell, row and file - 24 hours a day. Would pay money.
SEO optimizer
Self-conceit.
I'm the smartest. I am the strongest. I am the bravest. I fight with both Yasha and Google. Their algorithms are not a hindrance to me. I twist everything, turning and searching for myself to work I want to make.
In fact.
SEO-optimizer - secret cardinal and executioner in one person. In general, when talking about seo-technologies, you must be very careful and cautious. If your interlocutor once came across a seo master, he can easily hit you with a cudgel on the head, grab your face, and if you have a cutlery, start cutting off the portions from you. Therefore, before you say the word "SEO", you need to find out how your counterparty contacted this conductor of the other world, and how his meditation ended. It should be understood that this usually ends in a waste of money, the sale of personal property and the ruin of a number of groups of financiers. CEO is something. These are fraudsters inside the fraudsters, who at the same time scammers chase.
Based on this, we can safely say that if “seo” is removed from the Russian lexicon altogether, the number of heart attacks will decrease to a large extent, the number of people with high blood pressure will probably decrease. And it will almost wipe out diseases such as stroke, heart attack, angina pectoris from the statistics of medicine. The number of suicides, depressions and despondency will sharply decrease. Our Ministry of Health in this case will be able to safely report that his works were not in vain, at least for the last 10 years.
Content manager
Self-conceit.
I write, but they are not enough. I write again, but they are not enough again. Well, how much content you need - I'll never know. If I stop writing, everything will rise, and no one will move anywhere. Therefore, I am probably one of the most important.
In fact.
There is some truth in this conceit. There is a fact that you need a lot of content, but for a good project - a lot. This is a product that can be easily compared with strategic material. It is like bread in the food market. It is like oil in the energy market. He as the air and water provides the livelihoods of the entire project. But the content must be of excellent quality.
As the great Yandex says, the text should be unique and readable, unique and readable ... and again, or more precisely, again, unique and readable. But there is another aspect. It must correctly reflect the essence of the problem, have the necessary number of occurrences of keywords, it must be framed with infinitives, “verb”, “introductory” and a mass of other components. It is these components that determine the format for generating client traffic. But few people know how to spell normal traffic-generating content. There are practically no schools where this is taught, where this is told and where the requirements for this problem are formalized.
But there is a shortage of rewriters, copywriters, content managers. And this is despite the huge offer of content exchanges, where every sandpiper praises its own swamp. Attempts to contact these exchanges are very risky. Paid text is often sold in another aspect. And if you are not the first to post the received text, or if the search engine did not index you first, then the truth will not be found later. Honestly, writing morphologically correct texts under Yandex and Google is a whole science. This science, which is no less complex than the program code. And it is not clear who is more important and more important among the defendants described. One thing is obvious: you cannot see happiness without high-quality content.
Coder
Self-conceit.
I bring everything out, form, reflect. Without me, no one will give the desired format. And if not me, then the site will not be. It will be crooked, oblique and stupid. And about the formalization of the search engine and there can be no question. But at the same time I am constantly extreme with any failures. And if everyone catches courage, then I’m not supposed to be there.
In fact.
Web layout is one of the final stages of creating a product and opening it for a search engine. Therefore, at this stage and all the shortcomings, kosyachki and deficiencies. Therefore, the coder with failures is always to blame. As the saying goes: “who is the last is the one and the father”. The fate of this. Do not go anywhere.
Objectively, we can safely say that this subject is really one of the driving forces of any Internet project. Without it, nowhere. Without him not a step forward. And if the pros are clearly aware of the term “code uniqueness,” then the investor, and in some cases the captain of the entire team, is not aware of this problem. Not a single, even very high-quality project was the victim of ignorance of this situation. Layout code should also be unique and easy to read for a search engine. It uses a variety of tools and points. No wonder they say: "the code is clean and high quality." It is impossible to litter the code. Each speck is a minus for the entire project. He must be reconciled. Almost always, the quality of the code is judged by the quality of the code. Therefore, a quality designer who knows the above and other nuances can dramatically improve the quality of the project. And in the absence of knowledge and kryvolapstve - dramatically drop him down.
System Administrator
Self-conceit.
Only I understand in office equipment and software, and only I can customize the work of the office so that everything works as it should and without failures.
In fact.
