Hard won lessons on an 18 year rollercoaster ride - Nic Lawrence.pdf

1. Hard Won Lessons on an 18 Year Rollercoaster Ride
Nic Lawrence

3. Outline
• A bit of background
• What have I been doing for the last 18 years?
• What have I learned?
• Product
• People
• Random Stuff
• What am I doing now?
• What have you learned?

4. A bit of background

5. A bit of background
•Grew up near Derby, in the English Midlands
•Went to very large comprehensive school
•Learned that asking questions is key
•Had a strange interest in business news as a teenager
•Worked for British Rail Research before university
•Studied engineering at Cambridge
•Actively avoided ‘getting a proper job’

6. A bit of background
Professor Robert Hunt, Expert in Colour Science
(1923-2018)

7. What have I been doing for the last 18 years?
2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022

8. What have I been doing for the last 18 years?
2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
CEO
Director of
Engineering
Director of
Product Management
CEO CCO
VP
Collaboration
1 2 3 4 5
Holographic Laser Projection
Touch & Pen
Sensing
Intelligent Whiteboard Camera

9. What have I been doing for the last 18 years?
2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
CEO
Director of
Engineering
Director of
Product Management
CEO CCO
VP
Collaboration
1 2 3 4 5
Holographic Laser Projection
Touch & Pen
Sensing
Intelligent Whiteboard Camera
HW
Sales
Consultancy +
Licensing
Demo Kits
Consultancy
HW
Sales
HW + SaaS

10. What have I been doing for the last 18 years?
2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
CEO
Director of
Engineering
Director of
Product Management
CEO CCO
VP
Collaboration
1 2 3 4 5
Holographic Laser Projection
Touch & Pen
Sensing
Intelligent Whiteboard Camera
HW
Sales
Consultancy +
Licensing
Demo Kits
Consultancy
HW
Sales
HW + SaaS

11. What have I learned?

12. What have I learned?
• Product

13. Product Learnings
It’s really easy to focus on the wrong things!
• Look at our cool technology – isn’t it great!
• Look at our cool product – it can do X, Y and Z!
• Look at our cool solution – it solves this problem!
• Tell me about your business and what outcome you want to
achieve… OK, I understand, we have helped these other
businesses with the same problems and with our ‘whole
product solution’ we can help you to achieve your target
outcome…
As you learn…

14. Product Learnings
Listen to your customers to understand the ‘whole product solution’
Intelligent whiteboard camera

15. Product Learnings
Listen to your customers to understand the ‘whole product solution’
Intelligent whiteboard camera Different mounting options Web-based management portal
HDMI and USB input options

16. Product Learnings
‘Product-Market-Fit’ is talked about a lot, but is hard to do properly
• I loved Rahul’s talk at BoS:
https://businessofsoftware.org/2018/11/product-market-fit-engine-rahul-
vohra-ceo-superhuman/
• Market segmentation and personalization is key – we could have done more
• I had to learn how to run Customer Success and we increased our customer
visibility and had a great NPS score but we barely scratched the surface
• We never ‘cracked’ marketing and I think it was due to being a bit
disconnected between marketing (who rarely talked to the customers) and
sales (who cherry-picked feedback and generated panic escalations)

17. What have I learned?
• Product
• People

18. People Learnings – It’s All About The People!

19. People Learnings - Hiring
Hiring is one of the most critical activities in the business, so:
• Be very picky because it greatly affects culture and team morale
• Offer real flexibility in order to attract a more diverse applicant pool
• View your hiring process through the eyes of your ‘customers’
• Communicate clearly on the process and timings
• Be decisive and keep candidates in the loop
• Use an applicant tracking system
• Give feedback to unsuccessful candidates as far as possible
• Always take references

20. People Learnings - Retention
Things that help:
• Enjoying working with your teammates (see recruiting)
• Interesting and challenging work
• ‘Good enough’ pay and benefits
• A sense of ‘making a difference’
• Personal development and growth
Things that harm:
• Permanent ‘panic mode’ or long-term financial distress
• Poor management decisions
• Lack of communication

21. A Personal Favourite – ‘Light Blue Topics’
(Lunchtime talks - Any ‘non-work’ subject is allowed - Company buys lunch)
Iberico Ham Credit Card Fraud Whisky Poi Time Lasers
Christian vs. Entrepreneur Polar Explorers Blockchains Why Helicopters
Can’t Fly
Japanese Games

22. People Learnings - Redundancies
Having to make people redundant is the worst!
Things that can make it suck slightly less:
• Get high-quality HR and legal advice, so everything is done properly
• Follow processes rigorously but graciously
• Communicate clearly and be as kind and generous as you can
• Use your network to help people explore next steps
• Write references and give recommendations

23. People Learnings – Life is Complicated!
Think about some statistics:
• In 2020, 1in 5 adults in the US experienced a mental illness
• 1 in 4 women in the UK experience pregnancy or infant loss
• Nearly 1 in 3 of all adolescents aged 13-18 will experience an anxiety
disorder
• There are 1.5 Million people with a learning disability in the UK
• Over 30% of working age adults in the UK feel lonely ‘often’ or ’very often’
We don’t know what people are going through, so be kind!

24. What have I learned?
• Product
• People
• Random Stuff

25. Random Learnings – Money or Control?

26. Random Learnings - Burnout

27. Random Learnings – Balance

28. Random Learnings – Balance

29. So, What’s Different This Time?
• Software only
• Super Lean
• Goal to boot-strap, at least into Product-Market-Fit achieved, ideally all the way
• Focused on testing and validating key hypotheses
• Purpose driven business
• Minimize burn rate to maximize optionality
• Completely different market and business model

30. Welcome to Genee
Find the best deals and local
places to eat, personalized to
you, without compromising
your privacy

31. Genee for Businesses
Increase revenue by
attracting and retaining
new customers
Gain more control
of your business by
creating real-time
offers
Eliminate wasted
marketing costs –
pay only per
customer check-in

32. Thank-You!
I’d love to hear what you have learned on your own startup journeys!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/niclawrence/
https://geneelabs.com/
Twitter:
@geneelabs
@NicL74