Ancient versus Modern

Observing changes in cities, offices and in our daily lives

Two weeks ago I visited the magnificent Rome for a couple of days. As you might know, Rome can be an overwhelming city where there is almost too much to see. Whenever and wherever you cast your eyes, you discover something stunning, something genuinely vibrant and beautiful. The ruins, the archaeological monuments, the buildings, the architecture, even the food always showcased at its finest. And the most surprising thing is that this beauty does not necessarily hold to ancient creations or figures. Rome is a blend of ancient and modern, a combination of new and old, a mix of tradition and innovation. Rome is alive and lively; that’s what makes it so beautiful.
I am personally a great fan of mixing ancient and modern. Refurbishing an old farm with contemporary elements of design, twisting classical paintings with a touch of contemporary art works for me. I like contrasts and most importantly blending different influences to create something new. Wandering through Rome for a couple of days made me think of the impact of change and innovation in business. Wow! Many things have changed over the past decades, and it goes for every significant component of any company, big or small, national or global.

Looking at the structure of business themselves, you can observe major changes over the past 20 years. Nowadays, startups continuously inspire corporations, who started to integrate startups’ methods into their company culture as well as in day-to-day operations. Banks are a great example of this movement. Many of them secured in-house incubators to accelerate fin-tech startups. It makes sense, right? As a large corporation creating innovation is less cost-effective than purchasing it.

Another thing that profoundly changed over the past decades: finance, funding to be more specific. Funding the old way was simple, or at least seemed extremely easy. You had an idea, specific knowledge and experience within an industry, and logically you wanted to start making a living with it. The whole process was clearly mapped: you wrote a business plan based on some experts’ advices, and a few visits at the bank later, you landed half a million to start your business. That happened to me when I was 26 and opened a restaurant. Looking with a new perspective, I can tell that getting a loan to start a business was not the best idea ever.

In the same way, some marketplaces won’t fit your needs; some investors will not either. Activating your funding strategy gave me an odd feeling, as it required such a commitment from the team and me, that at a certain point we had the impression that our business goals shifted. From this experience, my greatest learning was that the business focus should never be taken over by your funding strategy. Building great products and customer experience should be your thriving goal. Always, no matter what.

When activating a funding strategy, any entrepreneur should remember this is not the thriving goal to purchase. As an entrepreneur, no matter what you do, your focus must be to build a healthy business.

No matter how badly you need money to grow and to innovate, it is essential to stay in control. Quickly said, your company is your baby, and you are the parent. Likely, you are the one who knows best what is good for the business, and sometimes, even if it sounds hard to achieve, bootstrapping is your best option. Bootstrapping means hard work, side jobs and efforts, but it also means freedom and independence. It is the way to go for as long as possible.
When focusing on funding, you may miss the starting point. Ask yourself why did you start in the first place? Probably because you love what you are doing, because you feel passion but also because your gut tells you your idea has the potential to make an impact, to ease the daily routine of some folks out there. Hustle to build partnerships and to save costs, keep your business costs as low as possible, do not sign up for long-term subscriptions, minimise your burn rate and continuously optimise your market fit. The truth is sales can — and will — fix everything.

The funny thing is that all the funding is the world will not necessarily create profit. Take a closer look at Uber. Hundred of millions of investment and revenue later, their net profit is still less than zero. Observing fellow entrepreneurs, talking to investment specialists, and reading about it made me see things the other way: we, as entrepreneurs, must focus more on happy customers and less on investors cash. Build a great product, treat your clients with outstanding services and your audience will keep on growing. You will observe many happy returning customers, and that’s what makes you investors relevant. By that time, you probably do not need it anymore.

Are you a founder with an investment story you would like to share. Feel free to reach out to me, as you know I am always thrilled to exchange on vision and ideas!

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