Ahmad Takatkah (@SinbadTheVC) and myself (@MRArrabi) gave this workshop at the IEEE event in Hashemite University on Oct 7, 2012. It covers tips & advice on how to launch your startup in Jordan.

1. The Art of Start in Jordan
IEEE workshop 7 Oct 2012
Ahmad Takatkah & Muhammad Arrabi

2. Who Is This?

3. Who Is This?

4. Who Is This?

5. What’s common between these companies?

6. Why Are You Here?

7. Lifecycle of a Startup
Idea • Evenings,
friends
Business Plan • Evenings
• Find mentor
Customer
• Self funded
Validation
• Evening work
Solution
• Seed funding
Validation
• Total focus
Scale • VC funding
• A small company
Big
Comp • IPO/Acquisition
any

8. Contents
• Introduction
• Idea
• Business Plan
• Execution
• Investment
• Team
• Resources

9. THE IDEA

10. The Market – it’s all about the market
• Is the market growing?
• Do you understand the market? Experience in it?

11. Technical vs. Business
• You must address customer pains – paying
customers preferably

12. Question for the Audience
• Let’s assume you work as a Kitchen Designer.
• A Lady comes to you, and asks you to design her
kitchen.
• What would be your first question to her?

13. Who is your target customer?
• B2C
• B2B
• B2E (enterprise)
• Global vs. Regional vs. Local

14. 5 Forces of Competition
Customers
(Bargain Power)
Substitute Market Barrier to Entry
Products Competitors
Suppliers
(Bargain Power)

15. Blue vs. Red Ocean

16. Blue vs. Red Ocean (examples: iPad, AirBnB, 99Designs, etc…)

17. Too Many Ideas Problem

18. Contents
• Introduction
• Idea
• Business Plan
• Execution
• Investment
• Team
• Resources

19. BUSINESS PLAN

21. Business Model Canvas
• http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/downloa
ds/business_model_canvas_poster.pdf

22. Let’s Take an Idea and Work with It!

23. Partners & Operations Customers
1
Value
3 2
Proposition
Costs < Revenue

24. 1- Value Proposition
• What value do you provide to
customers?
• Which of their problems are
you solving?
• What need are you satisfying?
• What services/products are
you offering to what target
group?

25. 2- Customers
• Customer Segments
– For whom are you creating value
– Who are your most important customers?
• Customer Relationships
• Channels
• Revenue Streams

26. 3- Partners & Operations
• Key Partners
• Key Activities
– Hire people, pay salaries
– Offer services, cost on you
• Key Resources
• Cost Structure
– How cost grows as activities grow

27. Is it a profitable business?
Partners & Operations Customers
1
Value
3 2
Proposition
Costs < Revenue

28. Contents
• Introduction
• Idea
• Business Plan
• Execution
• Investment
• Team
• Resources

29. Contents
• Introduction
• Idea
• Business Plan
• Execution
• Investment
• Team
• Resources

30. EXECUTION

31. Fail Fast & Fail Often
• Any idea or product can fail for
many reasons
• Many of these reasons you can test
early on
• The main goal of a startup in the
beginning is to perform these tests
• If a test fails this means you have
to change the idea a bit
(enhancing) or a lot (pivoting).
• Testing your idea reduces risk, and
thus allows you to get more
funding.

32. Validate Customers Need
• Test & verify that customers really have this need –
want to do this

33. Validate Initial Solution
• Try the item with customers. Get feedback. Enhance.
Iterate very quickly. Verify that are welling to pay
for it (if it will not be free).

34. Validate Ability to Scale
• This is usually late stage for
startup
• Once you need to scale up,
certain practices & operations
will have to be replaced
• But will these work as good as
previously? Verify this. As you
verify more, you can expect to
reduce risk, and grow
business.

