BIZBarcelona - Salón Emprendedor

Des que, el 2008 en un article a The Atlantic i més tard a The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, Nicholas Carr va posar sobre la taula que Internet modifica l’estructura neural del nostre cervell, desconcentra i impedeix que treballem molta estona en un únic tema, per a alguns, la qüestió de la productivitat passa per tancar finestres, tancar el Facebook, tancar el Twitter i, en definitiva, fugir de qualsevol input digital que ens allunyi de l’objectiu laboral, posar-s’hi o molt d’hora o molt tard, fer “parades productives” i no abandonar fins que s’ha acomplert la tasca.

En canvi, per a d’altres, com Alexander Kjerulf, autor del llibre Happy hour is 9 to 5, treballar més hores no vol dir necessàriament treballar més ni millor, i deixar tasques per a un altre dia no té per què ser negatiu. El més important per ser productiu, diu, és “ser feliç a la feina“.

Però, tot i els llibres i les recomanacions de gurús, molts executius confessen tenir la seva pròpia recepta, personal i instransferible, per ser productius. Arianna Huffington, cofundadora de The Huffington Post, assegura que li va bé “parar i dormir“. Richard Branson, fundador del grup Virgin, afirma necessitar “fer exercici físic“. I el vicepresident de la cadena Starbucks, Stephen Gillett, remarca que es distreu una estona amb jocs multijugador per “potenciar la capacitat de prendre decisions i solucionar problemes”.

D’altra banda, durant la seva xerrada al BIZBarcelona, el CTO d’Amazon, Werner Vogels, va assegurar que la clau per tenir equips productius raïa en la seva mida. “Han de ser com les pizzes americanes”, va etzibar. Jyri Engeström, de Ditto, va parlar de “motivació”, i va recordar que “probablement”, per a un emprenedor, té més a veure amb “crear sentit” que amb “fer diners”.

Són totes fórmules diverses, però amb una base comuna. Tots coincideixen que tenen l’objectiu final clar i que són disciplinats, fins i tot a l’hora de descansar. La qüestió aleshores és: com s’aconsegueix aquesta disciplina? Amb “esforç,  passió per la feina… i una mica de cafeïna!“. Un cafè, sisplau!

“Això de crear una start-up dóna feina.” RJ Friedlander, fundador de Reviewpro, ho va deixar clar des de l’inici del debat amb empreses que han aconseguit trobar la fórmula de l’èxit (que no és necessàriament sinònim de tenir immediatament beneficis), o com deia el programa del SIME, empreses que ens fan dir ‘Wow’! Bernhard Niesner, de Busuu, una comunitat online per aprendre idiomes, va donar-li la raó. La recepta, va dir, consisteix a combinar “molta feina amb un bon equip, un bon finançament, saber qui són els nostres clients, trobar socis i fer bon màrqueting.” Si pot ser, viral, millor, va dir. A Busuu, de fet, li va funcionar:

I si tenim la recepta, va preguntar algú del públic, per què el model és Silicon Valley? No hi ha prou talent a Catalunya i Espanya? Sí, va dir RJ Friedlander, però “aquí fracassar està mal vist“, va afegir. I això fa que “les petites empreses disparin en moltes direccions per evitar-ho. Considero que és un error”, va insistir. “El que cal és trobar nínxols de mercat i explotar-los”, va sentenciar. Per la seva banda, Àlex Puregger, COO de FON, va assenyalar que “cal més ambició” i que, tot i que l’espanyol està guanyant terreny a Internet, cal abordar el mercat internacional en anglès i això és un problema al país. Niesner va recordar que la crisi està canviant les coses. I Friedlander va concloure que, malgrat tot, el balanç és bo i que “Barcelona és una de les millors ciutats d’Europa per engegar projectes”.

Opportunities are there. ‘Malgré tout’. Ola Ahlvarsson, serial entrepreneur and chairman of SIME, the event about digital business included in BIZBarcelona, repeated it several times during the morning. First, during his “global journey in digital opportunities” and afterwards during the interviews with marketing experts, investors and serial entrepreneurs, who echoed his words.