An unhappy person who constantly complains about Microsoft for creating a reliable and fault-tolerant Windows 7 (over which it is not necessary to arrange constant dances with a tambourine to restore and reinstall, and which any user with initial skills in mouse and keyboard skills can install). He also hates computer companies for selling already assembled computers with pre-installed software. Joy in the life of a sysadmin - cloud storage, set up a backup of information in which can, of course, only he, the great System Administrator.
In general, if the sysadmin is given free rein and an impressive budget, with proletarian hatred he will ravage the investor’s wallet for licensed software and modern computer hardware. Well, this is understandable: how can you make serious projects on some open-source software, which is used by poor companies and cheap start-ups. For serious work, you need to install licensed Windows, MS Office, Adobe Master Collection, etc. All results and the core of the project should be stored on the most powerful office server, the system administrator must personally buy and collect (otherwise there is no guarantee that the server will work at all). It will all be purchased, of course, at a company where a sysadmin has a maximum discount, but nobody knows about it. In addition, data must be backed up using modern cloud technologies.Therefore, the sysadmin in the team becomes a master of software and hardware, armed with a keyboard and mouse.
After all hardware has been purchased and collected, licensed bourgeois software has been installed, computers are networked and multiple information backups are set up, the sysadmin’s work is just beginning. Every day he goes around the computers of other members of the Team, launches only known utilities for him and looks at some logs and protocols. And God forbid any girl content manager complain that something is wrong with her computer. In response, you can hear something like: “If a person’s arms and legs grow from the same place, then this is no longer a person, but a creature from an order of arthropods ...”. And, of course, the indispensable and curvature of the rest of the sysadmin’s team members will be communicated daily to the project manager, emphasizing in every way his exclusive and crucial role in the success of the entire enterprise.
Lawyer
Self-conceit.
I need and the main. Without me, they are no one to call them in any way. They will simply be torn as a hot-water bottle if they do not obey me. Without me, no one will make any paper, without me no one will sign any document. I ... I ... I ...!
In fact.
I ... I ... I ... - ... "poppy head". Well, just asking for it. This is one of the strangest team members and he has one of the strangest roles in a start-up IT project. Briefly describe it as a Cerberus, winemaker and a skilled master of home-salted in one person. Involuntarily the question "why so?"
Firstly, he is like a three-headed dog, a Kerber, who gave the name to the Cerberus in an allegorical manner, is obliged to keep all the secrets of the company and not to let them out. In principle, according to external signs, he creates it in this perspective, but how he does it is a separate song.
If you called the IT start-up company, you are its counterparty and suddenly you heard the phrase “a document (contract) with a lawyer” - then all is lost. After all, any document that came to the lawyer on the table, goes there indefinitely. He is like an expensive whiskey or brandy should be maintained preferably "not 1 year." It seems that if the contract is not maintained, then the lawyer cannot proceed to it, and therefore be kind enough to wait.
When the papers are aged and, in the opinion of this very three-headed dog with poisonous foam in his mouth, are ready for use, he will, like the master of pickles and fermentation, begin their tasting. At least two hours, he will lay them on the table, and because the table he must be large, and, consequently, the room where this table is with a lawyer, must take more than a dozen meters.
In principle, all contracts are identical, but not for him. He will here and there add a pinch of salt, a sprig of cumin, and often poison, and certainly, 100% will find a couple of lines that will not suit him. As a rule, these lines are ordinary, but again not for him. He necessarily interprets them, will give them a veiled form, in order to annoy a partner in whom even a person who is not well-versed in jurisprudence will find a catch, and send him to you. Everything.The exchange of homemade and often poisoned pickles began.
You, accordingly, get angry, give your version of the document, and the process can be delayed indefinitely. The joke lies in the fact that the dog is in business, and at the same time she puzzled you. Puzzling anyone with their processing is the paramount task of a lawyer in the state.
On this occasion, he will make more than a dozen reports not only to the captain, but also to the business angel. He will definitely begin to shape public opinion for his exclusivity. He will try to fold the saga about how the hero of our time in his own face exposed the malicious intent and prevented the destruction of the foundations of the structure. But this is only a saga. And the saga dog.
Therefore, a lawyer must be outsourced. A lawyer in the state is necessarily an intrigue and empty talk about anything. This is an attempt to create a conspiracy. It is also necessary to understand that two lawyers are already eight opinions, and if there are more of them, then opinions cannot be counted.
Accountant
Self-conceit.
