Todays post is the second in our series from “The Buddy System” featuring Lumenera founders; Huw, Greg, Kevin and Andrew.
.
Greg VP Business Development, mentioned that when they started out they had no clear path or vision which may come as a bit of a surprise to me. However, what they did know is that they had the right stuff. Even with the right stuff from launch to traction can take some time so that you will want to make sure there is an alternate source of revenue or savings available to tide you through the launch phase. Lumenera adopted a service for hire model and used strategic project selection to gain expertise in those areas and technologies key to the company’s success in the first year. Their intent was to find the quickest path to cash. One of the wisest investments they made early on was getting a great website and investing in SEO and Google Adwords (remember starting out in 2002 these guys were just a bit ahead of their time) and riding the wave as digital cameras gained acceptance. Both Google Adwords and tradeshows were valuable in raising Lumenera’s profile early on. Money well spent.
.
Kevin, CTO, used a house building metaphor to describe how the company grew and evolved. They started with a very small and simple house adding a room as needed and could afford. So basically building your dream home one room at a time. Another thought with respect to this that I had is perhaps this is an example of minimum viable start-up (similar to minimum viable product). Kevin also seconded Greg’s notion of making sure all of the projects they engaged in to generate revenue were strategic to company growth.
.
Andrew, VP of Engineering, had some very sage words for many of those perfectionist engineering types I have come across “get the product out the door!” because it will never be perfect. There is a great post by Wendy Kennedy that I will always remember called “when good enough is great” that echoes this sentiment. Andrew also mentioned that “not knowing” what the customer wants can actually be beneficial because it forces you to solve real problems when they do start to use the product. Always be creative in solving problems for customers “in every problem are the seeds of opportunity”
When Good enough is Great …
.
Huw, Lumenera President, mentioned that while 2002 was a dark time there were also lots of benefits to starting then like a plentiful pool of talent available for hire. Space was also cheap and credit was easy to get. Huw offered a few choice tips to start-ups on looking bigger than you are;
.
- Dumbed down cards (there are advantages to being Director of support)
o CEO of a big company would never be on a service call (makes you appear small)
o On a support call be Director of Support implies a bigger company
- Have multiple cards depending on where you are going to meet a customer
o VP business Development for customer visit
.
Huw also likened the blend of optimism and pessimism as holding multiple hands at a poker match. If one doesn’t work out you fold and keep playing the good hands. He also mentioned that two key success factors were; speed and being nimble. Putting his finance hat on Huw also mentioned if you can keep your costs as variable (costs are pegged to product sold) then this helps your scale cost effectively.
.
Tomorrows post will be the teams key lesson learned, that one bit of wisdom each feels is most important.
.
Ian Graham

Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Ottawa, Start-up, The Code Factory by Ian
No Comments »