A Year of TailorDev (Freiburg)

TailorDev was initially founded to propel artich.io, a collaborative platform for researchers. Never heard of it? That is ok, the perfect plan did not come together, and we had to come up with a Plan B. In this talk, I'll start by reviewing the first few months of TailorDev and why we had to adapt. Then, I'll explain our Plan B. Finally, I'll give advices that I would consider if I had to start a new company.

Thanks to Samuel, Daniel, J-D, Philippe, Nicolas, Manuel, Jason, Pierre and Julien.

Transcript

1. A Year of
   William Durand – btS eV, Freiburg – April 27th, 2017
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2. Disclaimer
   Views are my own.
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3. Once upon a time… in 2014
   Dr Julien Maupetit wanted to build a collaborative
   platform to ease scientific data sharing and improve
   openness in Science at large.
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4. Not so MVP*
   * = Minimum Viable Product
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5. Incubator?
   • Business plan ✓
   • Investor pitch ✓
   • Talking to customers ???
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6. Get out of the building
   Tip #1: talk to people, especially
   to your (potential) customers.
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7. June 2015
   Julien was looking for business partners.
   I (William) decided to join the project.
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8. Finding the right partners is difficult
   Tip #2: if you can tell your partners everything
   without discomfort, you likely found the right ones!
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9. October 2015
   TailorDev has been created \o/
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10. Creating a company costs money
    Tip #3: create the company once you have your
    first customer (i.e. do not start with a dream).
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11. December 2015
    Our problem was not to find users but to have
    customers. 2 options: pivoting or giving up.
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12. The Lean Startup
    Tip #4: solve problems, avoid building a product
    nobody wants, always validate and learn.
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14. Q1 2016
    The situation was pretty bad but we knew it, and that
    was key to avoid jumping into self-delusion.
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15. It is not a sprint, it is a fast marathon
    Tip #5: running a business is exhausting,
    be prepared and stay motivated.
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16. Q2 2016
    We clearly defined the company's mission,
    and decided to stop artich.io.
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17. A clear vision is important
    Tip #6: define the company's values and
    its mission, then stick to them. (i.e. be focused).
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18. Nowadays
    Well, things are better now!
    (I would not be there otherwise)
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19. TailorDev
    • Open Science pillars are TailorDev's culture
    • Users' privacy is of utmost importance
    • Openness & privacy must coexist
    • Transparency & ethics first
    • Investors must embrace this Manifesto
    Our mission is to develop modern tools to ease
    scientific work and promote Open Data, Open Science
    and Open Source in research entities.
    “
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20. It is OK to create a company that
    actually makes money
    Tip #7: avoid investors as long as you can.
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21. Communication is key
    Tip #8: talk about what your company does,
    but stay humble and honest.
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22. Running a company is awesome!
    I never lose. I either win or learn.
    Nelson Mandela
    “
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23. Thank You.
    Questions?
    /
    twitter.com/couac
    github.com/willdurand
    tailordev.fr @_TailorDev
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