Yes, without me here all swagger. Yes, without me everything is stolen. A state. The authorities generally tear everyone into the British flag. I, and only I can save everything, save and increase. I am the most important here. And no nails.
In fact.
The accountant should treat the maintenance staff, without any particular opinion. I must clearly shift the papers, submit reports on time, monitor the financial flows and not create administrative barriers.
If this is not a service staff, and the accountant will win the palm, then the case will be exactly the joints. It will resemble the well-known saying “when I have a car, not when the car has me.”
And if the accountant heads up the hierarchy of everything that happens or takes one of the key positions in it, then for all, we emphasize, terrible times will come for everyone and, in fact, there will be eternal darkness. The investor will have to pay for everything and everyone. He and the leader will have to listen to the cry of a captured Turk in Armenian captivity about sleepless nights during the reporting period, eyes that were inflamed at that time, and much more.
Listen to them, poor fellows, and do not rehear. All other members of the team will be lined up like brave soldiers to sew in one uniform. At the head of the frunta will become the nickname "reporting". They will report for everything and everyone.
You will need to be accountable for each, we emphasize, every penny, for a pen, a piece of paper, for a roll of napkins and a ticket in the subway. And it does not matter that at the same time paper and cartridges will be spent on the ruble. And nobody can calculate the time for reporting. In principle, it can take all the working time and even capture the weekend. This will concern not only the money already spent, but also the upcoming costs.
Let's give an example.
To buy napkins on the table or a pair of nails will need to place an application. The application must be signed by the team captain, and the investor is better. Since all calculations will be carried out by bank transfer, even shoe polish for shoes will have to be purchased under the contract. Well, here ... A lawyer will intervene in the case ... No further explanation is necessary. But if necessary, then we say: the purchase of any soap box will drag on for two months.
As a result, nothing will happen to the company. There will be no sugar and water, there will be no paper and pens. Everything will be on standby. And at the same time get rid of the accountant will not be easy. After all, he is in charge. A particularly terrible situation will be when an accounting department is created and all problems then triple at least.
And the conclusion? Very simple: accounting should also be outsourced.
There are still a number of figures with their own role and unforgettable fate (drivers, cooks and others). But, to be honest, there is no desire to describe them, and there is also no expediency.
Conclusions and examples
Hazards.
It should summarize the foregoing and provide examples. Let's start with a generalization.
Who in the world is more terrible and dangerous for the project?
100% sure that this is a marketer, programmer and seo-shnik. Moreover, the degree of their deceit, cunning and danger is very, very significant. Any one of them can bungle up a project in an easy way - by design or without it.
The marketer can kill any idea with trivial miscalculations in the marketing strategy. For example, an incorrect definition of the target audience leads to an incorrect presentation of information about a service or product in website design, advertising and ways to promote a product. As a result, huge advertising budgets simply fly into the pipe. Even the wrong choice of advertising slogan is able to completely destroy the project, blocking all sales. Let's not grovel much about this, because there are a lot of clever books and articles written about marketing and advertising. Come on.
The programmer can easily negate the efforts of one and all. He is especially dangerous if he managed to convince the investor and the captain that a samopisny engine is necessary for the project site. The engine may be necessary, but the captain must know in what format it is written. Is there an option, in which case, the transition to conventional engines like bitrix, umi, and the masses of others. If not, then everything will be very tight.
All the talk about which engine is better is endless reasoning about nothing. Better that engine, which is convenient for formalization. Better the engine that is supported by the system organization. If this is one and not a dozen of two sites, and if the cost of the project is not three kopecks, then it is easier to adapt something that will be supported later. Otherwise, the consequences can turn into a nightmare.
The dangers of SEO-optimizer are clearly stated in its essence. And his fornication, grimaces and jumps will be able to lead the structure into such a fornication, from which neither get out nor exit. And if this reptile does something wrong, and the search engine pessimizes you, or worse, it is banned, then it will be easier to start all over again.
All correspondence with Platon Schukin, his golden words about the algorithms that made the decision, and recommendations that it is necessary to continue working on the site, making it for people, will simply fury the investor, the captain, and everyone else. This project can be written off for scrap as a dead site.
The designer is not particularly dangerous. It can easily be replaced, and the squad will not notice the loss of a fighter.
The negative consequences of the activities of other defendants are reparable, but they can also create a lot of problems if layout designers, content managers, and sysadmins turn on the steer and start sabotaging the entire project. In general, the sabotage of the entire project can be a local disaster. Why can this happen? And because, due to the fault of the programmer or seo-optimizer, the project will start to slip, and its end will not be visible. Everyone will start betting. Rates on how long the investor will last, and what a gold reserve the chieftain has.
