MIH Media Lab Entrepreneurship Lecture

MIH Media Lab - Start-up Lifecycle Wed, 29 July 2009 by Justin Hartman, MD, Afrigator

Building a successful startup The really, really top secret strategy...

Some coolness... Largest social media aggregator in Africa July 2007: #20 of 31 top non-US startups to watch worldwide by Business 2.0 (money.cnn.com) September 2008: Partly acquired by the MIH Group - $$$$ :-) December 2008: One of the Top 10 International Products for 2008 by ReadWriteWeb & featured on New York Times (nytimes.com)

Business Lifecycle How is this deﬁned? What’s important to know?

Business Cycle Start-up Growth Decline Renewal Research & New knowledge Revenue Climbs Dry Rot occurs Development and skills Commercialising New services & Declining Sales Culture transformation a product products developed Develop business and Proﬁt margins More employees hired Leadership change marketing plans plummet Collaboration and Debt growth Find investment Innovation Partnerships formed year on year

Afrigator Website Growth 810% Growth (Sep 08 - May 09) Sep 08 Oct 08 Nov 08 Dec 08 Jan 09 Feb 09 Mar 09 Apr 09 May 09

Finance Lifecycle Show me the money. Or at least how to get it!

Finance Cycle Angel / FF VC, Mergers/Acquisitions Bootstrap Strategic Partnerships R Seed Round Late Stage E V Public E Early Stage 4th N VC Exit U E 3rd 2nd 1st TIME

Growth Strategy Business is dead without growth. How do you achieve sustained growth?

McKinsey Growth Pyramid The McKinsey model argues that businesses should develop growth strategies based on: Operational Skills Privileged Assets Growth Skills Special Relationships

Seven models to achieve growth 1. Existing products to existing customers Increase sales frequency & loyalty Initiatives to drive an increase 2. Existing products to new customers in customer base Risk model to sell more products to 3. New products and services existing and new customers Use of distribution channels as 4. New delivery approaches a source of growth Geographic expansion is the most 5. New geographies powerful but also most difﬁcult Acquire competitors and 6. New industry structure consolidate the industry Use the skills of the business 7. New competitive arenas in other industries

Applying the models The results of applying the McKinsey Growth Pyramid at Afrigator.

Afrigator Unique Users (#1 existing customers) 513% Growth (Sep 08 - May 09) Sep 08 Oct 08 Nov 08 Dec 08 Jan 09 Feb 09 Mar 09 Apr 09 May 09

White Label (#2 existing products, new customers)

Jun 07 Jul 07 Aug 07 Sep 07 Oct 07 Nov 07 Dec 07 Jan 08 Feb 08 Mar 08 Apr 08 May 08 Jun 08 Jul 08 218% Growth (Sep 08 - May 09) Aug 08 Sep 08 Oct 08 Nov 08 Dec 08 Jan 09 Afrigator New Blogs (#2 new customers) Feb 09 Mar 09 Apr 09 May 09

Gatorpeeps (#3 new services)

Mobile Channels (#4 new delivery approaches)

African Penetration (#5 new geographies) Country % Growth South Africa 5% Egypt 2,499% Nigeria 769% Morocco 4,004% Algeria 4,051% Kenya 66.63% Tunisia 956% Tanzania 12% % Growth is calculated as a percentage between the total unique users from (Jun 07 to Aug 08) against the total unique users from (Sep 08 to Mar 09).

WIP (#6 new industry structure) Um... it’s a Work In Progress No acquisitions on the cards just yet!

Adgator Network (#7 new competitive arenas)

Our bottom line Is still volatile but looking positive.

Budgeted Revenue vs. Actual Oct 08 Nov 08 Dec 08 Jan 09 Feb 09 Mar 09 Budgeted Actual

To Summarise Develop the right business plan and model upfront Research and get outside input Fund your start-up yourself then get investment as soon as you gain some traction Innovate by solving real problems Your growth strategy and implementation is going to be critical to your success

Afrigator - http://afrigator.com Adgator - http://adgator.co.za Email - justin@afrigator.com Blog - http://justinhartman.com Twitter - @justinhartman afrigator.com

http://justinhartman.com	280
http://outthink.co.za	29
http://www.slideshare.net	24
http://afrinnovator.com	14
http://www.mailce.com	5
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	4
http://www.blogger.com	1
http://nautilus.blog4ever.com	1
http://clientsdisplay.com	1
http://yaimum2.wordpress.com	1

MIH Media Lab Entrepreneurship Lecture

by Justin Hartman on Jul 29, 2009

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

10 Embeds 360

Statistics

MIH Media Lab Entrepreneurship Lecture — Presentation Transcript