Wanna be successful?Can you say yes to these 5
things?
William Klippgen, Managing Director, Tigris Capital Pte Ltd
June 2012
From engineer to angel
• California: Core engineering team at US search engine Excite Inc.
• Norway: Co-founded Kelkoo.com; acquired by Yahoo for around S$1b
• Singapore: Started Tigris Capital in 2003 to invest in tech / media start-ups
A few failures……and some amazing success stories
So, around 15 companies later, what did I learn about successful entrepreneurs?
Be flexible (and foolish!) • No shame in being a copy-cat• … but keep re-inventing to provide real value • Scrap the crap if it doesn’t work • Do one thing at a time• “God is in the details”
Lean, mean, fighting machine• Bootstrap; Avoid cash commitments• Use free / cheap services • Get to know journalists, PR is cheap
marketing• Small revenues = Small expenses• Focus on growth, not volume• Make use of government grants
Marriage with no sex• No man is an island• Choose your co-founder(s) wisely • Opposites attract• Each founder should lead in his / her area of
expertise• Similar commitment levels
“Always two there are, a master and an apprentice,” - Yoda
• Listen to your mentors / investors(You have no clue about all the things you don’t know)
• Don’t listen to your mentors / investors(They have no clue about the bit you know)
All work, no play
• Organise your time – What do you want to achieve today?
• Prioritise based on impact• Use tools that let your business scale • Hire people better than you
- makes Jack a dull boy
