I would talk to customers sooner. I would show them a prototype sooner and also learn from their feedback sooner. It’s paramount to validate features (and product-market fit) before implementing valuable tech resources into the product.
Alexander Tange is the co-founder and Head of Market at nextSociety, a professional networking startup that is based in New York.
He is a networker and community talent – who connects with everyone.
Where did the idea for nextSociety come from?
Back in 2011, Austrian Peter Stebe and German Alexander Tange met at a coffee shop close to Times Square. The two business consultants at Ernst & Young had been living in the US for a while and got into a discussion about the pain of finding the right people in their network. What they had in mind was a micro network for relevant business contacts, in line with a professional’s skills and interests.
What does your typical day look like?
There is no typical day – everyday looks different. I work on business development / partnerships, marketing, growth, and investor relations.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Brainstorm, prototype, build, launch, test, iterate, and repeat the process all over again.
What’s one trend that really excites you?
The increasing speed of innovation, but it also scares me. Even disruptive businesses can be disrupted if they become complacent and refuse to innovate.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Working with a team makes me more productive through collaboration and discussion of new ideas. It’s really conversations that help drive innovation.
What was the worst job you ever had and what did you learn from it?
I was given a manual task that was high volume and cumbersome and I learned how to automate tasks by leveraging technology. I believe in working smarter, not harder.
If you were to start again, what would you do differently?
I would talk to customers sooner. I would show them a prototype sooner and also learn from their feedback sooner. It’s paramount to validate features (and product-market fit) before implementing valuable tech resources into the product.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Learn. I learn every day and recommend everyone learns and I strongly believe the day you stop learning you will fail.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business? Please explain how.
Demonstrate to people value and articulate a big vision. We show our users in concrete terms how our customers have benefited in their lives from the app. Our core vision inspires people in the direction that we’re moving forward.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
There is no one failure, there are many failures and from each failure you learn, period. Every task is hard to get right the first time, so you need to fail and then figure out how to get it right so that it works. Entrepreneurship by its very definition embraces failure.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Bring Foursquare with its mayorship concept back. I really loved it.
Tell us something about you that very few people know?
My first job was a pizza driver in high school.
What software and web services do you use? What do you love about them?
I use LinkedIn to grow my network. I use nextSociety to meet the right people (from LinkedIn). And I use Amy ) to schedule my meetings.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
For entrepreneurs in New York, read Tech in the City by Alessandro Piol.
What people have influenced your thinking and might be of interest to others?
Elon Musk to achieve the impossible.
Connect:
nextSociety on LinkedIn:
nextSociety on Facebook:
nextSociety on Twitter: @nextSocietyInc
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.