Basil: So, you're an investor, and you also just founded Beco Capital, you latest venture. If I'm a startup, what are the major characteristics you look at to say, hey, this is a yay or nay?
Dany: I'm going to give them to you sort of . They're all very important, I don't want to necessarily stake one over the other, but I think the first thing that we look at is it's got to be a simple idea. Can we understand it? I've seen some great ideas out there that are so complex or I think that in some cases they're maybe communicating it in a complex manner, or they can be communicating it in a very simple manner, or they really are just complex. So, a simple idea that preferably solves a big problem or a significant problem. And if it doesn't--not every great business actually solves a significant problem, just a significant need. When I think about, you know, what is it that a "Facebook" does? It wasn't solving much of a problem there was a need. It just made things a hell of a lot easier.
So the value prop there was just convenience things, if you like. So it must be a significant game changer from a value proposition. If it's not a big problem that's being solved, if it's not a big efficiency that's being introduced into the marketplace, or a convenience that is significant enough for a large enough addressable market to care about it, to basically use it... So those are the main criteria, a simple idea and a problem-solving idea. Team, the more complete the team, the better off everyone is obviously. I think it's rare to find team, that we like that.
And, I think, within the team as well, to see strong leadership, and executive capability. And again, if people haven't done much before, it's difficult to critique and sort of benchmark execution. But you can still go back to what was done life whether it's in sports or their academics, or you really want to see being able to execute. It's a difficult one to audit for, and to look for. A large enough accessible market; I mean there's some great businesses that can on a stand-alone basis be wonderful, but on a stand-alone basis maybe they don't make a national level or regional. So I think it's important for us in the investment community that these businesses can become sizeable enough. And then scalability, if you remember from a little bit earlier on.
Basil: Right, right.
Dany: And here what I mean by scalability, because I said a large accessible market, that is scale. Scalability, for me, is revenues grow faster than your expenses. It's proportionate in a positive manner to expenses. That's scalability, and that's a wonderful thing that we look for as well.
About the Guest:
Dany is a successful serial entrepreneur and investor with several partial and complete exits from ventures in a variety of industries.
Dany co-founded Bayt.com, the Middle East’s largest job site; Butlers, the UAE’s largest commercial laundry company; Intercat, one of the largest catering companies in the UAE; and Peekaboo, a Dubai-based children’s play center. He currently sits on the boards of Intercat and Butlers and has also invested in multiple businesses over the years, spanning America, Europe, and the Middle East. Dany was a seed investor in Gonabit, a Middle East focused daily deal website that was acquired by Living Social in 2011.
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Characteristics Investors Look for in a Startup
Dany Farha as the founder of BECO Capital will tell startups and entrepreneurs what kind of characteristics investors look for in startups and entrepreneurs.
