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BALKAN RUBY 2024
HOW TO DO WELL
IN CONSULTING
IRINA NAZAROVA
CEO @ Evil Martians
NOT TO SUCK
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BALKAN RUBY 2024
My first time in Bulgaria…
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Founded in 2006
Team of 50
O
ffi
ces in US, Portugal, Japan
Team in 14 countries
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Our products
BOOTSTRAPPED
PROFITABLE
NO LAYOFFS
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Software consulting for developer-first
products
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BALKAN RUBY 2024
About me
5
CS degree
First job: C++
engineer
Masters in
Econ and
data analysis
Equity
research
JP Morgan IB
2009 2011
2008 2011
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BALKAN RUBY 2024
About me
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“Joy of cooking”
startup
“Globe” startup
Ruby on Rails
Consulting:
Ruby on Rails,
fi
nancial modeling
2012 2015 2016
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BALKAN RUBY 2024
About me
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Evil Martians
2017
CEO
2020
AnyCable Pro
2021 2024
Moved to SF
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I could talk about many things…
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WHAT | WHY | HOW
FRIENDSHIPS ARE
THE SOURCE OF BUSINESS
RELATIONSHIPS
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BALKAN RUBY 2024
WHAT
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Mutual trust, understanding and care
Team
Customers
Audience
FRIENDSHIPS | RELATIONSHIPS
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WHY
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In theory: trust = social capital = economic growth = economic opportunity
In practice, friendships:
– create opportunities for everyone
– reduce waste (ads, spam)
– bring in new business
–
fi
x the “leaky bucket”
– it scales if team adopts it
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WHY
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How customers
think about value
you bring
AVERAGE OUTCOME
(THEY EXPECT THIS)
SUBPAR OUTCOMES
(THEY
EXPERIENCED
THIS)
YOUR WORK
(YOU DELIVER
THIS)
VALUE
You are trying to make
customers trust you
against their rationality
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BALKAN RUBY 2024
HOW
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UNDERSTANDING
– person and their goals
– organization and its goals
– how your work generates value within the organization
EXAMPLE:
OUR WORK MAKES SENSE WHEN
SPEED IS MORE IMPORTANT
THAN MONEY
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BALKAN RUBY 2024
HOW
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CONNECTING
Be the super node for your customers.
Create opportunities for your customers and people around you.
BRING A POTENTIAL CLIENT,
INVESTOR, PARTNER, CO
-
FOUNDER
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BALKAN RUBY 2024
HOW
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BEING AUTHENTIC
Don’t be formal or someone you think you should be!
Be yourself and bring your best self.
Get excited about people as you learn their stories…
Share your real emotions and passions!
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BALKAN RUBY 2024
HOW
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TEACHING
Learn from every experience and people around you.
Re
fl
ect on it, and then teach.
#1 priority is to be useful, #2 priority is to make a deal.
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HOW
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QUITTING
Walk away if you cannot e
ff
ectively help the organization.
When are not the best solution or other reasons.
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BALKAN RUBY 2024
HOW
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ENGAGING
Celebrating
Connecting
Inviting
Collaborating
EXAMPLE:
RAILS WORLD TICKET FOR
ANY CABLE PRO CUSTOMER
BEYOND COFFEE: INVITE
TO A PODCAST, A
MEETUP, COLLABORATE ON
A BLOG
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HOW
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OVERCOMING FEAR OF REJECTION
Admit the fear. It is there.
Overcome with altruistic intention: you want to do something good.
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HOW
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INTEGRITY
Do what you say and say what you do.
Do what you love and love what you do.
Not easy! But stir your life there.
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BALKAN RUBY 2024
HOW
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RESOURCES
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PLAN
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1. Be strategic about your audience and your integrity
2. Create opportunities for people around you
3. Do non-transactional things
BALKAN RUBY:
LET’S BUILD FRIENDSHIPS!
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Thank you!
Ask me anything about Evil Martians and AnyCable!
Follow me: twitter.com/inazarova
Contact me: [email protected]
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