Service2Media started in 2005 and has grown to over 110 employees with offices internationally. It began with 4 founders using their own money to develop their first product. While growth was challenging due to lack of funding and an unready market, they found their first customer and angel investor. The company has expanded into new markets and transitioned to a global products company, looking to further growth with a VC. Key lessons included focus, perseverance as a team, adapting to change, and taking business risks for long term strategy and international expansion.

1. Service2Media
Marcel Roorda
COO Service2Media
VLT Venture Class, Thursday May 19, 2011

2. 1. Introduction
2. Why Service2Media?
3. How we started?
4. How we grew?
5. Becoming a global products company
6. What have we achieved?
7. Lessons learned
Agenda

3. Introduction

4. Introduction
About Marcel Roorda
43 Years old
HBO University 1984-1988
Since 1988 in the IT (product) business
Since 1999 in Global Telecom business
From consultant to VP Global System Integration
Founder / COO Service2Media

5. Introduction
About Service2Media
Founded in 2005 by senior management of
(Logica)CMG
Advanced App Solutions
Long term Partnerships
With our App Lifecycle Platform
Apps Designed Once, Deployed on Multiple
Devices
Offices: Netherlands, UK, Spain, UAE & US
Over 110 employees
International Recognized:
Amersfoort
Enschede
London
Spain
United States
1st place 14th place Endorsed
UAE

6. Introduction
Over 80 ongoing Partnerships - Local & Global
Banking
Payments
Live Timng Ads News Tv Programs Academic
Government
Journals
Travel Planner Arabic News EPG
Remote Record
App Store Social Contacts
Collective Insurance Community Damage Claim Artist Community Automotive LoyaltyMedia Portfolio
Entertainment City Guide Social Media Location Based Services 360 Widgets

7. Why Service2Media?
(Why to start your own company?)

8. Huge salary
Lease car
Fantastic business title(s)
Responsible for 1200 people (world wide)
Company credit card
Own management team & secretary
One problem with gazing too frequently into the past is that
we may turn around to find the future has run out on us.
Cibenko
Why to start you own company?

9. -
Because we had a vision!
To create relevant, useful and entertaining
mobile experiences for the customers of our
Service2Media mission statement

10. New business starts with small deals (trials)
For incentive driven sales staff not interesting
Not on the radar screen of the board
Best people most of the time used for most important
business (most money)
Complex sales
Required a massive reorganisation
They always say time changes things, but you actually
have to change them yourself
Andy Warhol
Why not starting this business in LCMG

11. Start with our own money
Investors only invest when you have products and customers
Investing your own money creates common goal / focus
Create our first products and get our first customers
Started with 4 different propositions!
Search for (angel) investors to be able to make serious
commitments
Expanding the business in the Netherlands
Find more money for international expansion
Expanding the business internationally

12. Adapt to the market you are working in
Talk the same language as your customers
Adapt to the markets were the money is
Start finding money a half year before you need it!
Take the right investors with the relevant network
Be patient
Willing to share
Stay focused
What was important for us

13. Because:
It is fun!
You are in control
No compromised strategy
You learn the details
You create more value with shares then salary
But ...
To survive you need: Inspiration & Transpiration
Why starting your own company?

14. How we started?

15. How we started?
Using our own money!
Most Investors only invest when you have products and customers
Investing your own money creates common goal

16. How we started?
Created our first product and found our first customer

17. How we started?
Created a simple business plan

18. Requires an inspired sales talk,
Less money
No lease car
No proven track record
No customers
No office
How we started?

19. First long term commitment
What are the Service2Media company values
How we started?

20. First setback, the market (customer) is not ready for it!
success
Second setback, investment takes always more time
and effort as initially expected
How we started?

21. How we grew?

22. group of
How we grew?
Team

23. How we grew?
Found an Angel investor(s)
Angel investors are easier to get and give you freedom

24. Produces stress (conflicts of interests)
Cash flow
Balancing act
Staff becomes skeptical
High educated and knowledgeable
Cultural change (departments)
How we grew?

25. Be who you are, under all circumstances
Stay focused, keep telling the same story over and over again
Be confident, stay always (realistic) positive about financials
Motivate staff to cross the borders
Show your added value, by setting the right priorities
Be a team player, be one of them, be a front runner!
"inspiration let people do things which they believed they
How we grew?

26. New markets (pioneering)
No need yet
No budgets
Being a new (startup) company
No proven track record
Too small for doing business
RaboBank, NS, ..
Becoming a products company
How we grew?

27. How we grew?
Expand your business

28. Unknown brand(pioneering)
Not a local company
Not native speaking
No local presence
Competition
No (internationally) proven track record
Pick up the mission impossible projects
Organizational changes
Different responsibilities
How we grew?

29. Becoming a global
products company

30. No longer customer/market driven
But still to deal with existing customer commitments
Product management owns the product (roadmap)
Roadmap tells sales what to sell
Roadmap tells development what to develop
There is more needed than a product: product eco system
Training
Tooling
Consultants
Different type of resources
Different type of contracts (support)
Becoming a global products company

31. Becoming a global products company
Looking for a VC for further (international) growth
Finding a VC takes a long time
Start at least a half year before you run out of money

32. Becoming a global products company

33. What have we achieved?
(Looking outside in)

34. Simple, the potential of a winner
Heritage of people
Blend of the team
Foundation of logo accounts
Ability to execute
From service-company towards product-company
M2Active Platform!
Looking outside in
Team

35. Hot and dynamic market
Mobile is boosting
Increasing competition
Price pressure
Consolidation
Opportunity to prove value add
Looking outside in
Business

36. Challenge: potential needs to be realized
Operations
International expansion
Marketing
not only a technical proposition, as well a
marketing and branding proposition!
The Power of Believing
Looking outside in

37. Service2Media believes that:
Cross platform challenges will only grow over the coming years
Users demand cross device app experiences
Core Mobile Apps are becoming increasingly strategic
Demand for business-oriented apps will grow
To get the maximum out of the hyper growth potential of (mobile)
applications we need to stay ahead of the curve and make our
technology platform available to our customers and partners
This requires continued focus on and heavy investments in our
Mobile Application Lifecycle Platform M2Active
Looking outside in
Vision of Service2Media

38. Lessons learned

39. There is always a next challenge lined up!
Lessons learned
Looking back

40. Focus (own belief)
Perseverance
Teamspirit
Continue to love challenges
Ability to adopt and anticipate on changes
Daring to take business risk
Long term strategy (international)
Resolute action, short lines of communication, quick decision
Self-financing our own innovation projects (R&D), proven
technology
Lessons learned
Success criteria

41. Lessons learned
Early money is expensive!

42. Be who you are
Believe your own message
Communication is about timing and not about the message
Be a good listener (sensitivity)
Be decisiveness if, otherwise be invisible
Lessons learned
My personal checklist

43. people when they make errors (mistakes are required to
improve or grow)
Who are your successor(s)
Stay focused (show commitment)
No upfront commitments
0-line (same rule for everybody, no exceptions)
Delegate is not enough, delegate = monitor
Lessons learned
My personal checklist

44. Questions