At this time, all members of the team can visit the thoughts of their citizenship. Revolutionary consciousness will keep the proletarian mechanism to select and divide everything. If, in the collective mind of the whole structure, the civil position will take on ugly forms, then accordingly, it may seem to the investor to taste all the charms of ruin and move into the skin of ordinary citizens.
In this case ... what can I say, what will happen in this case. In this case, everything will collapse like a house of cards. And this is a headache for the manager and the investor.
Examples
Perhaps it is time to give some examples. According to the Forbes magazine, in 2013, in the competition for the best startups, the first place was taken by the project from the real sector, the second - a purely Internet project for searching doctors DocDoc.ru . Well DocDoc so DocDoc. Let's take a closer look at it.
The investor of this project was Alisher Usmanov, a Russian billionaire with Asian roots. The investment fund Aurora Venture Capital issued 1 million green to the service in question. As Vsevolod Topolyansky, managing partner of Aurora Venture Capital, noted (quoting verbatim): “We invest in DocDoc not only as one of the main resources where Internet users can find a specialist doctor, we appreciate, first of all, the team of this portal , which has a successful and undisputed experience in the IT-industry, associated with the promotion of medicine and pharma. Our evaluation of the DocDoc project was the highest among similar projects, and we associate our expectations with people who have managed to do a lot in this sector. ” The investor reminded that the fund is interested in projects working at the intersection of medicine and Internet technologies.
At the same time on the same portal 1prime JPMorgan analyst Alexei Gogolev said that DocDoc portal has significant growth potential. “IT projects in medicine are one of the most promising areas. For example, the American portal ZocDoc has recently attracted about $ 50 million from the DST Global fund by Alisher Usmanov and Yuri Milner. I believe that such projects have a great future, especially in Russia, ”said Alexey Gogolev.
So, in fact. There are two twin startups. 50 million greens are invested in American start-ups, in Russia - 1. Well, somehow not patriotic. What is this? It turns out that we are second to Obama about the exclusivity of the American people. Or, perhaps, we do not understand something in business angel thoughts. Well, okay, for that he is a business angel to have his own opinion, incomprehensible to mere mortals.
But let's continue to deal with DocDoc. Pay attention to the design. Apparently, the same designer worked here as at ZocDoc. Or he carefully, just before the hole in the monitor, studied the American project and decided that the decision of the Americans was optimal and did not need to be corrected.
Now about the CEO. Since this project is purely focused on the Internet public, SEO optimization and attracting targeted search traffic here should have been given paramount importance. What do we see after 2 years of the project and spent millions of budget dollars? Only 10-15 thousand visitors per day. And it is on the website of general medical subjects !!! Gentlemen, yes, only in dentistry similar projects like 24stoma.ru gather more people. And besides dentistry in medicine, there are 50 more major and about 180 narrowly focused areas. Count yourself what traffic a site should have with such investments and two (!) Years for promotion.
In terms of CEO can be noted another amazing project - autospot.ru. This is generally a “storehouse of disgusting combinatorics of a designer and SEO” (according to some analysts). And the complete failure of the team captain. Investment there has been directed several times more. At the same time, CEO is at absolute zero, and more precisely, in a deep well ... bold minus. The design, again, is very reminiscent, painfully simple, of his American ancestor, truecar.com. And more ... more ... more ... Well, why is the site content not unique? Probably, the seo-optimizer knows the anecdote perfectly well: “Why does the gorilla have wide nostrils? Because her fingers are thick. ” How much search traffic on autospot.ru? Not at all. And because even after 1.5 years of the existence of the project, according to the January 2015 pages in the index 209, and that's it. And the real traffic on this project is being charged with referrals and contextual advertising. Apparently, the marketers of the project, together with seo-mags, decided that the advertising banners in Skype are much more effective than the search results of Yandex and Google. They were convinced of this by investors and managers and calmly continue to " drink whiskey in expensive bars, mastering all the new cash injections ." The problem of attracting a client is simply killed by money. But, judging by the importance of the Fastlane Ventures Dmitry Razorenov and Sergey Gobestro, the project will definitely not be allowed to die. It is invested as much as needed. Once spent 6.5 million dollars, then spend the same amount. After all, the idea was taken from the Americans. And because the business model is unsinkable reinforced concrete.
