Last week, my team took me out of my comfort zone. They made me do one of the things I hate most: talking about myself.
I went to talk about the success of dualoop and my learnings to a group of 50 people at an event organised by La French Tech Brussels.
While it's true that we've grown very quickly, our success is relative. The company is only 1.5y old and employs around 20 people. In all humility, it's too early to draw any conclusions.
Nonetheless, I've learned quite a few things that are worth sharing with you:
Finance and law are crucial.
Having a very detailed view of your accounts and expenditures is essential if you hope to anticipate any problems. This is particularly true when you're bootstrapping your company. Similarly, having robust contracts has saved us much hassle.
The choice of co-founders is key.
Entrepreneurship goes far beyond friendship or complementary skills. The true nature of people will sometimes reveal itself at the most unexpected moments. There's nothing wrong with that; each person must follow their own path.
When in doubt, there is no doubt.
100% of recruitments that began with doubt have been confirmed to be mistaken. We now have a strict process. Each candidate meets different people. As soon as there is a doubt, we stop the recruitment process.
We never fire too soon.
We often make the mistake of trying to save a situation when it's already too late. We also overlook the negative signals we're sending out to others when we keep someone who's malfunctioning in your organisation.
Rigour means making choices.
Our concern for the impact and quality of our services forces us to make choices that are sometimes hard to accept at the time. We sometimes miss opportunities, turn down candidates we "could place", etc. But that's the price we must pay for aligning with our values.
Perfection is relative.
We tend to be too perfectionist and refuse to publish certain content because we always have something to change. Over time, however, we have realised that the extra time spent on our productions often brings no discernible added value. We work hard to find the right balance between time to market and quality.
We never communicate enough.
On several occasions, I realised we had forgotten to communicate essential milestones for the company internally (new customers, successes, etc.). Even in action, it's important to communicate constantly.
Surrounding yourself well is priceless.
This means not only recruiting but also developing a network of peers who can support you in your venture. Take the time to look around you at the people who help you and give you energy and those who drain you of energy. Then sort them out.
Make the most of every moment.
You know when your adventure begins, not when it ends. Make the most of every moment so that you never have any regrets. Take the time every 3 to 6 months to summarise your successes. This will help you put the most difficult moments into perspective.
If this echoes your own adventure, don't hesitate to share this post with your network.
If you think dualoop's journey might be of interest to your network, we can also discuss the possibility of organising an event together or being a speaker.