Should the founder be involved

Berk Temuroglu responds to the question, “Should the founder be involved in the market expansion research?”

Who should that researcher be

Berk Temuroglu responds to the question, “If the researcher should be one person, who should that one person be?”

The power of one

Berk Temuroglu suggests that to reduce noise, only one person research the move into a new market.

Research through invalidation

Berk Temuroglu says that the fastest market research is to actually invalidate a concept.

Giving up prematurely

Berk Temuroglu warns that the desire to keep the sexy illusion of growth alive might cause a company to give up too early on a market.

Boring period is where the expansion actually happens

Berk Temuroglu points out that this boring period is where the expansion actually happens.

What is boring about this period

Berk Temuroglu talks about what is boring during this period.

A boring period

Berk Temuroglu describes what he calls “the wheel of engagement,” and how it might include a boring period that many of the employees, who were attracted by the sexy idea of working for a startup, will find uninteresting.

Factors to consider

Berk Temuroglu lists some of the factors to consider when thinking about who will staff your international sales operation.

Stars at home may not be stars abroad

Berk Temuroglu mentions that the star employees back at home may not be stars in the new market.

Expansion is business-specific

Berk Temuroglu notes that sales expansion will be very business-specific.

Risk of a new management team

Berk Temuroglu addresses the question, “Isn’t a new management team a new risk too?”

The five cardinal risks

Berk Temuroglu outlines what he calls The Five Cardinal Risks, the risks that are (hopefully) being eliminated at each subsequent round of funding.

Funding rounds are about elimination of risk too

Berk Temuroglu mentions that subsequent funding rounds are also about the progressive elimination of risk.

Can you frame alone

Berk Temuroglu goes into framing the problem and tweaking it for the audience, and can you do it in isolation by yourself?

How you frame the problem depends on who you are speaking to

Berk Temuroglu mentions that the framing of the problem will be slightly different depending on who you are speaking to.

Why does this happen

Berk Temuroglu theorizes on why corporate managers tend to not spend enough time describing the problem, and instead jump too quickly to the solution.

Corporate managers focus on idea too much

Berk Temuroglu goes into the problem/solution cycle, and how he believes corporate managers spend too much time discussing the idea (solution), and not enough time describing the problem.

Will it ruin the mojo?

Berk Temuroglu responds to the question, “Will learning the ‘constant pitching mindset’ ruin the manager’s mojo in other aspects of managerial life?”

Proliferation of intrapreneurship programs

Berk Temuroglu suspects enhanced learning is one of the reasons intrapreneurship programs have become so popular in the corporate world.

Why are corporate managers hesitating

Berk Temuroglu tosses around some theories on why more corporate managers are not making use of the startup-mindset learning opportunities available to them.

Tables have turned

Berk Temuroglu says the tables have turned, and while the two groups (startups and corporate managers) can learn from each other on a two-way street, 10 years ago it was more that startups could learn from corporate managers, and now it’s corporate managers who...

Constant pitching mindset

Berk Temuroglu points out what he calls the “constant pitching mindset” as a skill he thinks more corporate managers should adopt.

Corporate vs startup presenting mindset

Berk Temuroglu compares the corporate presenting mindset to the startup presenting mindset, and says the corporate mindset needs to learn something from the startup mindset.

Investor base helping with the international expansion

Berk Temuroglu goes into tapping the investor base to assist with the international expansion.

Inevitability of culture clash

From the podcast archives, Berk Temuroglu on the inevitability of culture clash when the company sends expats to manage an office staffed locally.