Download - Mentorship with Alon Cohen
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Agenda
• VocalTec or My Story • Mentorship
– Should you believe what I say? – Who should you listen to?
• Last word of advice
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The Beginning - 1989
FYI: VocalTec – First VoIP company.
• 2 geeks garage operation – Alon Cohen – Lior Haramaty
• Developing a sound card for a PC • Starting with $4000 gift
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Staying Afloat 1989-1992
• Selling Sound cards for different applications • Stand alone sound devices
– Ice-cream truck music box
• Hebrew TTS for blind people • Reaching out to the US market
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Re-Inventing the company 1993 -1994
• VocalTec was losing the battle with sound cards – The keyword was SoundBlaster compatibility
• Raised money – Vardi: “The CAT will not sell but I saw good people, you
should invest”
• Sat down for a problem solving session (1993) – We understand Telephony – We understand Computers – We understand integration of Computer & Audio – We bet that every computer will have sound
• The conclusion – Build a Phone Application that use PCs & LAN – Novel -> Net-Bios
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From LAN to WAN
• Is this VocalTec’s support? • Support: Yes..
• Your software does not work… • I am trying to call from England to France
over my fast 64K Line, and it sounds bad. • Did you press the compress button?…
• Wow!! now its working, I can save a bundle on my long distance phone calls!!
• That was it. – We now had a clear direction. – We had to make it work on the Widest Public
Network available.
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Creativity Wins - 1995
• Developing SW only Real-Time audio compression • Using IRC – as a directory service • Only small luck..
– All the experience we had from the Sound Cards days – All that we developed for the LAN – Was needed and operating in full force on the Internet
• The final touch – Converting every 3 bits to 1 bit (dropping 66% and losing only 25%)
• E-commerce engine • Internet download • Mass distribution
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1995 – 1996 The Launch
• Feb 1995 – First to market – Good PR People – Getting front page headlines
• 1996 - EXIT – Going public (Nasdaq: VOCL)
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What else
• VocalTec - IPO • RemoteAbility - sold • ExciteView – nice demo, wrong partner • BitWine – sold and came back • Phone.com – still on it
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Mentorship
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The Sample Size Theory
N = 1/(B^2) • So for:
– N = 100 we get an +/-10% error (Good) – N = 3 we get a +/- 60% error (Very bad) – N = 2 you get a +/70% error (Even worse)
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And here is the problem
• Most mentors (like me) had N = 1,2 or 3,4 experiences. • I.e my conclusions has potentially +/-60% deviation from the truth
– Time is different – Technology changed – Market players morphed – And people are never the same
• Your startup is most likely different – (Some principals are similar, like “buy low sell high”)
• However, the details make all the difference – What to sell, to whom? When? Where? and at how much?
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Do you know what is best?
• Most starting entrepreneurs thinks they do – N = 0 --> B = +/- A lot – Confident people are more susceptible to errors…
• Hence, not a good practice! • So:
– First listen (with a very open mind) – Preferably to people with some gray hair (or larger N) – Than decide what’s relevant and what’s not for your case.
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Pulling in Different Directions?
• Investors are not friends nor good mentors!!! – Get investors only as absolute last resort – They have their own agenda – They think they know what is best for you and your startup
• Probably based on past few successes, if any • Or maybe based on good grades & intuition.
• They are good smart people – They are good in what THEY DO – Much less in what you do.
• “The house on the hill” problem – If you succeed I will be able to afford it.
• (Contributed by an investor)
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Take it or Leave it
• Keep a file with ideas, keep updating them, keep adding - Ideas do expire • Identify problems in your surroundings
– Solving them is an opportunity
• It is simpler to sell an investor a dream than a working product – Try and let me know what worked better in your case
• Never say the word simple to an investor • Extend your runway – where you start is almost never where you finish • Never work for free, give value or equity equivalent value to your time • Be humble, listen to others, keep an open mind • Ask many, decide with few • Find good partners (it is hard, I know) • Start with an API (if relevant) • Always have a business model • Luck has a lot to do with success • Be nice to your employees, people do not forget. One day they will hire you.
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Thanks
Alon Cohen [email protected] BLOG: alonc.blogspot.com Phone.com
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How can Phone.com help you
• We help young startups with free services • Look for our coupon code with:
– NJTechMeetup – Or – And few more
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Phone.com
• Hosted, in-the-cloud PBX services • Launched the service in 2007 • Selling - mostly online • Self-provisioning platform • Highly praised USA-based customer support
• (Yes, we can give you US numbers free for a year)
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Features - To mention a few
• Forward calls outside the US. – Change destination from anywhere to anywhere
• Rules-based call routing and schedules • Voicemail transcription • Unlimited IVR • Global Numbers, Toll Free Numbers, iNum Numbers • DIDs forward SMS to cell or e-mail • Soft Phones (PC and Mobile)
– Point to Point Video using SIP and h.264 • Address book sync • HD Voice using G.722
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