Profit TV, Antreprenor de România, 2018: room to experiment, delegation and associations

Antreprenor de România, Profit TV’s interview series with Romanian entrepreneurs, hosted by Claudiu Vrînceanu, April 2018, about half an hour. I was then co-founder and managing partner of Tremend. The host’s description of Tremend: a scale-up, a company growing by at least 20% a year in revenue and employees. Topics: bringing the room to experiment I saw in Silicon Valley to Tremend, our move, as founders, from consulting to management, the threshold of 100 people, trust between companies and the role of associations, an education that accepts mistakes, what helps a company that wants to go abroad.

In Romanian. The quotes are translated, with the original alongside.

§Room to experiment

“To let people create, innovate, to give them a space where they can experiment.” („Să permitem oamenilor să creeze, să inoveze, să le dăm un spațiu în care să poată să experimenteze.”) (at 2:06)

Why build in Romania rather than stay in Silicon Valley: Tremend’s story started there, and the energy I saw there inspired us and was one of the things that motivated us to start the company, along with wanting to do things better (at 0:58 and 1:01). Fourteen years earlier I had worked at a start-up “very much on the wave”, whose software monitored hardware and software infrastructure (at 1:33 and 1:47). The start-up was Blazent: “First Silicon Valley immersion for Blazent Inc, then kicking off the local branch.” What we liked was how innovation happened: we could prototype, try out our own ideas and present them to the technical founders (at 1:52). That, the quote above, is what we tried to bring to Tremend. Why at home: “mi-ar plăcea ca România să devină și mai relevantă” (“I would like Romania to become even more relevant”, at 2:25), and, personally, “îmi place să construiesc lucruri” (“I like to build things”, at 2:25).

Elsewhere. Recorder, 2018, on my first time in Silicon Valley, in 2004: “It was a very beautiful experience to see that energy we had only heard about.” („A fost o experienţă foarte frumoasă să vedem acea energie despre care doar auzisem.”)

§Out of consulting, into management

Delegation:

“It is an art that is hard to learn and hard to master.” („E o artă care se învață greu, se stăpânește greu”) (at 7:05)

The turning points, in reverse order: the US acquisition I hoped would be one, being named twice in a row among the most dynamic companies, and the 2008 crisis, which hit Tremend as it hit everyone (at 5:47 to 6:12). Probably one of the key moments: our move, as founders, out of consulting work and into management, a transition after which growth accelerated (at 6:27). What it took, beyond delegation: more structured departments led by leaders, and a lot of work to align all the company’s managers (at 7:17).

Elsewhere. Exit by Choice, 2023, on HR: “when we started delegating it so we could focus on growth, it showed immediately, in every chart” („când am început să o delegăm ca să ne concentrăm pe creștere, atunci s-a văzut imediat și din toate graficele”) (at 10:31).

§The threshold at 100

“Once you have put in place some mechanisms to manage a number of people, with small adjustments, the model should hold at 100, at 200, at 300.” („odată ce ai așezat în loc niște mecanisme pentru a gestiona un număr de oameni, cu mici ajustări, modelul ar trebui să țină și la 100, și la 200, și la 300”) (at 12:07)

The headcount, before 200, at which growth felt too fast: “Probabil la 100” (“Probably at 100”, at 11:51). Psychological, a matter of perception, not necessarily internal (at 12:01).

§Trust between companies, and associations as start-ups

“The investment of time in these associations is almost similar to an investor’s investment in a start-up.” („investiția de timp în aceste asocieri este aproape similară cu investiția unui investitor, dacă vrei, într-un startup”) (at 22:23)

What I would change overnight in Romania’s business environment: “Să existe un nivel mai mare de încredere între companii” (“A higher level of trust between companies”, at 18:35), for closer collaboration, including through associations (at 18:43). Business ethics, how payments are made and how promises are kept, but also what the ecosystem can build (at 19:21). Of most interest to me: the side effect of associating, proof that Romanians can do things together (at 19:47 and 20:13). A kind of civil society of companies: when a thousand firms take a position, they cannot be ignored (at 20:46 and 21:08). Tremend was part of several organisations, starting with ANIS, the software industry association, on whose board I served (at 21:57). There is no formula by which a single one will succeed: they are like start-ups, and some have a chemistry that makes them work (at 22:10).

§It is OK to make mistakes

“To encourage the courage to try, to make the young understand that it is OK to make mistakes, that they just have to start again and not lose hope.” („să încurajeze mai degrabă curajul de a încerca, să îi facă pe cei mici să înțeleagă că e ok să greșească, trebuie doar să o ia din nou de la capăt și să nu își pierdă speranța”) (at 24:04)

Of three themes the host proposed, my favourite: education (at 23:37). Future entrepreneurs need an environment, from as early as possible, that encourages innovation (at 23:49). Such a mindset is in the end the basis of a successful entrepreneurial system (at 24:20).

Elsewhere. Economica.net, 2022: “I would stress the importance of being open to mistakes, the opposite of how we were taught. Making mistakes has positive sides.” („aș accentua importanța de a fi deschiși față de greșeli, opusul felului în care am fost noi învățați. A greși are valențe pozitive”)

§Someone who has done it before

“The simple awareness action: hey, if you want to do this, here is someone who has done it, here is someone else, here is their experience. It is a very useful thing.” („Simpla acțiune de awareness: hei, dacă vrei să faci asta, uite cineva care a mai făcut-o, uite aici încă pe cineva, uite experiența lor. E un lucru foarte util.”) (at 26:08)

When Tremend took the step abroad, we had many questions and did a lot of searching, for partners in the US among other things, from legal services onwards (at 25:36). Several organisations offer advice on how to approach going international, and making them better known would help (at 25:56). On investment: there were already programmes that encourage entrepreneurship, and as Romania gets its own unicorns there will be more local sources of investment, which will make money for start-ups easier to reach (at 26:44 and 27:07).

Elsewhere. Economica.net, 2022: “We need better synergies and sharing of information and case studies, to grow the number of companies that successfully access much bigger markets, with a different level of capital.” („Ne trebuiesc sinergii mai bune și împărtășirea de informații și studii de caz pentru creșterea numărului de companii care accesează cu succes piețe cu mult mai mari și cu un alt nivel de capital”)