1.
Pravin Paratey
CTO, Affectv
Building & Growing a
Tech Business

2.
About Affectv
Affectv are developing Persona Discovery Platform, a technology platform
delivering the most advanced form of advertising: SignalAds.
SignalAds are ads that include personal messages making advertising
relevant for people. They allow brands to engage more effectively with
customers.

3.
About Me
▸ As CTO, grew Affectv from 2 to 70 in 3 years
▸ Built and exited a 3-person startup
▸ Worked at 4 startups during key growth stages

4.
What’s it like to build a startup?

5.
“You jump off a cliff and you assemble an
airplane on the way down.”
- Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder

6.
Hiring

7.
“Hire the best people you can find.
You will sleep better at night.”
- Bijan Sabet, Spark Capital

8.
On Hiring
▸ Your first 10 hires are the most important
▹ They will define your values & culture.
▸ Hire the best - no compromise
▹ They will make or break your business.
▹ Remember less is more

9.
On Hiring
▸ Hiring is an art
a science
somewhere in between
▹ Past behaviour is the best predictor of the future
▹ Competency based hiring

10.
Growth

11.
“The more people we have on our team, the
less room there is in the elevator and the
more complicated everything gets..”
- David Kapp, Tumblr founder

12.
On Growth
▸ Growth requires management
▸ Key inflection points at 20, 50, 100
▸ Roles will change as your company grows
▹ Some people will adapt. Other won’t.

13.
Measurement

14.
“Anything that is measured
and watched, improves.”
- Bob Parsons, GoDaddy founder

15.
On Measurement
▸ Measure everything - metric driven business
▸ Track metrics impacting revenue
▸ Revisit metrics every 3 months

16.
Summary
1. Startups are hard fun
2. Hire the best
3. Manage your growth
4. Measure what matters

17.
Thank you
Pravin Paratey, CTO
pravin@affectv.co.uk