Startup Studio Insider - Beeso Studio - Spotlight Q&A

Startup Studio Insider - Spotlight Q&A of John Bunting founder and CEO of Beeso Studio

https://www.startupstudios.com/

(0:10) Hi and welcome to Startup Studio Insider, I'm Lauren and this is Rachel and we are speaking (0:16) with John Bunting from Visa Studio and today we're going to take you along our journey (0:22) and see how he got started in Startup Studios. (0:25) So, John, if you could just explain a little bit of what your interest was with Startup (0:30) Studios and the startup ecosystem. (0:33) Absolutely, and thanks for having me.

(0:36) For me, really, I've actually done a startup before, probably a couple of them and really (0:43) there's a few challenges when you're doing a startup, especially if you're a single founder (0:47) and it's really around finding people to help you and getting integrated into the ecosystem, (0:55) the startup ecosystem, and finding your first customer and such and so that's sort of what (1:00) prompted me to get into Startup Studios. (1:04) I actually co-founded a startup studio in Las Vegas and I did that for a couple of years (1:10) and through that experience, I kind of learned what works with regards to a startup studio (1:17) and then what doesn't work and so basically, I left after a couple of years of being the (1:22) CTO there and then I founded Visa Studio here in Omaha, Nebraska and essentially taken those (1:29) things that work and those things that don't work and try to make a better startup studio. (1:34) One aspect that makes us unique is we're not associated with a fund, but we do work with (1:40) VC funds and angel investors and such.

(1:43) Nice. (1:44) So, what would you say are some of the biggest differences between the first studio that (1:48) you co-founded and Visa Studio? (1:51) I think right now, one major difference is we're focused on outreach to startups. (1:59) One of the things we failed to do is really that outreach in terms of talking to early (2:03) stage entrepreneurs and founders and startups and trying to help them get to that next level.

(2:09) We spend a lot of time with outreach talking to early stage startups. (2:13) We talked about 100 startups a month right now and then we also apply sort of a vetting (2:19) process and evaluation process with those startups before we ever engage with them in terms of (2:25) a formal partnership. (2:27) We really do a deep dive analysis on the industry and the opportunity and those are two aspects (2:33) that we've really, you know, that I've taken.

(2:36) I've applied now with Visa Studio. (2:38) We've had some measurable success with that approach. (2:41) Awesome.

(2:42) Now, can you provide a little bit of background on why you named it Visa Studio and why Nebraska (2:47) is your home spot for the studio? (2:51) Yeah, no, great question. (2:53) So Visa just kind of came to my mind, kind of like the thought, the state of being is (3:00) sort of one of the things I thought about is, you know, building and being and creating (3:04) something. (3:06) Omaha, Nebraska is really an interesting location for a startup studio and I actually looked (3:12) at geography wise, there's roughly about 500 startup studios in the world and there was (3:18) just this gap in the Midwest.

(3:20) There really wasn't a startup studio in the Midwest area and, you know, the closest ones (3:27) at the time were in Denver and then there's Chicago and then the one in Texas and I know (3:30) Indiana and such. (3:31) But, you know, around, you know, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, that (3:38) area, there's just this real gap. (3:40) And so starting a startup studio, founding Visa Studio here made a lot of sense from a (3:46) geography standpoint.

(3:47) And then, you know, just because of our processes and our approach, we actually have 15 startups (3:53) right now in our portfolio spread across the United States, also in Canada and the UK. (3:58) So we've sort of expanded from the Midwest, but the Midwest was, you know, the primary (4:03) area in the area that we decided to focus on first. (4:06) Yeah, I saw that y'all are part of the Omaha startup ecosystem on your website.

(4:12) And so how has that been for y'all? (4:14) It's been great. (4:15) I mean, we've been doing this for about three and a half years now. (4:19) We started in January 2019 and it's been a good, it's been a good experience.

(4:24) I think that we've been able to add something to that ecosystem of helping founders here (4:27) in Omaha and really, you know, helping people realize the opportunities around building (4:33) a startup and the different things that you can do. (4:35) And just because you're in the Midwest doesn't mean that you can, you're really not fitted (4:40) for tech. (4:41) I know there's a lot of focus on the East Coast and West Coast with respect to technology (4:45) and startups, but we really like to bring that here and make it more attainable for (4:49) founders here and taking, you know, some of the same processes and basically the resources (4:54) are available in the East Coast and West Coast and bringing them here to Midwest has made (4:58) a big difference.