“Its a better time than ever to be raising money as a first time entrepreneur”, said Jyri Engström, Founder of Ditto.me. Erik Wikström, founder of Icon Media Lab, Letsbuyit and Result, added that “the biggest thread is not to do anything“. “Act, do something, create a website, talk to people…”, he exclaimed. “Everyone should be an entrepreneur”, he added. “The only way to know if you can do it is doing it”, he concluded. Even when investors insisted on saying that “ideas are not really worth that much” and that the most important is “execution“. And probably because “what motivates you is not making money but making meaning”.

Examples of success are there. Ola Ahlvarsson remind the audience that Facebook has more than 700 million users, that 50 million people have liked the ‘Like’ button, that apps seem to be the universal currency which is changing consumption, that most of the surfaces of your house will be smart, that cloud computing is a challenging phenomenon to the computing industry, that interfaces are more important than games themselves, that language is not an issue anymore, that the innovation model of Apple is Apple and that Google wants to create a ubiquitous media realm…

Does this mean we are going tech crazy? Yes, said Ahlvarsson. “It is going to be crazier than before“.  “Futurists make prophecies, but usually they do not happen”, he winked just before insisting on the fact that “there are more digital opportunities than before” and reminding that “crazy ideas”, such as kingsclub.se, a social network devoted to truck drivers, “work on the Internet”.

Palau 5 de la Fira de Barcelona. Planta baja. 16:30h de la tarde. Los empresarios vuelven a hacer cola para la sesión de coaching y la de speed dating. Por la mañana, el espacio del BIZBarcelona dedicado a la financiación era un hervidero. Entre 200 y 300 personas se han acercado a preguntar cómo tienen que dirigirse a los inversores, qué tienen que contarles para que decidan apostar por un proyecto. “Había gente de aquí y gente de fuera que se ha interesado básicamente por la dinámica del speed dating, que son entrevistas en las que se dispone de 4 minutos para contar a un inversor cuál es el diferencial de un producto o servicio, a qué mercado va dirigido y qué beneficios propone”, cuenta Lluc Díaz, de KIMbcn, sociedad impulsada por la Cámara de Comercio de Barcelona y el Centro Tecnológico LEITAT, cuyo objetivo es promover la valorización y la transferencia de tecnología.

“Una idea no vale nada. Lo que cuenta es su implementación. Y un producto no es un negocio. Lo que importa es lo que puedes hacer con él”, subraya Martí Dalmases, también de KIMbcn, que confiesa tener experiencia tanto en el bando de los inversores como en el de los que buscan financiación. No es fácil, admite. “Muchos empresarios tienen tendencia a centrarse demasiado en el aspecto tecnológico cuando lo que quiere el inversor es saber con qué va a ganar dinero”, continua. Luego, “tampoco son conscientes de que el objetivo último del inversor es vender”. “Cuesta que entiendan que es mejor tener un 5% de algo muy grande que un 95% de nada”, continúa.

El experto añade que “muchos proyectos fracasan porque tienen al frente a un líder egocéntrico que no es consciente del recorrido que le queda por hacer” y porque, muchas veces, los empresarios defienden “un valor pre-money de la empresa muy alto y sólo ceden cuando no tienen dinero”. “¡Hay que ir a buscar dinero cuando se tiene!“, sentencia Dalmases. “Es como jugar al póker”, aunque llega un momento en el que hay que enseñar las cartas.

Steve Blank at BIZBarcelona

Fugir de les receptes clàssiques. Jugar amb la psicologia inversa. Proposar esquemes senzills i solucions relativament fàcils de posar en pràctica. Steve Blank és gat vell en el món de les conferències i un autèntic expert en el món de les start-ups i l’emprenedoria. El San José Mercury News l’ha inclòs en el rànquing dels 10 personatges més influents de Silicon Valley, és professor a diverses universitats i autor de diversos llibres i un blog amb guies i eines per a les start-ups, un tipus d’empresa que necessita les seves pròpies regles, els seus propis models.

Potser per aquesta raó ha començat la seva exposició al BIZBarcelona llistant sis maneres de fracassar amb una start-up. La clau per fer-ho malament, segons l’expert, és pensar que sabem qui és el nostre client, que sabem quin producte necessita, que sabem quin problema ha de resoldre i que tot el que hem de fer és executar el pla que teníem pensat utilitzant les mateixes eines que faria servir una gran companyia. Error. “Una start-up no és una gran empresa en versió reduïda”, ha exclamat. Al contrari. “Una start-up és una organització temporal dissenyada per cercar un model de negoci replicable i escalable”, ha remarcat.

