Startup Saturday Moneyoga
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Deepak Shenoy started three startups - Agni Software, Flovate Technologies, and Moneyoga. Agni and Flovate were exits through acquisition, while Moneyoga shut down in December 2008 due to lack of funding. Some lessons he learned included that you are never your own boss, the importance of money, arrogance and stupidity in starting a business, and that business plans are not very useful. For Moneyoga, he self-funded with $10,000 and traded algorithms, making a 20% return in four months before shutting down due to insufficient assets under management. Overall, he learned the importance of money, knowing when to shut down a business, and that failure can boost your resume.
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Startup Saturday Moneyoga
- 1. Startups and Shutdowns Deepak Shenoy
- 2. Background Engineer, Comp Sc., KREC Surathkal 96 Started Agni Software in 98 Four partners, Software Developers Joined Flovate Technologies in 2005 Company sold to WNS in 2007 Started Moneyoga in 2007 Shut down in Dec 2008
- 3. Three startups, Three Exits Agni : Inertia Flovate: “Exit” as we get to hear it Moneyoga: “Exit” as we don’t.
- 4. Why did I start-up? I always wanted to run my own show Be my own boss Too arrogant or stupid to think otherwise Nothing to lose if you build it, they will come
- 5. What I learnt You are never your own boss
- 6. You want a boss So that you can ask for a raise Or at least, have someone else to blame for your mistakes
- 7. You also need Arrogance Stupidity Fear of failure Come to Jesus = Bank balance Thick enough skin to not care how many houses your friends bought And look where that got them.
- 8. Business Plans Are toilet paper But they are hajaar fun And they make you think. At least the stupid ideas go out the window
- 9. VC Stories VCs get maligned a lot But they have the money Golden rule: He who has the gold… Presented to a ton of VCs That there was money online And that too, in advertisements on a stock market portal Okay, that makes us look stupid today.
- 10. How did we fund Moneyoga Worked out of home Bought a server, a desktop and a laptop Total startup cost was 1 lakh No hiring, no office, no other expenses 1.5 years worth of cash expenses For each of us
- 11. What did we do? Built a web site Got 1000+ page views a day before we even advertised (our longer running blogs get 2.5K a day) Gave up on internet statistics Gave up on online users Less than 30 lakh people trade online Less than 40 lakh broadband “connections” in the entire country Deduplicated, this is not worth the effort
- 12. The Hedge Fund Model In April 07, decided we would trade our “algorithms” Wrote code, acquired data, put some cash on the line First system up in May 07 Traded four overall, rejected two and employed the other till October 07 Made 20% in four months
- 13. Exit Needed a certain amount of AUM to make money Our cash would last only till end-December We couldn’t get there Reasons, shmeasons Decided to “stop out” at end-December Undercapitalised The model still works “ We’ll be back”
- 14. My learning I learnt a lot Bookkeeping, accounting, and why we pay so much in taxes Despite what we think, the government is amazing online Money is everything, when you don’t have it There’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity Starting up is overrated
- 15. My learning We are way too early for a niche internet in India Quality journalism is missing. But no one will pay for it. VCs will always appear clueless. Appearances are deceptive. Some of the best VCs I’ve met (non clueless) Alok Mittal Prashant Prakash
- 16. More learning Money is everything. Effort is nothing. If your company makes money by denying you a market salary, it is not making money You can get a better price for everything. “Let’s do this, and then we’ll see” is stupid If at first you don’t succeed, tell everyone about it.
- 17. My piece of advice Don’t listen to people who give free advice Unless they are Guy Kawasaki or Paul Graham And even they are wrong sometimes.
- 18. Ok, but still It’s cheaper to start up if you know when you must shut down It’s your “uncle” point You know when it will come
- 19. Don’t let the bozos get you down Sorry, Guy Kawasaki
- 20. Failure is not a bad thing For one, it’s a huge resume booster
- 21. Have I been discouraged? Of course I’ll do it again When I next have the money
- 22. Questions Email: [email_address]
- 23. How to write a business plan Use excel. Do NOT start with a profit figure and work backwards Do not write “worst case scenario”. Your “worst case” will seem like a bed of roses later. Leave enough snarky comments Because you gotta enjoy coming back to it