Andrew Greenstein is the CEO and Head of Product for SF AppWorks, an Innovation Agency. Andrew is (weirdly) passionate about uncomplicating the IT process for business enterprises, adapting to new technologies and trends, and helping to make technology accessible to anyone who can benefit from it…so everyone.
When he’s not participating in hackathons with his team of developers and designers or helping clients improve their product development and innovation processes, he’s either playing basketball, traveling the world, or playing drums/piano. Andrew writes, speaks, and consults on the topics of innovation processes, Agile methodologies, and design thinking. He’s also an aspiring dog trainer to his golden retriever, Taco.
What is SF AppWorks all about?
SF AppWorks is about helping innovation teams and entrepreneurs design and develop transformative technologies. We typically work in three ways: if you don’t know what to build, we help you figure that out through design thinking and product development exercises. If you kind of know what to build, or have a few ideas, we do rapid prototyping to quickly implement and test ideas, then iterate. And if you know exactly what you want to build, we build that thing to be best in class.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
Despite growing up in Silicon Valley, I took a winding path to find my place in technology. I studied music and writing in college, worked as a journalist, then went to law school before deciding to try my hand out at a music startup. We had a fun ride for three years, raising money, being named a Techcrunch top 50 startup in 2008, and partnering with Linkin Park to provide technology for their fans to collaborate with them, but after failing to find product market fit, we decided to shut things down.
My partner Darius and I were hooked on ‘the startup way’ and decided to apply those chops and lessons learned to help other entrepreneurs and businesses think and build like a startup – scientifically, efficiently, and ambitiously. Ten years later, we’ve got a team of 50 or so like-minded technologists who are all motivated by a few common themes – to constantly be learning, to help others, and to move our society forward by using technology as a tool to improve people’s lives.
What was the biggest problem you encountered with your business and how did you overcome it?
As with most service businesses – predictability and stability is tough. There are a lot of processes that mature businesses have developed to manage their sales and marketing pipelines, the quality of their products, and the general balance between work and life. We’ve had to learn a lot of these lessons the long and hard way. The way we do it is by committing ourselves to becoming students of the game – reading, listening, learning, trying new things, and, most importantly, not being afraid to fail along the way. It sounds generic, but it’s a real insight – failure is an inevitable part of the scientific process. If you build in room for that type of experimentation and measuring, you can chart a path from where you are to where you want to be. If you share that approach with partners, employees, and clients, you can set realistic expectations that everyone can align behind.
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
Top mistake #1 – trying to do too much. As a new business, you have very limited resources. You’re eager to provide value to clients and, as a result, you try to say yes to everything. Part of that is finding your product market fit, but you can chart a much more direct path towards your goals if you figure out early what you love to do (or think you will love) and stay as razor focused as you can.
This goes for new software products too – I remember in 2008 we were trying so hard to build an online music mixing platform with video and powerful audio manipulation tools while another company was quietly building a platform to store and transfer music files in the simplest and friendliest way possible. Have you heard of Soundcloud today? How about Bojam?
What is one thing that you do daily to grow as an entrepreneur?
I try to read a little bit every day. So many smart and motivated people have lived out a full career of experiences, solved all sorts of complex problems, and are surprisingly open to talking in detail about it. It can feel hard to justify in a day filled with calendar events, but I believe that 30-60 minutes of reading per day might be the MOST efficient value creating exercise you can do for your team.
What are three books or courses you recommend for new entrepreneurs?
Lean Startup by Eric Ries is an all-time classic and introduced me to the scientific approach to startup building. I would start there. Sprint by Jake Knapp would be next. If you read it, then try it, you’ll save yourself months of product development time, hundreds of thousands of dollars of MVP-ing, and possibly years of chasing down the wrong startup idea. Change by Design is the primer for Design Thinking written by Tim Brown of IDEO. With those three books in the bag, you’re ready to start ANYTHING.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
I wish I had known how my business works 😛 I spent a good few years figuring that out. I don’t know if I would have done this, but before starting a business, spending a year or two working for a competitor could probably save you 3-4 years of trial and error and also give you a book of contacts that you could use to kickstart your new business network. I mentioned this before, but I also wish I knew how to say ‘No’ to clients that are eager to find help, but that don’t actually need what you’re selling. When the right need and the right solution get together, it’s magical for everyone. But when there is a mismatch, both sides are destined to walk away dispirited and discouraged.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
I have a few points I want to share here. Our best marketing asset is our reputation (no surprise there). If you work hard and help others succeed, they will keep coming back to you. Our best strategy, therefore, is to try and encourage that by creating content that reminds your partners of all of the cool things you do and think about. But don’t underestimate the power of asking for help. You’d be surprised how often people will take a few minutes to make an intro or forward something when you have a clear, well thought out, reasonable ask. But make sure you ask your people how you can help them too. I think that goes back to community and helping your neighbor out.
More generally, I believe marketing can be simplified to figuring out who you want to talk to and where they spend their time, then saying what you want to say over and over again. We continuously try new platforms, approaches, and content types. We’re constantly rewriting and rewording. And we don’t get bogged down by the weight of our tasks – we JUST DO IT. That means you put yourself out there, say what you want to say, accept that you won’t say it perfectly, then move on to the next one. There will always be the opportunity to come back and revisit a piece of content, especially if it starts to get some attention.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new startup, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
$20 on Sprint by Jake Knapp. Read it, do it once or twice. Spend $250 on user interviews. Gather the results and put it into a deck, then spend the rest of the money buying food and coffee while you reach out to every single angel investor and potential co-founder you can find, showing them your results and your vision until you come across one or two who sees the world in a similar way. Rinse and repeat.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Whatever you plan to work on, think in terms of ongoing effort and years. You’re not starting an app, you’re starting a business. It’s going to take a HUGE amount of time and effort. Plan for it. When you budget, set a target amount for marketing, software development, compensation for the team (yourself included), whatever else you think you’ll need money for. But don’t set it as a one time fee – set it as a monthly recurring, even if the number gets much smaller. Startups are about surviving with your cash flow – the second that dries up, so do your dreams.
What is your favorite quote?
When you come to a fork in the road, take it. I know it’s meant as a joke, but to me, I see an underlying meaning – if you are forced to choose between two options, think about a third option that can allow you to take both paths. It’s more about looking outside the surface options to a more creative, undiscovered path.
- Google Apps is number one – it’s free for most beginning users and gives you all of the productivity staples.
- Invision has a bunch of really friendly, easy to use design tools.
- Wix can get your websites and landing pages launched very quickly and cheaply.
- Trello is a simple, but powerful project management tool. Oops, that’s four.
How is running a tech company different than what you thought it would be?
I always thought my lack of technical expertise when I started was a glaring weakness, but there are tons of technical people working in technology (no sh&t, right?). But the point is – there is actually a shortage of non-technical people – storytellers, number crunchers, researchers, salespeople. Understand your weakness first, then flip it around – it’s probably your strength too.
How can readers get in touch with you?
Email me! Andrew@sfappworks.com. Or you can find me on twitter: @abgr26
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