(5:02) Perfect. (5:02) And I know we wanted to talk a little bit more about specific hiring and funding processes. (5:09) Do you have any insight that you can shed into those and what you learned along the (5:14) way? (5:15) Yeah, for us, we work with very early stage startups.

(5:19) That's one of the key things that makes us different. (5:22) And there's things that we do to mitigate that risk, but we definitely work with people (5:25) who have an idea. (5:26) These are pre-product, pre-revenue, pre-MVP, very early stage startups.

(5:32) And for us, you know, we're able to, we have a network of investors. (5:36) We understand what our investors are looking for. (5:39) So we're able to basically guide our startups and help them get to the level that we can (5:43) make a worthwhile introduction.

(5:45) And we understand that different, you know, different startups need different types of (5:50) investment. (5:50) So there's, you know, in Nebraska specifically, there's a prototype grant that we're able (5:55) to help our startups apply for. (5:58) And then there's some other introductions on the funding side that we can do.

(6:02) So we're able to help with that. (6:04) In terms of hiring, we have a team here in Omaha, Nebraska. (6:08) Something that also makes us unique is we have a development team or part of our development (6:12) team per se is in Indonesia, in Jakarta.

(6:17) My VP of development lives there. (6:19) I've known him for many years and basically we run some of the development from there (6:23) and we also do some of the development in Omaha. (6:25) So we have a good reach and also we're able to build product in a very capital efficient (6:31) manner because of that.

(6:33) Yeah, that's definitely interesting. (6:35) You mentioned how you have, you know, basically a global team. (6:39) What is your company culture like in regards to that? (6:42) Where is there a difference between the people who are working closely in Omaha versus the (6:49) other teams or do you feel like you guys work, you know, closely together and how do (6:54) you manage those friction points where when you're so far in distance? (7:00) Yeah, great question.

(7:01) It's we have a very cohesive team. (7:04) We work about 24-7 just because of the time differences. (7:07) We're basically 12 hours behind the team in Indonesia.

(7:12) But also, you know, because we have leadership in Indonesia, it makes a big difference (7:16) because we understand the culture. (7:19) We're able to support people in that country. (7:22) We're able to hire as well people in that country because we're able to post jobs.

(7:26) We're able to, you know, we've got people on the ground who speak the language and (7:28) everything. So it makes a huge difference for us. (7:32) One of the other things is just culture wise is, you know, you hire great people, you (7:37) trust them, you give them work and you let them do it.

(7:41) I think, you know, ironically, some founders, especially non-technical founders, they get (7:47) into this state of doubt and uncertainty with respect of what is being done. (7:52) And for us, you know, we hire great people, we hire smart people and we literally, you (7:56) know, give them and say, hey, go figure this out. (7:58) They'll build something new that's never been done before.

(8:01) And we're able to do that. (8:03) And then ultimately, from my approach is I'm here to support the team. (8:07) If they need anything, they can come to me and I will figure out how to help them, whether (8:12) it be a technical thing or a personal thing or just whatever that is.

(8:16) I try to do all I can to support that team. (8:21) Nice, and so I know that you all really focus on tech and you all touched on it, Helen, (8:27) the Midwest, you know, there isn't as big of a presence of tech. (8:30) So how do you find these market opportunities and secure those startups at Visa? (8:36) We do a lot of outreach, so a lot of digital outreach going on, you know, websites like (8:41) Reddit, LinkedIn and such go into forums, posting, engaging with founders, making (8:47) ourselves well-known.

(8:49) I would say one interesting aspect is taking about three years or so and then we finally (8:52) started getting more inbound, more well-known. (8:55) But it takes time to build a brand. (8:56) It takes time to let people know who you are.

(8:59) And, you know, from our side, from our point of view, one of the things that we also do (9:03) is that we generally work with non-technical founders. (9:06) So they're looking for a technology team with some expertise. (9:11) And we also, because these are non-technical founders, we sort of educate them around how (9:17) is software built? (9:18) How do you do technology? (9:19) So we follow Agile, we apply sprints, we do daily scrums with our team and we really bring (9:25) the founders into that process so they understand.

(9:29) And if they don't work with us, at least they get some learning experience out of that. (9:32) But we really are just out there to educate and help founders understand the processes. (9:37) And how do you do a tech startup? (9:41) Nice, thank you.

