Keynote: Jignesh Patel, PhD, Professor, Computer Sciences, UW Madison Jignesh Patel has successfully started and sold two companies (most recently Locomatix to Twitter) while simultaneously researching and teachings as a computer science professor at UW-Madison. Learn what's involved in attracting west-coast interest in Wisconsin startups, and the mindset required for entrepreneurial success.

1. Listening
to
your
startup
Jignesh M. Patel
University of Wisconsin
jignesh@cs.wisc.edu
© Jignesh M. Patel 1

2. Trajectory
1997
• Ph.D.,
The
Paradise
system
• Paradise
-­‐-­‐>
NCR/Teradata
1999
• Assistant
Professor
@
U.
Michigan
2007
• Co-­‐founded
LocomaHx.
CTO
à
CEO
• Associate
Professor
@
U.
Wisconsin
2013
• LocomaHx
-­‐-­‐>
TwiOer

3. Powering Big Data for Mobile
© Jignesh M. Patel 3

4. Need
to
match
many
high-­‐volume
live
streaming
data
sets
to
user
4
many
needs
in
REAL
9me
…
need
to
also
run
real
9me
analy9cs
…
Where can I
get coffee?
Lat/
long Lat/
Lat/
long
long
Lat/
long Lat/
long
Lat/
long
Lat/
long
Lat/
long
Lat/
long
Lat/
long
How do I
sort through
all this?
Shows the current
location of the user
Shows the trails of user so
far during the day
Shows the trails of user for
the past week
Need
an
agile
and
scalable
loca9on
infrastructure
Imagine
1M
users
in
SF
with
10
checkins
a
day
è
7K
checkin
checks/min
Each
checkin
=
1M
checks.
With
some
non-­‐trival
smart
spaHal
indexing
=
1000
checks
à
7M
checks/min
Today
the
cheapest
Oracle
tpmC
is
$.54.
Assuming
perfect
scalability
would
cost
~
$3.75M
over
3
years.
A
single
LocomaHx
server
does
>
10K
checkins/min
and
deploys
for
less
than
1/10th
the
cost

5. Reference
Apps
Photo from madison.com
Reference app with:
1: People finder
2: Madison bus alert
3: Geo-tagged messaging
4: Mobile coupons
© Jignesh M. Patel 5

6. Location
and
Text
Analytics
© Jignesh M. Patel 6

7. Awards
20 hottest startups
Mobile Beat, July 2010.
Top 16 Innovative Startups
CTIA, E&A, Oct 2010.
Top 16 Innovative Startups
CTIA Wireless, March 2011.
© Jignesh M. Patel 7

8. What
worked
What did
not work
Great team!
Could make quick
decisions/pivots
Met great people!
Good fun!
Grueling roller-coaster
rides
Learnt the
business-side the
hard way
Lost customer
opportunities due
to no VC funding
© Jignesh M. Patel 8

9. Why
do
a
startup?
Solve a Big Technology Problem
• Forcing function to take a broader view
• Simplicity is preferred over complexity
Passion
• To make a difference
• Be bold, but remember to fail-fast!
Become a Better Professional
• Learn to ask the right questions (quickly)
• Learn to be more efficient with your time
• Become a better mentor and network
© Jignesh M. Patel 9

10. Life
Cycle
of
a
Startup
Revenue
stagnates
Revenue!
Working
Business
Model!
Exit?
Re-pivot
Excitement Time
New
Business
Model!
INFANT TEEN ADULT
Start
© Jignesh M. Patel 10

11. The
Three
Crucial
Ps
Product
Powered by passion and a
real need.
People
Talent is key.
Easy to hire. Hard to fire.
Pivot
It’s not only OK, it is
required!
© Jignesh M. Patel 11

12. Pivoting
Revenue
• New
monetization
strategy
• Changing
customer needs
Competition
• Product
features
• Market needs
• Competitors
pivoted
© Jignesh M. Patel 12

13. A long, long time ago … in 2000
1
2
3
© Jignesh M. Patel 13

14. Common
Mistakes
… fall in love with the technology, ignoring the business model
… chase a customer, and loose the product focus
… fail to listen to your customers
… no independent feedback
… hold grudges
… not leading by example … check big egos at the door
… take the “wrong” type of funding. Are your goals aligned?
… measure = funding management time/$
© Jignesh M. Patel 14

15. Location
-­‐-­‐
Madison
1000 miles to New York
Photos: U. Wisconsin, Communication
© Jignesh M. Patel 15

16. Other
tips
…
Stay in Shape
Focus on your long-term goals
Frustration
Deal with it gracefully
Family
The original startup!
© Jignesh M. Patel 16

17. Summary
Stay hungry!
Focus on the business
model.
Pivot if needed.
Take care of your health.
Remember your family.
© Jignesh M. Patel 17

18. Thanks!
• My family (my original startup J)
• My co-founders and collaborators @ Locomatix
Karthik Ramasamy, Sanjeev Kulkarni and Chris Kellogg.
• The University of Wisconsin
© Jignesh M. Patel 18