Keep everything lean. Make mistakes and learn from them, then move forward. Aim for sustainability, both in the professional and personal life.
Akos is a tech enthusiast who loves building things. He is fascinated by optimization and well-working systems. The process of creation is one of the most important things for him when it comes to business.
With his first startup he received the second prize at the Microsoft Imagine Cup in 2014 and now he is the co-founder and COO of Capturly, a full-stack analytics platform whose aim is to provide online businesses with first-hand feedback and real business insights simply and intelligibly. Their mission is to make easier for our customers to make those business decisions which will result in amazing business development. Capturly focuses on the main driving forces: conversion and retention.
Beside of his business position, He is also the founder and organizer of the SzegedBoost movement. The aim of SzegedBoost is to strengthen the concept of collaborative value creation in the region and build an open community that connects the members of the tech ecosystem.
Akos spends a lot of time traveling and he is also a huge fan of concept arts and basketball.
Where did the idea for Capturly come from?
The idea of Capturly came from a specific need we had about 3 years ago. We used Google Analytics on a real estate portal which is great when it comes to collecting quantitative data. Eventually, we wanted something more, so we started searching. We have found several tools that can collect qualitative data using heatmaps, session replay etc. However, we ended up using two tools instead of one. Then we asked ourselves, why not combine the benefits of the two tools under one hood? So the idea of Capturly was born.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
If I’d say I wake up in the morning around 4 AM and go to bed around 7 PM meanwhile giving in 110% all day every day, that would be a huge lie. I always try to keep the balance between work life and social life. If I feel like taking a break, then I’ll do it. The number one enemy of productivity is burning yourself out.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Ideas are like plant seeds. If you have the basic requirements such as the water, sunlight, soil, they grow. But here’s the thing. You can throw all the money and human resources on an idea, if you don’t care and believe enough, you’ll get weak results in return. Brainstorming is great! We usually end up with multiple tens of ideas during a single session and in the end only one or two remains standing. Those are the ones we really love!
What’s one trend that excites you?
The way the world gets smarter by the day. Today we have technologies and solutions, that seemed like sci-fi a couple of years ago. I’m really excited when it comes to Artificial Intelligence (AI), and I can see huge benefits when it comes to Analytical solutions.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
I take the “Time is money” quote very seriously. What you can do today, don’t do it tomorrow. I always try to be punctual when it comes to deadlines.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Stay more focused. Surround yourself with people who help you reach your goals instead of getting sidetracked.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
Twitter is the best social media.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Keep everything lean. Make mistakes and learn from them, then move forward. Aim for sustainability, both in the professional and personal life.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
I would say SEO. To be precise, achieving quality organic traffic with the help of content marketing. It took quite some time until we figured out the methods we should follow. At first, we started looking for guides, that should produce “magic numbers”. However, after a couple of months, we realized, that there’s no better teacher than experience. Whatever you do, don’t follow a single guide, instead, take the harder trial and error way. There are no two identical businesses and nobody should know your business better than yourself.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I would mention Tep, an adorable fitness tracking app that works like a Tamagotchi. It was my first startup and despite its success as a product, it failed as a business. We couldn’t find the right business model which would fit the concept and provide enough money to become self-supporting at the same time. It’s hard to see when a product fails, even if you put tons of work into it. It was hard to overcome, but I think it helped me that I didn’t make any breaks, but jumped into my next project just right after Tep.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
A location-based dating app where you can offer drinks for those who are in your neighbourhood.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
As a professional, it was a Google Adwords campaign for a longtail keyword what we just found in the past weeks. From a personal perspective, I would say my 2nd generation Amazon Echo.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Slack would be the first one to mention. It’s not just a fast communication tool for us, but we also use it to create reminders about the discussed todos and meetings.
The second one would be the Fantastical mobile app. Maybe, it looks too dense for the first sight, but it’s the best app to handle all of your calendars in one place.
And last but not least, I would also add the Google Drive and the related office cloud services. It’s an easy and simple way to cooperate with your teammates.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
If I had to mention only one book, it would be the “The Lean Startup” from Eric Ries. The reason is simple, all the basics are covered in this book to build a successful product.
What is your favorite quote?
“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.”
Richard Branson
Key learnings:
– Keep everything simple, and remind yourself every once in awhile that less is often more.
– Cut yourself some slack, but keep an eye on the schedule. Time is valuable, so spend it well.
– Don’t be afraid to study. It’s never too late to grab a good book and learn something new.
– Really great ideas born from great minds working together. Always hear what others have to say, and only then make a conclusion.
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Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.