How to sell a startup on Facebook in three months
Evgeny Nevgen, founder of MSQRD, in an open interview at the Forum, Gotech shared the story of creating a business that he sold to Facebook and revealed the secrets of forming a project team.
It all started with a passion for programming. At 19, the first successful project was the MaeSens charity auction (known in Russia as GoodWillion). I was always wondering how to make the right working design. And we, with partner Maxim Kamenkov, founded SplitMetrics, a platform for A / B testing application pages on the App Store and Google Play. Just a month after the announcement of the opening of the company, Rovio became our client.
We launch all our projects with partners on the Hackathon, where you can get quick feedback. This strategy has never failed us. MSQRD was also created on the Hackathon. It is thanks to him that he appeared in this form. Then we made the first most simplified version of the application, and people really liked it. I had to promise that in two weeks we’ll release MSQRD in the AppStore. And we succeeded.
I put together the project team one night before Hackathon - through my friends list on Facebook. Now it consists of 12 people. The key to this success is to be open to communication. In Minsk, I often held conferences, meetups, where a huge number of engineers and designers gathered. So I met many.
')
It is very important to understand that this was not our first product. And success was not accidental - the whole team worked in the mode of a permanent hackathon, and on release days the working day lasted 20 hours. It is important that all team members were in the office and supported each other. In general, our team had only friends.
Until now, no one in the world has been able to repeat our algorithm, created by one of MSQRD founders Zhenya Zatepyakin, neither in speed nor in accuracy, although how much time has passed and so many people tried to slope the product. This indicates what serious engineering skills are at the heart of our technology. By the way, Zhenya has been engaged in face-tracking technology for 5 years. At each time point, he checked how modern smartphones are suitable for his technology. And maybe it is luck that he brought her out at the moment when we created the product and the smartphones were ready for it.
How did you search for money?
Before I looked for money for MSQRD, I had the experience of searching for investments for SplitMetrics. And it was a lot harder than with MSQRD. Nobody was particularly interested in the product or team, everyone needed metrics, big numbers. At that moment we could not show them, but we found a good investor through mutual friends. Then I decided that I would work with people who had already created their products. An investor for MSQRD had to meet two requirements: mutual acquaintances and the experience of owning a grocery company.
Did you expect this virality when running MSQRD?
According to the results, all the leading celebrities have posted at least one photo or video via MSQRD. Naturally, it was not immediately. We never paid for posts in social networks. Virality we had in the product itself. Man did not need to press extra buttons.
At the start of the photo we posted, then asked our friends to do it. Then someone posted from micro-celebrity. Other celebrities appeared on one of these circles, one of them was restaurateur Arkady Novikov. His post is already replicated by famous people in Russia and the CIS. And after that a wave started.
From the very beginning of its creation, the company worked only in “white”. We were constantly ready for due diligence. For three months - from launch to sale - we were supported by several dozen lawyers.
How impressive is a big company for sale?
It is very important which corporation to sell. In general, the life of a startup founder inside a corporation is very different. Therefore it is necessary to look who will be your partner for the coming years. We had a choice, Facebook was not the only option. And in this regard, we are lucky. We chose Facebook because it is the most dynamic company. She reminded us most of all a startup - really such a giant startup.
The most important thing in the moments of such transactions is to understand what will happen to you, your team and your product after the documents have been signed. In the Valley in such cases, members of the startup team are usually hired for a contract. This is what happened to our employees. Now they are mainly in Minsk.
Will there be new startups from Evgeny Nevgen?
Of course yes. I'm looking for people who have expertise, and those who are passionate about startups. Always open, I communicate with people so that at the right moment you can do something big.
In general, startups can take risks, they have such an opportunity, and this is the main thing that their founders should do. If we were some kind of corporation, we would never have created a DiCaprio mask.
It is important to remember that nothing ever happens the first time. Project passion is the key to success. Failure in the project is an opportunity to do something new and test a new idea.
