The American Business Council-AmCham Kuwait (ABCK) hosted a webinar titled: 6 Ways to Launch a Startup Business Idea on Monday, 20 July 20. The webinar focused on 6 ideal ways of starting a successful startup, providing guidance on how to validate startup ideas, and avoiding key reasons of startup failures.
The webinar was presented by Mr. Abdulla Hassan, Co-Founder and CEO of Dhow Capital.
In his opening remarks, Hassan greeted all attendees, thanked ABCK-AmCham Kuwait for the opportunity to share his knowledge with their members and the local community, and briefly reminded of the importance of taking precautions in light of Covid-19 updates. He began the presentation by providing an overview of the topics of discussion and the concept of innovation.
“Innovation is one of the reasons why smaller countries have succeeded over larger countries, take the example of Singapore which didn’t have much natural resources to count on, but had a vision which was built around innovation, and today they are one of the strongest economies in the world. Germany after WW2 had lost everything but innovation and commitment to delivering innovation allowed them to be one of the biggest economic giants in the world. Similarly, the U.S. went through the biggest depression in the 30s,” emphasized Hassan.
He then discussed in detail some of the key reasons startup ideas fail such as: variances in product-market fit across different countries or locations, not considering customer insights to create an offering that is customer-relevant, or user interphase is too complex for customers to engage. Even when the ideas are great, if not executed well, an idea by itself will not withstand the various challenges that come when launching a startup. One important factor that is often overlooked is that people acquire mentors and investors based on title or funding needs instead of synergy they have with the project.
“Wrong investors and mentors are one of the key reasons people fail with their startup ideas. There is 90% failure in the startup world, most companies will fizzle out in year 2 or 3,” emphasized Hassan.
Following that, he discussed some success stories, analyzing the rationale and thought process behind those ideas, especially the importance of validating an idea in the market. Notably, he pointed out how “this Covid-19 situation is a blessing and a curse. It’s very clear most people will choose to be indoors, so most ideas will be moving around that. 2021 and 2022 will be defining moments for the world, depending on when the vaccine comes or doesn’t come, so you can launch a lot of interesting, innovative ideas that can help people change the way they do things” said Hassan. He then gave an analogy regarding the evolution of the physical lock to digital pass codes following the launch of the internet and digital solutions, highlighting how innovation can take place in unexpected ways.
Hassan then proceeded to explain different ways to validate an idea and how validation should take place. “Validation is an exercise where you talk to 100 total strangers, not friends and family. You ask whether they think a problem, i.e. a traffic problem, is a real problem. Then state a solution and ask if they agree with the solution. Then follow that by asking if they agree this is an urgent problem, and if they are willing to pay for the solution” said Hassan, highlighting the steps to validate an idea. Timing is of key importance, he explained, as the startup should not be too early or too late but rather solve a problem that is the ‘need of the hour’.
Following that, Hassan explained, “The 5 Why’s” method for dissecting and addressing a problem, and the importance of considering human elements as they sometimes contribute more to the root cause of an issue than technical problems.”
He then discussed the process of finding the right investors and gave advice on pitching a startup idea. Following that, he delved into detail explaining ‘10 Mantras’ that contribute to a successful entrepreneurship mindset, and 6 key steps to develop a successful startup idea.
To conclude, Hassan recapped the main points of discussion and opened up the floor to Q&A in which he engaged the attendees in an insightful discussion and offered further clarification regarding topics discussed throughout the webinar.
ABCK- AmCham Kuwait is a non-profit organization comprised of American corporations, small and medium sized companies, and prominent business leaders and entrepreneurs, both American and Kuwaiti. Since 1985, the American Business Council of Kuwait Ltd. (ABCK) has acted as an advocate for American companies in the State of Kuwait. For more information about ABCK, please visit our website or social media channels @abck1985
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