Below is a Discussion With a Serial Entrepreneur Evgeny Kayumov Startups have grown to be synonymous with the high-tech industry. Edison General Electric (now GE), Nokia, and the boom of Silicon Valley all lead to today’s global startup culture. In the past decade, the world has seen large startup hubs appear in cities like Shanghai, London, Toronto, and Tel Aviv. It genuinely seems that anything to do with tech is now associated with startups. To help us lay down the important aspects that make startups successful, we are joined by a serial entrepreneur and investor . Evgeny Kayumov He provided some insights regarding the culture of startups and why they tend to dominate the informational technology scene. Innovations and Risks Innovations and risks are the main forces behind any startup vision. They offer founders the right frame of mind -- that with an idea you can reach global influence and growth. This seemed impossible only a few decades ago. The stories that these innovators tell are how we imagine and shape our future. , a founder of several IT-related companies, has been inspired by the visions many startups share. Evgeny Kayumov “The digital world of startups is not limited by a physical location or other such circumstances. This is what inspired me the most. Just a decade ago it was a selected few living and working in this way, but today it’s the majority of Earth’s population is impacted in one way or another by this. Another great thing is the mentality to always be looking for new ways to achieve a certain result. This mentality is encouraged in the startup culture. Adventurism can increase the efficiency of any team.” Usually, startups are initiated with an upfront mission to achieve some ambitious goal like treating illnesses with AI or changing the financial industry with tech. While these targets are challenging and have a great potential for reward, they also come with great risks. This is why startups are all about taking those risks, and inevitably failing on the way. Here, failure is not a punishment but an opportunity to learn and grow. An unshakable belief in what they do, and the stamina to take risks is the key to the success of teams behind the most successful startups. It’s the main factor for why the progress can be achieved in a startup in a short time when is rarely possible in other settings. Pursuing bold ideas at the right time and in the right place is a key to success in the world of entrepreneurship. Increased Funding Of course, many ambitious ideas are impossible to achieve without strong financial backing. This is why startups are depended on capital funds. Technology companies create a lot of value by, for example, building software. Since software revenues increase every year, the value of company can grow very rapidly. This is why capital market participants are the ones competing for the attention of promising startups. In the past decade, we have also seen a massive increase in venture capital deployed globally. This shift is called the Great Expansion and it brought startups enough capital to achieve the most rapid growth rate in history. Evgeny states: “Today a promising project can reach their funding goal in mere days. I like the trend of more environmental and social projects getting the resources that they use for a bigger goal. Of course, what investors are looking for is to multiply their investments, and that certainly adds pressure on startups.” Globalization Another benefit of increased VC-funding capacity is a cross-border expansion of startups. Since making returns is essential for venture capital, startup companies have to expand their market reach which usually leads to geographical expansion. When it comes to digital products that can be delivered to the customer anywhere in the world within seconds, companies frequently become global as soon as they enter the market. “It’s amazing how easy it is to launch a global company today relative to just a decade ago. It might be harder for Asian or European countries in fields that are not regulated properly yet like blockchain. Almost every English-speaking team behind startups can cover several large parts of the world without doing anything extra. However, since anyone can target any audience, the competition is way more fierce. Only the best offers make it to the end consumer. Sometimes focusing on one geolocation might be a smarter decision for a startup.”, Evgeny added. The Ecosystem and Community Support Since its early days in Silicon Valley, startups culture has been defined by a thriving ecosystem. People, companies, and organizations gather around a certain center of activity like a university or a hub of technology companies. This atmosphere of networking, sharing experience, and the free exchange of ideas facilitates the creation and scaling of more startups. Evgeny Kayumov has been active in the IT and startup community. “When I was a kid growing up in Siberia, I couldn’t dream about being a part of such a vibrant community. I live in Switzerland now and travel around the world attending conferences and conventions. The presence of this community is a big factor in my professional and personal progress.” The gathering of key players in one physical or digital location, in turn, attracts other valuable participants of the ecosystem like stakeholders and investors, mentors and talent sources, tech-savvy law and accounting agents. Even failed entrepreneurs are a valuable part of these ecosystems. Failure is an experience that can help to move the whole ecosystem one step closer to its ultimate goals. If one risky idea doesn’t play out, the ecosystem is there for the second try with its funds and talents. The Future of Startups The next big thing will almost definitely appear in the business of data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Demanding intensive research, time and resources, trial and error, these fields have a better chance in the fast-paced startup culture. The current shift to remote working will also lead to changes in the way startups hire and what role they play in the talent market. More opportunities than ever will be provided to new remote employees to participate in building innovative products from anywhere in the world. A strong stream of talent from different cultures will benefit the employers and bring fresh ideas into the mix. “I can say without any doubt that startups have changed and continue to change the world. The way we interact, get news, shop, eat, all of these things are already affected by the vibrant startup culture.”, Evgeny believes. “Imagine being able to walk around in different country and interact with the world around you via another user’s feed. This is my goal for the nearest future: to launch a MetaPax service that will be used by millions around the world. It will allow 2 persons in different countries to share their reality with each other via streaming. I have been nursing this idea for the past 4 years, and now I actually have the technical possibility of its implementation. The future is definitely bright.”