This publication is based on the video recording of the performance of Eugene Nevgen in the official Gotech YouTube account.
It all started with a passion for programming. At 19, the first successful project was the MaeSens charity auction (known in Russia as GoodWillion). I was always wondering how to make the right working design. And we, with partner Maxim Kamenkov, founded SplitMetrics, a platform for A / B testing application pages on the App Store and Google Play. Just a month after the announcement of the opening of the company, Rovio became our client.
We launch all our projects with partners on the Hackathon, where you can get quick feedback. This strategy has never failed us. MSQRD was also created on the Hackathon. It is thanks to him that he appeared in this form. Then we made the first most simplified version of the application, and people really liked it. I had to promise that in two weeks we’ll release MSQRD in the AppStore. And we succeeded.
I put together the project team one night before Hackathon - through my friends list on Facebook. Now it consists of 12 people. The key to this success is to be open to communication. In Minsk, I often held conferences, meetups, where a huge number of engineers and designers gathered. So I met many.
')
It is very important to understand that this was not our first product. And success was not accidental - the whole team worked in the mode of a permanent hackathon, and on release days the working day lasted 20 hours. It is important that all team members were in the office and supported each other. In general, our team had only friends.
Until now, no one in the world has been able to repeat our algorithm, created by one of MSQRD founders Zhenya Zatepyakin, neither in speed nor in accuracy, although how much time has passed and so many people tried to slope the product. This indicates what serious engineering skills are at the heart of our technology. By the way, Zhenya has been engaged in face-tracking technology for 5 years. At each time point, he checked how modern smartphones are suitable for his technology. And maybe it is luck that he brought her out at the moment when we created the product and the smartphones were ready for it.
How did you search for money?
Before I looked for money for MSQRD, I had the experience of searching for investments for SplitMetrics. And it was a lot harder than with MSQRD. Nobody was particularly interested in the product or team, everyone needed metrics, big numbers. At that moment we could not show them, but we found a good investor through mutual friends. Then I decided that I would work with people who had already created their products. An investor for MSQRD had to meet two requirements: mutual acquaintances and the experience of owning a grocery company.
Did you expect this virality when running MSQRD?
According to the results, all the leading celebrities have posted at least one photo or video via MSQRD. Naturally, it was not immediately. We never paid for posts in social networks. Virality we had in the product itself. Man did not need to press extra buttons.
At the start of the photo we posted, then asked our friends to do it. Then someone posted from micro-celebrity. Other celebrities appeared on one of these circles, one of them was restaurateur Arkady Novikov. His post is already replicated by famous people in Russia and the CIS. And after that a wave started.
From the very beginning of its creation, the company worked only in “white”. We were constantly ready for due diligence. For three months - from launch to sale - we were supported by several dozen lawyers.
How impressive is a big company for sale?
It is very important which corporation to sell. In general, the life of a startup founder inside a corporation is very different. Therefore it is necessary to look who will be your partner for the coming years. We had a choice, Facebook was not the only option. And in this regard, we are lucky. We chose Facebook because it is the most dynamic company. She reminded us most of all a startup - really such a giant startup.
The most important thing in the moments of such transactions is to understand what will happen to you, your team and your product after the documents have been signed. In the Valley in such cases, members of the startup team are usually hired for a contract. This is what happened to our employees. Now they are mainly in Minsk.
Will there be new startups from Evgeny Nevgen?
Of course yes. I'm looking for people who have expertise, and those who are passionate about startups. Always open, I communicate with people so that at the right moment you can do something big.
In general, startups can take risks, they have such an opportunity, and this is the main thing that their founders should do. If we were some kind of corporation, we would never have created a DiCaprio mask.
It is important to remember that nothing ever happens the first time. Project passion is the key to success. Failure in the project is an opportunity to do something new and test a new idea.
This publication is based on the video recording of the performance of Eugene Nevgen in the official Gotech YouTube account.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/318134/
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