I com es dissenya aquest model de negoci? Blank ha proposat un esquema senzill basat en preguntes clau com ara el tipus de client al qual ens dirigim, la proposició de valor que li oferim, la manera com la hi fem arribar i en potenciem la demanda, la infraestructura que hi hem de posar al darrere, les activitats que hem de desenvolupar o els socis que hem de buscar. Tot ha d’encaixar com peces d’un puzzle i per aquesta raó és important “deixar de vendre, sortir de l’edifici on estiguem i escoltar per poder descobrir el nostre client i provar les nostres hipòtesis”. Perquè, “una start-up és una organització temporal que ha de trobar les seves pròpies eines”, ha repetit per acabar l’emprenedor que ha posat en marxa vuit empreses tecnològiques en 21 anys. I és que, com diu en un dels seus llibres, Not all who wander are lost (No tots els que vaguen s’han perdut).

Straight to the point. Jerry Engel asked the participants of the first round table of the day one idea about where Capital Risk is moving to.

David Berry, from Flagships Ventures, pointed out the need to focus on “where the next disruption comes from”. Garret Gruener, from Alta Partners, underlined that even if Venture Capital is getting “more ambitious”, “VC projects are taking longer to complete“. Some, more than 10 years. Randy Komisar, from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, enhanced that “Venture Capital is still about people” and he stressed that “to do great things you need to work with great entrepreneurs, who are efficient and focused“.

On the other hand, Phil Sanderson, from IDG Ventures, denied there is another tech emerging bubble, and he emphasized there is “a huge opportunity for investors and entrepreneurs in the gaming area“. “The revenues of Zynga [the company which has developped Farmville on Facebook] are very real”, he said.

Eventually, Joël Jean-Mairet, from YSIOS, and Jim Hornthal, from CMEA Capital, highlighted the opportunities in the cleantech and biotech sectors. In that sense, Hornthal underscored the need of “finding a needle in a haystack versus finding a haystack of needles.”

To close the round table, Engel asked the participants to tell the audience where to place their bets. The majority agree that cleantech and biotech are good shots, but Komisar insisted on that the most important thing is “finding what makes sense to you and follow your passions“.

HitBarcelona 2010: a huge success!

More than 2.000 attendees from more than 31 countries, more than 500 global investors, 1.000 companies, 500 policy makers, from universities and research parks; 17 keynotes and panel discussions on investment and innovation, 705 meetings between entrepreneurs and private equity funds, and a Global Entrepreneurship Competition (GEC) with the 23 best business plans in the world, which has been won by peerTransfer, an American startup that has developed an online platform for global payments with a 10 times lower cost than traditional ones.

The second edition of Hit Barcelona, an initiative of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, the Catalan Govern, the Barcelona City Council, the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and La Caixa, which is organised by Fira de Barcelona and the Pla Estratègic Metropolità de Barcelona, has been a huge success.

Numbers speak by themselves. The first ever Bizbarcelona, platform which includes HiT, recorded 12,000 visitors. And it has been thanks to all of you. Those who have been there and also those who have been following all the information about the event on this blog, Facebook and Twitter. So, thank you again.

Now, don’t forget to check out our YouTube channel. You will find a great bunch of interviews to the keynote speakers of the congress.

Richard Florida is convinced that “everybody has creativity”. The professor and head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto, Canada) explains to HitBarcelona why he thinks Barcelona is a creative city.

Henrik Werdelin - Image from twitter.com/werdelin

He was among the 100 Most Creative People in Business selected by Fast Company in 2009, has been CCO of Joost.com and he currently works as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Index Ventures. Henrik Werdelin is passionate about innovation and has kindly answered HitBarcelona questions.

- You have a degree in Journalism. What do you think about the current situation of the media industry? Are paywalls a solution?

Journalism is changing quite dramatically: from the democratisation of news sourcing via Twitter and YouTube, through the trend towards being quick rather than being right, to the sheer volume of content sources. However, I think the media industry’s properties are just being extended.

