In this episode, I spoke to Oliver Durrer about a variety of interesting topics. He explained how a lot of corporations are starting to pay attention to startups and they are even starting to mimic them too. We also got into the entrepreneurial side of startups and Oliver share 3 tips for success for new startups. We had a few laughs and exchanged some excellent information with one another. Check this episode out!
Conversation Notes from this Episode
- For big companies startups are the competition, they need to be entrepreneurial, so they are not disrupted by startups. They are getting leaner and into the startup mindset. They have people acting like entrepreneurs within the corporate boundaries.
- With entrepreneurship in the end you realize you never really fail, you learn.
- Startups are not win or lose- it is either stay the same or win. We need to let go of the concept of losing.
- It is about connecting with people, serving people and finding solutions to people’s problems.
- If you want to be a billionaire, find the problem a billion people have and solve it.
- It all starts with just starting. Set big goals and take it step by step. Just go for it.
- The idea of starting something is usually much worse than actually doing it. Just start, and stay at it, keep your passion, keep your purpose and amazing things will happen.
- Get out of the building and talk to people. Do your research. Talk to you prospective customers. See if there is a demand. See if it will solve their problem.
- You have to know your target market and ideal customer.
- Three tips for new startups:
- Have a clear understanding of the customer. Figure out what the problem is.
- Don’t be in love with your own solution. Evaluate it!
- Be open minded, don’t get stuck and over-analyze. A pivot could lead to you discovering something completely different than what you had in mind. The approach is all about learning.
About Oliver
Oliver Durrer is a Swiss corporate entrepreneur, innovation coach and business mentor passionate about enabling large companies to be more entrepreneurial and innovative as well as empowering startups and SMB to sustainably scale their ventures, while creating shared-value.
Oliver enjoyed a corporate career in marketing, commercial and business leadership positions, acting as an entrepreneur within Nestlé in Switzerland and Asia, building and leading multicultural teams to award-winning performance. He also has experience in the small business field, gained as a non-executive director of the high-tech company founded by his father.
A lean startup enthusiast and life-long learner, Oliver is currently scaling Online Academy, after launching this corporate startup for blended online learning at Switzerland’s biggest further education institution Migros Club School in 2016. As a mentor for the Academy for Corporate Entrepreneurship, he is supporting large companies to rediscover their innovation mojo and mentors startups at the Swiss Startup Factory. Oliver is also a non-executive board member at DigiMeals.
Twitter: @OliverDurrer
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliverdurrer