STARTUP FAILURE IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK Sergey L. Sundukovskiy, Ph.D.
Jan 25, 2015
STARTUP FAILURE IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK
Sergey L. Sundukovskiy, Ph.D.
Sergey L. SundukovskiyCo-Founder, CTO & Chief Product OfficerCompanies: PushPoint, Cinsay, LowerMyBills, DIRECTV, CBWInterests: Entrepreneur, Speaker, Mentor, AdvisorEducation: BA CS, MS IT, PH.D. Business
Sergey L. Sundukovskiy, Ph.D. has over 20 years of experience serving in capacities of Chief Technology Officer, Chief Information Officer and Chief Product Officer. Sergey specializes in implementation of subscription based high volume SaaS platforms, with strong emphasis on early stage product development and market deployment. Specific areas of expertise include A/B Testing, Big Data, Video Management, eCommerce, RTB platforms and Cloud Computing. Education: B.A. in Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego, and an M.S. in Information Technology from the University of Liverpool. Ph.D. in Information Technology Management from the School of Business and Technology, Capella University.
INTRODUCTIONBACKGROUND &
SERIALFAILURE
The Story of One Dissertation
FAILURE
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
-Albert Einstein
WHAT ISFAILURE?
Failing Does Not Equal Losing?
Faili
ng
Does
Not
Equal Lo
sin
g
You Did Not Lose Unless You
Learned Nothing
WHAT ISFAILURE?
You
Did
Not
Lose
U
nle
ss Y
ou
Le
arn
ed N
oth
ing
We Do Not Have Failures We Have “Learn a Lots”
WHAT ISFAILURE?
FAILURETYPES
Complete FailureCompany Folded
Com
ple
te F
ailu
reC
om
pany F
old
ed
Partial FailureCompany Acquired,
Merged, etc.
FAILURETYPES
Part
ial Fa
ilure
Com
pany A
cquir
ed,
Inco
rpora
ted, etc
.
Failure on the Way to Success
Lose the Battles Win the War
FAILURETYPES
WHY ISFAILURE IMPORTANT?
Complete FailureFills Ecosystem with Experience ?
Partial FailureAllows for Second Life
Com
ple
te F
ailu
reFi
lls E
cosy
stem
w
ith E
xperi
ence
WHY ISFAILURE IMPORTANT?
Failure of the Way to Success
Completes Success Cycle (Failure -> Learning -> Success)Pa
rtia
l Fa
ilure
Allo
ws
for
Seco
nd L
ife
WHY ISFAILURE IMPORTANT?
FAILUREDONE WRONG
What Happens When Failure is Not Accepted
Japan Recession of the 90’s
Companies Would Not DownsizeBanks Would Not Foreclose
Government Would Bailout Banks
Wh
at
Happ
en
s W
hen F
ailu
re is
Not
Acc
ep
ted
FAILUREDONE WRONG
WHAT DO STARTUPS AND GOLF HAVE IN COMMON?
• Constant Failure
• Must Have Right Tools
• Impossible To Get Lucky
• All About The Team
• All About Execution
• It Is All About Micro-
Pivots
Micro-Pivots After Many Failures In…
ROAD TOSUCCESS
ROAD TOSUCCESS
Product Development
Pro
du
ct
Develo
pm
en
t
Product Marketing
ROAD TOSUCCESS
CustomerAcquisition
Pro
du
ct
Mark
eti
ng
ROAD TOSUCCESS
BusinessModel
Cu
stom
er
Acq
uis
itio
n
ROAD TOSUCCESS
PERFECTFAILURE
What Does Failure Look Like?• No Addressable Problem
• No Market
• No Effective Team
• No Customers
• No Product
• No Product Positioning
• No Money
REASONS FOR FAILURE
Why is FailureSo Common?
Failing isSO HOT right now!
REMARKABLESIMILARITY
Beginning of theStartup Journey
End of theStartup JourneyB
eg
innin
g o
f th
eSta
rtup
Journ
ey
WOAH…Deja Vu!
REMARKABLESIMILARITY
BUILDING A STARTUP
Building a Startup Is An Exercise In Un-Failure
UN-FAILURESTRATEGIES
• Too Many Steps To Get
There
Wrong Way To Fail (Tail of Two Extremes)
• Hole in One
• Give Up Too Early
GIVING UPTOO SOON
Diving Lesson
KEEP GOING!
• Have Big Targets To Hit
(Tracers)
Right Way To Fail
• Un-Fail Most Important Things
First• Change Strategy at the Right
Time• Good Return on Luck
• Do Not Need to Outrun the Shark, Just Your Buddy
UN-FAILURESTRATEGIES