HardTech Coffee Keynote on 15 February 2019 by Mads Rømer Svendsen. Mads was co-founder of the start-up Sentar. Looking back, he realises that they should have been a lot better at implementing the fail fast methodology.
That was the headline of last Friday’s keynote talk at our Hardtech Entrepreneurship programme held at Skylab.
In order not only to communicate success start-up stories, our colleague Mads Rømer Svendsen, shared his and his partners’ experiences during two years of trying to build up a company starting in 2016.
Mads was co-founder of the start-up Sentar. Looking back, he realises that they should have been a lot better at implementing the fail fast methodology. That could possibly have resulted in an early pivot towards success, and would not have drawn so much on their energy and patience from their families.
They should have changed course or closed the project completely after the first 10 months and 2 prototypes, instead of continuing for 2 years (and 2 additional prototypes). However, he does not regret and have gained a lot of experience.
Going forward, Mads will share his knowledge and support new ventures in his new position with us in DTU Entrepreneurship.
As a closing remark, Mads wrapped up:
“Read some books on lean startup, write down your hypotheses, run experiments to validate them, be agile” – and most importantly, “be aware of the mom-test” e.i. do not present the solution/product but ask for the needs of the potential customer. If you present the solution right away, the customer will often say “yes, brilliant idea” – like a mom uncritically commenting on her child’s drawing “wauuw, yes, you are definitely a great artist” and that will not reveal the real potential of your product/art skills.