How to grow right // How to make decisions Wayra Prague, 20 May 2014

Small founder toolkit for making decisions

May 20, 2014 GetYourGuide AG 2

“” Growth is the single defining

characteristic of startups. -- Fred Wilson

What I won’t be talking about

!  How to operate through the different growth phases (idea – product/market fit – growth – company building)

!   Book: Steve Blank

!  How to deal with the psychological stress while growing

!   Book: Ben Horowitz

!  How to maintain >100% growth rates

May 20, 2014 GetYourGuide AG 5

May 20, 2014 GetYourGuide AG 6

Growth from the driver ’s seat = Making many good decisions

Making…

Making decisions

!   Recognize and ignore any fear related to the decision

!  Make sure you have enough but not too much information (40-70%)

!   Trust your gut

May 20, 2014 GetYourGuide AG 8

…many…

May 20, 2014 GetYourGuide AG 9

…many…

Speed wins

Bad   Good  

Product   Take  8  months  to  release  major  feature     Rapid  A/B  Tes9ng  

People   Hire  fast,  fire  slow   Hire  slow,  fire  fast  

Company   Annual  strategy   Quarterly  OKRs  

May 20, 2014 GetYourGuide AG 10

…good decisions

“

” By three methods, we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest ; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. -- Confucius

Where to apply which decision type?

Company-­‐  Specificity   Need  for  speed   Dynamic  

Efficiency   Cost  of  failure  

Imita>on  /Learning   Low   High   Low   High  

Reflec>on  /Analyzing   High   Low   High   High  

Experience  /Doing   High   Low   High   Low  

May 20, 2014 GetYourGuide AG 13

Where we have made bad decisions

People   Product   Company  

Imita>on   Culture   Applying  hotel  UX  to  ac9vi9es  space   Strategy  

Reflec>on   Organiza9onal  structure  

8  months  to  release  one  major  feature   Opera9ons  

Experience   Finance  

May 20, 2014 GetYourGuide AG 14

Where we have made better decisions

People   Product   Company  

Imita>on/Learning  •  Organiza9onal  

structure  •  Training  

A/B  Tes9ng  ideas   •  Opera9ons  •  Finance  

Reflec>on   Culture   Give  customers  what  they  want   Strategy  

Experience   Hire  &  Fire   A/B  Tes9ng  

May 20, 2014 GetYourGuide AG 15

Make Many Good

Decisions

Good luck Bad decisions make good stories