20VC: Eight Pieces of Startup Advice that are BS: Why You Do Not Have to Love Your Space, It Is Ok To Do It For The Money, Focus Is Not Everything, Speed Is Not The Most Important Thing with Akin Babayigit, Co-Founder @ Tripledot Studios
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 26 June 2023
⏱️ 67 minutes
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Summary
Akin Babayigit is a serial entrepreneur and an active angel investor. He is currently the Founder and COO of Tripledot Studios, one of the fastest-growing mobile gaming companies in the world, which was recently valued at over $1.4BN. In just 4 years, Tripledot grew to generate several hundred million dollars per year in revenue and currently entertains over 50 million people every month. Tripledot was recently named as the #1 fastest-growing European company by FT, as well as being named as the fastest-growing Tech business in the UK, in the annual “UK Tech Awards”.
In Today's Episode with Akin Babayigit We Discuss:
Entry into the World of Startups and Gaming:
- How Akin made his way from Turkey to HBS and founding a unicorn in Tripledot?
- How did the lack of a father figure impact Akin's approach to parenting?
- What are 1-2 of Akin's biggest takeaways from his time at Facebook, Skype and King.com?
- What advice would Akin give to all new joiners at a company today?
90% of Startup Advice is Total BS:
- BS Myth #1: "You have to be passionate about your domain". Why does Akin disagree with this? If you do not have passion for the domain, what do you have to have?
- BS Myth #2: "You have to be solving a real problem". Why does Akin disagree with this mantra? If you are not solving a real problem, what should you be solving?
- BS Myth #3: "When you do a startup, your life will suck for a long period of time". Why does Akin strongly disagree with this? Does it get easier over time? What does Akin advise founders to make the earlier days easier?
- BS Myth #4: "Focus is everything. You should focus on a single thing and only do that." Why does Akin believe that focus can be dangerous? How should founders know when to pivot vs when to keep going?
- BS Myth #5: "Mission and vision statements are so important." Why does Akin believe that the majority of mission statements are BS? Is it worth having them at all?
- BS Myth #6: "You should hire people with domain experience." Why does Akin believe you should hire people who do not have domain experience? What does Akin look for in these candidates? What have been his biggest hiring mistakes? How has his hiring changed over time?
- BS Myth #7: "Speed is the most important thing." Why does Akin believe that speed can be dangerous? When is it right to go fast vs go slow?
- BS Myth #8: "Valuations matter and you should optimize." Why does Akin believe that valuations do not matter in the long run? How should founders approach the valuation discussion with this in mind?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The best founders talk about quote unquote value ad VC firms and giggle because I don't think a VC can truly add operational value to a truly exceptional founder. |
| 0:10.8 | The biggest value ad I think that a VC can have on a company is really just to be there for the bad times and just be a friend in the good times. |
| 0:18.4 | This is 20 VC with me, Harry Stebbings, and stay sure is a very special one for me personally. |
| 0:23.0 | I welcome one of the greatest founders I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with, |
| 0:26.9 | an incredible human and father, |
| 0:28.8 | and really just very proud to call him a dear friend. |
| 0:31.1 | And so with that, I'm thrilled to welcome Akin Baba Yagid, |
| 0:33.8 | founder and COO of Triple Dot Studios, |
| 0:36.1 | one of the fastest growing mobile gaming companies in the world, which was recently valued at over $1.4 billion. |
| 0:42.3 | In just four years, TripleDoc grew to generate several hundred million dollars per year in revenue and currently entertains over 50. |
| 0:49.3 | That's 50 million people every month. |
| 0:52.3 | TripleDot was recently named the number one fastest growing |
| 0:55.8 | European company by the Financial Times. But before we move into the show's day, over 50% of your |
| 1:01.3 | day is filled with tedious tasks. What would you do if you got that half a day back? Now you |
| 1:06.2 | can with Coda, the all in one platform that changes the way your team works together, and |
| 1:10.7 | Coda just introduced an AI-powered work changes the way your team works together, and Coda |
| 1:10.9 | just introduced an AI-powered work assistant to take the busy out of work. |
| 1:15.5 | With Coda, your team's important workflows and content already live all in one place, |
| 1:19.6 | and Coda AI helps each team member focus on the highest priority work, even as priority shift |
| 1:25.5 | across the team. |
| 1:26.5 | Now, by taking over recurring tedious work, Coda AI empowers team members to prioritize longer term and really strategic work to accomplish goals. |
| 1:35.3 | Coda AI not only makes space for collaboration in each person's workday, but it can make it easier to stay in the loop and share informed opinions. |
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