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3 things to learn from the most successful startups

I’ve already spoken to you about Successful startups. From dream to reality!. I told you how easy it can be to make your dream come true, by putting some few tips about content marketing, SEO, influencers, investments, etc. to good use.

Now, we all blink in ecstasy when we hear the great name of the glamorized success: SILICON VALLEY. What people love is the all encompassing, on the spot, wild success. When it comes to the “been there, done that” successful startups’ list, I guess Dave Kerpner has a point in saying: “Building a sustainable business takes more than a good idea.” (Read more…)

3 successful startups. Lesson taught. Lesson learned

successful startups

I want to go into 3 of his examples and provide you a detailed lesson of success. I want to show you how you can catch the gold fish of startups.

  • Kaltura. It is an open-source video platform. It enables its clients to host, manage, publish, monetize, analyze and distribute video content. It offers a wide range of video products across several areas, such as publishing, education and enterprise. It has also launched a new Media Go product, which allows clients to create their own Netflix-like video portal across multiple devices. Lesson taught: Target and cater for several niches: enterprise, education and media. Kaltura has built specific features and taken care of the needs of each of these fields. As they say on their site: “Over 300,000 websites are already using Kaltura’s flexible platform”, including Groupon, Bank of America, Harvard and HBO. They have recently raised $25 million.  Lesson learned: Don’t try to catch all the fish in the water, set in bait for only a few species.

  • Voxy. It is definitely one of the most successful startups. It is a mobile app that helps Spanish speakers learn English through bite-size, daily lessons based on real-life experiences. They wish to address the needs of each learner, as they know that no two people are the same. So, they personalize each of their courses to suit the needs of their clients. They update the courses on a daily basis and they offer pragmatic and realistic learning, by providing users with videos of people going along their daily tasks, audio recordings of real-life situations, and karaoke-like music lessons. They also provide up-to-date news stories, so as the learners can perfect a contemporary use of English. Lesson taught: Stick to your principles. Voxy could have expanded their service to other languages, but they decided to stay focused on teaching English, particularly to Spanish speakers. “By keeping this focus, Voxy has established great presence on the market and has over 3 million users and $15 million in funding.” Lesson learned: When you catch the gold fish, don’t trade it for any other.

  • Pandora. It is a personalized music-recommendation service, but it’s only available in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. It plays musical selections based on the user’s artists selection. When it has to select future songs, it does so by making use of the feedback provided by the user, be it positive or negative. Over 400 different musical attributes are considered when selecting the next songs, which are combined into larger groups called focus traits. In total, there are 2000 focus traits, such as rhythm syncopation, key tonality, vocal harmonies, and displayed instrumental proficiency. Lesson taught: Offer personalization. You benefit from a personalized listening experience, music selected just for you, so you enjoy a unique experience. Pandora is expected to raise $231 million in the sale of 10 million shares. Lesson learned: Design your gold fish’s water bowl.

What all of Dave Kerpner’s 10 Wildly Successful Startups teach us is that you don’t have to come from Silicon Valley to be great and successful. It takes something else. What do you think this is?

Irina
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