I would like to emphasize and at the same time with sadness to state that for some reason all projects are oriented to the west. It is mandatory for any startup eyes of investors looking abroad. As if they were bees, and this very overseas is a storehouse of honey and a flowering meadow. Why so? Unclear.
Well, if you decide to copy, you need to know clearly and clearly, and this is true in art, a copy should always be better than the original. Otherwise, the copy at the auction does not sell. But you have to.
We assure you, in addition to seo-optimizers and marketers, whose performance is visible, in these projects there are also accountants and lawyers, and maybe even some Adventists. We do not know about it. But they are. More precisely, they can not not eat. And their role in the successful realization of the dream of a business angel sometimes resembles a shadow government.
We give a banal example. You have decided to enter into an agreement with Auto Slot or Dock. Guess how long it will take to reconcile? You can’t guess what it is. And if God forbid, send your version, then within a few days you will absolutely hear what we wrote earlier - the sacramental “contract with a lawyer” ... And then, as usual, the end of a telephone conversation.
What to do?
What should an investor and a start-up start-up do in a situation of general incompetence and the desire to get money for doing nothing?
We can advise novice captains to begin to independently understand the applied aspects of marketing, to obtain basic programming skills and SEO optimization. Or, if you are strong in one aspect, attract a full partner, strong in another aspect. It is the captain who must fully formalize the project and write out to each team member clear roles and a strict algorithm of actions. He should conduct the orchestra, and not dance to the tune of the team. Of course, in the process of project implementation there can be ingenious finds for each member of the team that go beyond the limits of the algorithm. But the captain should be able to assess their quality and usefulness for the project, so that at first glance a good idea does not turn out to be a time bomb and does not cross out months of work and millions of invested funds.
And what should an investor do? And the investor does it very simply: invests in startups whose captains have more than one successful project behind their backs. But how then do business beginners get into this closed venture investment club? If you have a super idea three times, no one will invest in a project if you don’t have a pair of assets at least DocDocs or Autospots. On objections that there are special structures for helping start-up start-ups and attracting investments for new projects, we will answer in one of our next articles. And we will show what real “help” is provided by these organizations.
And who are we?
Well, a little PR, where do without it;)
Now you can say to yourself: “Yes, I see that any, even the best idea of a startup can be destroyed by the executors of the project. But where are the guarantees that the people who wrote all this do not represent the same Cerberus, Binars, CEO-VUDA of shamans, etc. And, turning to them, I will not waste my money and nerves, but earn a decent return on invested capital ?
As stated in any respected society, we thank you for a very good question. But think about this. If we were able to describe all the people involved in the project (many of the facts are certainly confirmed by your personal experience with them), then it is logical that we went through all the stages of working with programmers, seoshniki, marketers, etc. personally. We have done a lot of work and have really accumulated a lot of vital knowledge. All of the above, we checked on various examples.
And now we can say that with a large degree of correctness, we are just such captains who are able to pick up a team (or replace an entire part of this team) and implement any, even the most ambitious project.
With us you can start a new startup, and what else is very important, with us you can reanimate a failed startup. Often, only some correctives in marketing are needed, as well as “formalization and standardization of site content in terms of search engine optimization.” And believe, failures and problems will remain in the past. After all, you cannot butt with the search engine, you need to be friends with it, you need to listen to it, you need to adapt to it. In this case, the search engine will respond with much-needed gratitude for any form and state of the startup.
In addition, we are confident that there are a huge number of brilliant, but not realized ideas due to lack of investment or lack of knowledge of their generators. Let's change the situation together. Let every good idea have its own business angel, and every investor have a real captain Katalkin, able to put his idea into practice, and make an investor's story come true.
Regards and best wishes
Startup Assistance Group Team
PS Time does not wait! Now, in our country, we all are witnessing an economic recession and a certain economic breakdown. But CRISIS is the best time for startups . Do not miss the opportunity to launch an interesting project while the existing market players are absorbed in solving current financial problems. The crisis will end early and late, but the question is: “who will be on a horse after its completion?”.
PPS Read in our following articles:
- IT startups: where venture investments “merge” (Message to thinking investors and start-up start-ups. Part 2).
- How to reach the closed lodge of venture investors or how to punch a wall with your head.
- Choosing an idea for a startup. Are the recommendations of American analysts true in Russia?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/285738/
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