An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
I wish someone told me a lot more than just five things actually but if I had to give others advice I would say be open to making mistakes. I found that no matter how much guidance and advice you may take, it is the most helpful to make your own mistake and learn from them. No startup is the same so each one will come with its own unique challenges to face.
As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Adi Gelvan.
Adi Gelvan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Speedb, the next-generation data engine. Leading global software technology companies to outstanding growth by leveraging his 20 years of experience in management, commercialization, and sales. Prior to co-founding Speedb, Adi held positions at SQream, Infinidat, Spot, and XIV.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
“I was born and raised in Israel. After spending over three years as a combat fighter in one of the IDF special forces units, I studied math & computer science and started a career in the IT industry. After a few different management positions, I decided to move into the business sector and started a career in sales for a US corporation. Very soon after, I found myself holding the position of Vice President of Sales in an Israeli startup that was later acquired by a big US corporation. After that point, I couldn’t see myself working in another big corporation again.”
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“‘If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you are probably right.’
Sometimes the gap between an idea and reality is merely the belief. The first step to achieving anything is thinking you can do it. Without that, you will never be able to succeed.”
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
“‘Sapiens: a brief history of humankind’ by Yuval Noah Harari is something interesting I read lately. It is fascinating in the clarity of the story that puts in perspective everything that happened through the history of this earth.“
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?
“In my experience, an idea starts with just a thought, then gets a form, and then goes through the “falling in-love with your idea” stage. If we start with rationalizing the idea and putting it through some basic tests like: does it solve a real problem, is this problem prevalent, and is it of value to the potential clients? Do I have an advantage over other people if I do it? If the honest answer to those questions is yes, then you should put on your ‘Belief’ hat and start pursuing it.
We all have ideas every day and sometimes a couple of ideas every day, however not all of them present a solution for an existing prevalent problem. In the case of Speedb, we first tackled a problem that we thought was relevant to just us and tried looking for a solution. When we realized that this is also a problem for many clients we decided to develop our technology to try to solve this problem.”
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
“Fortunately, the internet allows us to search for things very quickly, so finding out whether someone has already done something is easy. The fact that someone has already thought about something should not discourage someone from pursuing his idea if he believes he can do it better. The difference between successful and unsuccessful ideas is usually not the idea but the execution.”
For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
“Validate the 3 tests of a good idea:
1. Does it solve a real problem?
2. Is the problem prevalent?
3. Do I have an objective advantage in solving the problem.
If the answers to these questions are positive, you move to the next step. Find a good team to build the product with you: Find people who have complementary skills and that have the same vision as you. Build the product you know will solve your customers’ problems. Talk to the customers during the development and verify that the outcome is as planned.
While developing and designing the product, protect your IP by writing the relevant patents (a good patent lawyer can help).
After the product is ready, find the right design partners to check it. If they are willing to buy it, you are in a good position.
Resellers should be companies who actively sell to your target market and customers and have the right relationship already in place.”
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
“I wish someone told me a lot more than just five things actually but if I had to give others advice I would say be open to making mistakes. I found that no matter how much guidance and advice you may take, it is the most helpful to make your own mistake and learn from them. No startup is the same so each one will come with its own unique challenges to face”
Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
“Make sure you know the market you are aspiring to sell to, and that you understand the problem and offerings to this problem very well. Then go through the basic tests of recognizing if it solves a real problem, if the problem is prevalent, and if you have an objective advantage in solving the problem.”
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
“I have never worked with invention development consultants, so I can’t really say anything about it, however, my experience is that listening to people can never hurt as long as you stay loyal to your own truth.”
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
“They each have their benefits depending on what you need for your startup. I don’t think there is one right path to any successful startup. I would go with the path that will put you on the fastest route to get to your goals.”
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
“Probably not as much as I would like to, but I try to help young entrepreneurs by sharing the mistakes that I have made and maybe help them avoid making similar ones themselves.”
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
“They say that every child needs one grown-up to believe in him in order to feel worthy. I believe it’s right for each one of us at every stage of our lives. If everyone would take a young person and believe in him, a lot could be accomplished.”
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
“Probably Yuval Noah Harari, the Israeli historian, and author. He has a fascinating perspective of the world and people in general. I would love to pick his brain and understand his insights further.”
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Making Something From Nothing: Adi Gelvan Of Speedb On How To Go From Idea To Launch was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