You have always had bad populist reporters – now you just have more of them; but you have also always had passionate analytical storytellers, and now you can find them more easily. When it comes to monetisation, I think the solutions are many and depend of the nature of the content: from classic advertising for content that is easy to get everywhere else, to getting personal social currency and making money via consultancy for blogs, to doing paywalls for great reporting or insight analysis.

- How do you generate innovation?

First of all, forget about quarterly off-site brainstorms. It’s not about thinking differently; it’s about getting your staff to act differently. You create innovation by thinking a bit like an architect, social-engineer the daily workplace, so your staff is rewarded for behaviour that is proven to provide more innovation. These are things like taking risks, sharing ideas, mingling with colleagues from different fields and so on. You then become what Miller and Wedell from IESE Business School call an ‘Innovation Architect’. So, in my view, you generate innovation by building it into the structure of the workplace.

Another alternative is to align your company strategy with structures that can support innovation. That can be via a good acquisition strategy, or you can work with innovation companies like Prehype.

- Do you think an event like HitBarcelona can help entrepreneurs to achieve their goals?

Entrepreneurs always benefit for learning from best practices and other founders’ experience. I find that many entrepreneurs have made mistakes that could easily have been avoided by reading some books, getting some advice from mentors or taking inspiration from successful companies. HitBarcelona has managed to attract a good number of high-end VCs, tech companies and founders – so I am sure that there will be plenty of tips of the trade that entrepreneurs can benefit from. Beside, one goal that entrepreneurs should have is to meet interesting people and enjoy being their own boss. So, with that goal in mind, I am sure a trip to Barcelona will be good for them.

Daniel Goh

He states that he is “constantly amazed by human resilience shown by small entrepreneurs in the face of incredible odds”. And that is why he aims to tell their stories. Daniel Goh is the founder and editor of Young Upstarts, a small business and web/consumer technology blog that champions new ideas, innovative marketing and entrepreneurship. He has kindly answered HitBarcelona questions.

- In your blog, Youngupstarts, you give your views on “entrepreneurship, innovation and the online space”. How can entrepreneurs make the most of the online space to boost innovation?

It used to be that entrepreneurs needed to rely on very traditional tools and methods - which can be slow, cumbersome and expensive - in order to get the basics of business done. Think of areas like market research, publicity and awareness, or even simple things like looking for the right talents to hire.

For example, an entrepreneur can now use a service in the online space such as SurveyMonkey.com to do basic market research, employ social network sites and tools like Facebook and Twitter to spread word of your products and services, or a platform like LinkedIn to find the right hires for a fledgling company. The idea is to leverage such available tools so that you can get your product or service out to market quickly, effectively and cheaply. The digital space provides entrepreneurs with limitless opportunities. One of the reasons why Young Upstarts regularly features some of the latest online services and digital tools is to help entrepreneurs understand such potential usefulness to their businesses.

- The medium is more than ever the message in the Social Networks era?

Actually I would disagree - I’d say that the medium and the message has always been equally important. Any business, and especially entrepreneurs, need to understand the importance of the various mediums, or platforms, that is most effective in reaching out to their audiences. It is also equally important, however, for them to pitch exactly the right message, at the right time, through such mediums. Many times, businesses tend to get distracted by the “shiny object syndrome” - for example, just because everybody rushes to using Facebook to engage consumers doesn’t mean that your most ardent customers are most active on that platform.

- You also claim to be a “voice of a new generation”. What are the main characteristics of the current entrepreneurial minds? Is there any difference when compared with older generations?

For this question, I’ll borrow from one of the most authoritative figures on this subject, author Donna Fenn of the book Upstarts! In her book, she interviews more than 150 young entrepreneurs from across the United States and highlights how their mindsets differ greatly from previous generations. For example, she highlights the collaborative spirit of young entrepreneurs and their willingness to work with one another. They also tend to be more adaptive towards new technologies, and have a willingness to take risks. For anybody trying to understand this generation and how they approach business, this is one book I highly recommend.

- Do you think an event like HitBarcelona can help entrepreneurs to achieve their goals?

I definitely think platforms such as HitBarcelona are critical in helping the entrepreneurial ecosystem in any country to flourish. One of the problems facing young entrepreneurs is that they can tend to work in a silo. That’s unhealthy and myopic. Participation in events like HitBarcelona gets them to interact with one another as well as other stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem such as the media, investors and government agencies. Opportunities like this to network and trade ideas with one another are priceless.