Opinion
Robert Vis: European investors prioritize traction while US investors prioritize ideas
“Traction is more attractive in Europe, where in the US people are more about ideas.”
Insight
Robert Vis: Founders mistakenly choose VC brands over individual board member fit
“The number one mistake people make is to go for brands. You know, having a board member is like a marriage that you can't get out of. So, you should be very careful who you select as your board member, and you should make sure that you really gel with that boa…”
Insight
Robert Vis: Founders checking competitor websites weekly are doing something completely wrong
“But if you're checking your competitor's webpage every day or every week, you're doing something completely wrong. I mean, maybe that's something you will look at directionally, what are they doing, and then, but you should always focus on yourself, your own c…”
Insight
Robert Vis: Early startup founders cannot expect to take three-week holidays
“You know, when I speak to founders, and they're like, I'm starting a company, and I'm, but in two months, I'm taking a three week nice, relaxed holiday. I'm like, that's not how this works, dude. Like, that's not how you build a company. Like, so, you know, th…”
Insight
Robert Vis: European startups must think globally to compete with US companies
“You know, I think that's one of the things that Europe has to sort of get over, like, think big, go global you know, think outside of your country to really start winning, because, you know, that's the advantage that the U.S. Has, that, you know, one state to …”
Assertion Partly supported
Robert Vis: MessageBird bootstrapped profitably for six years with 100% YoY growth
“We bootstrapped for six years, we were profitable we were still had, you know, a hundred, hundred percent growth rates year in year so we didn't really need the money, first of all”
Insight
Robert Vis: Give new hires three to six months before ending mismatches
“You should always give people a chance, have people figure it out, you know, give people three to six months, but if after three to six months it doesn't work out, you should end it.”
Disclosure
Robert Vis: MessageBird paired first 50 employees with new hires for culture
“One of the things that we did is we set up a group, which is the Nest, which is basically our first 50 employees and we worked together with them in, like, collaborative sessions and, like, teaming them up with newer employees in order to sort of, like, togeth…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Robert Vis: MessageBird's first customer was his previous company's SMS vendor
“I ended up selling Zapay, and interestingly enough, the vendor that we were using back then became my very first customer.”
