Why every entrepreneur should travel
28/03/2011Traveling is an important part of an entrepreneurs growth. I learned that over the past 3 weeks that I spent abroad.
As my readers will know I am South African. This means I have grown up, developed and exist within a very specific context, a uniquely South African one. This has proven to be an amazing advantage and has opened my eyes in so many ways.
I have traveled my whole life, I’ve been to many different countries around the world and lived in many different places. I like traveling. But this trip was different. This trip changed me and defined a lot of what I will be doing moving forward.
Some quick-shot lessons I learned:
1. South African entrepreneurs understand the value of a dollar.
2. We work really hard and really smart.
3. South African startups are solving real problems.
4. The copycats will make a quick buck, the innovators will make it big.
5. The rest of the world does not know better.
6. Getting in to major tech blogs will NOT make your startup a success.
7. Networking is more important than listening to a speaker.
8. Charity work is imperative to your business and your life.
Let’s get in to some depth.
It was a very interesting and difficult trip that Vincent Maher and I went on. We are the founders of Motribe.com. Our startup is doing OK in the markets that we are playing in. We have nice revenue and growth and are feeling good about what we’re doing. So going overseas was an interesting decision that we made. We went over mainly to attend the SXSW conference and network. In the process we met with New York VCs, we met with Agencies in London, New York and Austin and we met some big tech names.
Starting at the beginning: London
London is a difficult place to get any work done. People only emerge in to the real world at about 9:30am. Shops stay closed, people don’t do meetings early and no one is interested. It’s a very cocky place. I didn’t enjoy my experiences there at all. We met with a couple of agencies who blatantly had no interest in hearing what we had to say or learning about our experiences in the emerging markets.
This was the first taste of disinterest that we experienced. Some people just have no interest in hearing about other options, alternative theories and different (albeit successful) experiences. And that’s the end of it. We experienced more of this in New York.
With that said, we did also have a few good meetings with some interested and smart agencies. However these were agencies with strong South African roots and connections so it wasn’t surprising.
I was also blown off from a few meetings, people just didn’t get back to me or weren’t interested in making the effort. So be it. Vincent and I did attend an Opencoffee event which worked out OK. Nothing Earth-shattering but OK. I also did a bad thing and missed an event that I was confirmed to attend. However I did so for another meeting. So it’s kind of OK.
I left London after 2 days of work hoping not to return any time soon.
The buzz of the Big Apple
New York is the complete opposite of London. It is buzzing. People are up as early as you want to meet with them. We had back to back to back meetings for 5 days in a row. We met with agencies, individuals, VCs and anyone else who we could meet with.
There is a palpable electricity in New York. It feels to me like the excitement that once hummed around Silicon Valley is now drifting and gravitating towards New York. There are startups starting up, Investors hustling and agencies spending in New York. It’s all happening.
I have never dealt with a more aggressive group of businesspeople than those I met with in NY. Moving to Austin and the SXSW conference I still ended up meeting NY businesspeople, founders and marketing folk.
We did run in to more resistance though. Madison Avenue agencies aren’t interested in the mobile web and definitely aren’t interested in the emerging markets. It’s not really their fault either, they are doing their clients bidding. I’m learning very quickly that the mark of a great agency is the ability to balance what the client requests and the best possible decision for your client as the agency in the know.
I could definitely see myself doing more business in New York and working that city hard. It’s a place that I love and can relate to. It’s Johannesburg in 50 years.
South by South West: Interactive music film
I have had my rants and recoveries about SXSW. Read them for my thoughts on the conference.
Next year I might attend SXSW. I wont be buying a ticket to attend the interactive conference. I will go to network, to catch up with people I met this year and to socialise with the people I want to connect with. I found very little value in the actual conference.
Someone summed up the entire experience for me: SXSW is Spring Break for geeks. Definitely. It’s a reason for the responsible, the successful and the desperate-to-be to party their asses off with zero expectations. If you are a geek rockstar then you want to be at SXSW because you are treated like royalty.
I did not enjoy the ass-kissing. I don’t participate in ass-kissing and never have. I hate seeing people who have become successful worshipped. I don’t worship people like this. I don’t queue to get in to the cool-kids party. I’d rather have a dinner with some cool-kids.
Founders together
If you think you have founded your business with someone you trust, understand and will never fight with, do yourself and your business a favour – go on a three week work trip with them.
I can promise you this: You will fight at some point.
The fight you have will definitely be rough, will definitely be agro but it will definitely sort out many issues you might have. There are definitely issues that every startup will go through and the founders will argue and fight. It’s imperative that you fight them out and deal with them. If you don’t then you have passive-agressive behaviour that will not benefit the company.
The final thought
Being a South African entrepreneur is difficult. In fact, being an entrepreneur anywhere in the world is difficult. Having investment or not, it’s still tough to be an entrepreneur.
However what I have learned after seeing the other side is that in South Africa we know how to build profitable businesses and we have the bottom line in mind all the time. That bottom line isn’t red either.
I am not a financially experiences or smart person when it comes to analysing markets but to me it feels like there is a bubble in the US. It might not be a financial bubble but it is a bubble that is going to hinder their market growth. It’s a bubble that is going to put them at a disadvantage very soon (if it hasn’t already done so). So what I can say from this is that we are on the right path. We are plugging real holes, solving real problems and creating real businesses based on revenue and product.
We are better in many ways than many of the people I met, spoke to and did business with. What we need to do is realise our value and potential.