(9:43) I think we're going to touch on what are some successful case studies or models that you (9:49) looked at when you were creating your first studio as well as, you know, moving on to (9:54) create Bezo as well. (9:56) For me, when I formulated what Bezo Studio was, I spent about nine months doing research (10:04) on startup studios and I looked at their approaches and just how they're structured and (10:11) what types of startups they engage. (10:13) And for me, it was sort of, I don't know if there's anything I technically modeled after (10:18) them, but I really found some gaps in some areas that startup studios were not just (10:23) performing well in.

(10:24) And to me, it was really came down that early stage startup where if a startup has to (10:31) have a particular level of growth or some traction and to really get the additional (10:37) funding. And for us, we're able to come in and work with them very early stage. (10:41) I also found from startup studios, there was a huge investment up front from the startup (10:45) studio, because generally speaking, there was a lot of time tied into the equity (10:49) component.

And for us, we're more of a hybrid model where there is some there is some (10:53) costing around some of the services and then some of the services we provide are no (10:57) cost. And that's where we get the equity from. (10:59) So we have a hybrid model that allows us to mitigate some of those risks.

(11:03) And then obviously with our offshore team that allows us to do things a little bit more (11:08) differently, more agilely. (11:11) So I like I said, I looked at the landscape and kind of figured out that, OK, here's some (11:15) gaps, here's some areas that we can move into and make ourselves different and really set (11:20) us apart from the other startup studios. (11:26) Nice.

(11:27) Do you have any other particular challenges besides the ones you noted at the (11:35) beginning that you noticed moving forward that you guys are helping to fill it out there (11:40) in the market? You know, I think I can tell you there's trends that we're finding and (11:48) we've seen this, you know, over the last three years, there's been different trends. (11:53) Right now, the current trend is that a lot of startups are in the stealth mode where (11:58) they you may find the founder, but the founder doesn't necessarily want to share (12:02) information until you have that more of a trusting relationship with them. (12:06) So that is one factor.

(12:08) The other factor that we found is in this one that we've actually gotten better at is, you (12:14) know, with respect to a startup, there's a few factors that, you know, tie into the (12:20) success. You know, there are timing of that startup, the idea, you know, the team, the (12:26) funding, you know, the business plan. (12:28) Those are all different factors.

(12:29) And for us, one of the things that's been very difficult to quantify is the actual (12:33) founder, the characteristics that make a great, successful founder. (12:37) And we have over the last, I would say, last year or so, we've implemented additional (12:42) processes to basically measure, engage that founders, you know, their fortitude, their (12:50) ability to deal with challenges, their depth of understanding of what they're actually (12:54) getting into. So we've added additional processes and steps to gauge that in terms of (13:01) really the founder, because somebody can have a great idea, they can have a great team.

(13:06) But we also find a lot of that success hinges on the founder and their personality (13:11) characteristics to carry that forward. (13:15) And that's really been a challenge for us. (13:16) And that's one of the challenges that we've found.

(13:18) And that's one that we're working on improving. (13:21) And I'd say we're still working on improving. (13:24) Well, it sounds like you are doing a lot of great things.

(13:27) So where do you see the company going long term? (13:31) What are your long term goals and how do you plan to reach those? (13:35) Yeah, long term goals, we're really, you know, looking to get startups to an exit. (13:40) And there's a lot of different mechanics and processes associated with that as well as (13:44) time. But ultimately, you know, we want to track a success rate that a normal VC would (13:50) have or the VC industry has.

(13:53) We want to see exits in so many years per startup. (13:56) And then the other things that we're looking at in terms of long term is also, you know, (14:01) eventually we'll have a tighter, closer relationship with the fund. (14:04) So then we can have more influence in terms of what startups or receive capital and when (14:10) that capital is deployed.

(14:12) And then the other component would just be, you know, rounding out our team probably more (14:16) over time to have more people on the outward engagement side is definitely something that (14:23) we always want to improve on and ramp up more of. (14:27) So I would also say that we're never going to be a large company or a large team. (14:32) It's just from our perspective, we just want to get really good at building companies and (14:36) building startups and launching them.

(14:38) That's really where we're our optimum places. (14:41) And that's where we want to continue to get improvement on. (14:44) Awesome.

Well, thank you for joining us today.