Barclays Black Founder Accelerator 2020 member
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Why did you join the Barclays Black Founder Accelerator?
I am a big supporter of Foundervine and I have also heard great things about Barclays eagle labs. I see this as an excellent opportunity to extend my network and fine tune my go to market plan.
Which entrepreneur inspires you the most and why?
Bill Gates because of his determination and ambition to produce game changing solutions.
What has been your biggest win in your entrepreneurial journey?
I posted an article on LinkedIn and reconnected with a previous employer. By coincidence, he was looking for a solution that we provide; he really believed in us and has been our largest customer to date.
And your biggest challenge?
Running a bootstrapped business has been the most challenging: we have had to build all the products ourselves. This takes longer when you must combine this with sales, marketing, operations, customer service and every other thing!
We have overcome this by learning how to be lean and productive. For example, we spend time prioritising what to build next only based on customer demands. We also save a lot of marketing costs by hacking all the possible organic channels.
Where did you go for business advice and how did it help you?
I generally go to online communities where I participate like y-combinator startup school, indie hackers and mentors that I have aligned myself with. I have also been through a pre-acclerator programme.
What advice would you give other founders thinking about starting their own business?
You are what you eat: if you want to be an entrepreneur, hang out and learn from other entrepreneurs. This will build a solid network of people who have experienced everything you would go through. Also just start! Getting started is more important than reading books and doing hours of research on the internet.
Why did you want to start your business?
Financial freedom. I want to stop exchanging my time for money instead build a product that can generate income in itself.
What do you do to relax when not working?
I spent time with my growing family of 3 kids and my partner!. I also spend time on my hobbies like watch collecting and fitness training.
How has covid made you pivot your business?
Or business model hasn’t changed but our strategy for building a team is now focussed towards working with a more globally remote distributed team.