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 1 / 23
2. Disclaimer Views are my own. 2 / 23
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. 3 / 23
4. Not so MVP* * = Minimum Viable Product 4 / 23
5. Incubator? • Business plan ✓ • Investor pitch ✓ • Talking to customers ??? 5 / 23
6. Get out of the building Tip #1: talk to people, especially to your (potential) customers. 6 / 23
7. June 2015 Julien was looking for business partners. I (William) decided to join the project. 7 / 23
8. Finding the right partners is difficult Tip #2: if you can tell your partners everything without discomfort, you likely found the right ones! 8 / 23
9. October 2015 TailorDev has been created \o/ 9 / 23
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). 10 / 23
11. December 2015 Our problem was not to find users but to have customers. 2 options: pivoting or giving up. 11 / 23
12. The Lean Startup Tip #4: solve problems, avoid building a product nobody wants, always validate and learn. 12 / 23
13. 13 / 23
14. Q1 2016 The situation was pretty bad but we knew it, and that was key to avoid jumping into self-delusion. 14 / 23
15. It is not a sprint, it is a fast marathon Tip #5: running a business is exhausting, be prepared and stay motivated. 15 / 23
16. Q2 2016 We clearly defined the company's mission, and decided to stop artich.io. 16 / 23
17. A clear vision is important Tip #6: define the company's values and its mission, then stick to them. (i.e. be focused). 17 / 23
18. Nowadays Well, things are better now! (I would not be there otherwise) 18 / 23
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. “ 19 / 23
20. It is OK to create a company that actually makes money Tip #7: avoid investors as long as you can. 20 / 23
21. Communication is key Tip #8: talk about what your company does, but stay humble and honest. 21 / 23
22. Running a company is awesome! I never lose. I either win or learn. Nelson Mandela “ 22 / 23
23. Thank You. Questions? / twitter.com/couac github.com/willdurand tailordev.fr @_TailorDev 23 / 23