35. Now you are a big company
• (and this is a different presentation)
• Recommended reading about big companies:

36. INVESTMENT

37. Funding vs. Investment

38. Investment Stages – like Car Gears

39. Lifecycle of a Startup
Idea • Evenings, frie
nds
Business Plan • Evenings
• Find mentor
Customer
• Self funded
Validation
• Evening work
Solution
• Seed funding
Validation
• Total focus
Scale • VC funding
• A small company
Big
Comp • IPO/Acquisition
any

40. There are many Sources of Capital
• Self Finance
• Friends and family
• Crowdfunding
• Bootstrapping,
• Competitions,
• Incubators,
• Grants, and Supporting Organizations
• Strategic Partners
• Customers and suppliers
• Banks, Islamic Banks
• Angels Investors
• Venture Capital Funds,
• Corporate Venture Funds and corporate incubators (Spinoffs)
• Private Equity Funds
• IPO

41. Crowdfunding – Kickstarter.com

42. Angel Investors
• Angels?
• they understand your situation,
• they're a source of contacts and
advice.
• New concepts
• Exit Strategy
• Valuation
• Angel Groups/clubs.
• How to find angels?
– Personal introductions
• Deal terms
• Don't believe it till you get the
check (never stop looking for
angels)

43. Venture Capital
• Professional firms, they look for investments
• They invest in around 20 companies every round (3-7) years
• An investment should promise around 10x return
• Usually only 1 or 2 companies succeed really big (100x), and 5-6 die,
and the others break even of bring some money.
• Expect a long process, detailed, with lots of information requests.

44. Contents
• Introduction
• Idea
• Business Plan
• Execution
• Investment
• Team
• Resources

45. TEAM

46. Team
• Choose the super team
– This is the team that will take
your revolutionary idea to the
world.
• Equity over time
– Let’s say you are 2 people
– Give each 50% of company, vesting over 4 years!
– This means, after first year, each partner gets ¼ of
their stock (e.g. %12.5). After second, another ¼ vests.
– If a partner leaves early, he loses any unvested stock.
• Pay with Equity to Lawyers, Accountants, etc.
– Starting to happen in Jordan

47. Contents
• Introduction
• Idea
• Business Plan
• Execution
• Investment
• Team
• Resources

48. RESOURCES

49. Common Internet Business Models
• advertising
• ecommerce
• lead generation
• sponsorships
• freemium
• in-app purchase
• B2B Products, Service, & Subscription

50. Types of Startups
• Copier
• Exploiter
• Niche leader
• Franchiser / Distributor
• Business Innovator
• Technology Innovator
• (lifestyle business vs. high-growth business)

51. VC’s in region
• N2V
• IV Holdings
• Dash Ventures
• Humming Bird Ventures
• Ideavelopers
• MENA Ventures
• MEVP
• Wamda (Abraaj Capital)
• Sinbad Ventures
• STC Ventures
• MBC Ventures

52. Incubators in region
• Oasis500 (www.Oasis500.com)
• iPark (www.ipark.jo)
• Business Innovation Center (www.bic.jo)
• Several universities have them (JUST, Yarmouk, etc.)
• Outside Jordan
– Flat 6 Labs (Cairo)
– Bader (Riyadh)
– Tahrir2 (Alexandria)
– SeedStartup (Dubai)
– Seequnce (Beirut)
– Tenmou (Bahrain)
– 360 Accelerator (Dubai)

53. Startup Support Programs in Jordan
• BDC Course: http://www.empretecjordan.org/
• Microsoft BizSpark – free software (work $200k)
• AmmanTT.com – free lectures & networking
• Bedaya.jo – Jordanian Angel Network
• Development for Employment Fund def.gov.jo
• www.EndeavorJordan.org mentorship
• www.Injaz.org.jo training
• www.InjazAlarab.org training
• irada.org.jo Support for startups
• www.Jedco.gov.jo EU Support and funding
• www.kafd.jo King Abdullah II Fund
• www.MigrateMENA.com consulting services
• www.MITarabcompetition.com Business Plan Competition
• www.qrce.org Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship
• www.yea.com.jo Young Entrepreneurs Association
• www.intaj.net INT@J Association of Computer Companies

54. Books & Education
• Lean Startup by Eric Ries
• Startup Owner’s Manual by Steve Blank
• Business Model Generation by multiple authors
• Anything you Want by Derek Sivers
• http://www.success.ae/
• MIT Entrepreneurship courses:
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/entrepreneurship/

55. Thanks for inviting us
Ahmad Takatkah Muhammad Arrabi
Managing Partner, Sinbad Ventures Chief of Staff, N2V.com
www.SinbadTheVC.com www.MuhammadArrabi.com
@SinbadTheVC @MRArrabi

56. Thank You