FuseBox Session #8: Christina Grzasko
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Re-Building a Business: Pivoting iLaw Christina Grzasko Founder and Product Development Director Anya Designs Ltd
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Re-Building a Business: Pivoting iLaw Christina is a former lawyer who built a small software company that created a software package for the legal profession. Changes in legal aid provision almost destroyed her business overnight, but she worked through the immediate stress, distress and fear to analyse what her value (and values) are and what assets her business has built up which can be held on to whilst steering it in a new direction. What are the FuseBox Sessions? The Fusebox Sessions are fortnightly events held by Wired Sussex at our FuseBox home in Brighton and are part of our FuseBox24 start-up programme. The sessions are based around the general theme of ‘ideas you can use’. We think that they have a lot to offer people outside the programme too, so we have made the sessions open and free of charge to Wired Sussex member companies and their employees. Each session consists of a talk with Q & A followed by the chance to network. These events are supported by the EU’s European Regional Development fund through the INTERREG IVC programme ReCreate
Transcript of FuseBox Session #8: Christina Grzasko
Re-Building a Business: Pivoting iLaw
Christina GrzaskoFounder and Product Development Director
Anya Designs Ltd
Who Am I?
• I am the founder and product development director for Anya Designs Ltd, a software company I founded in 1996
• I am also a scouser, a musician and I have defended 5 alleged murderers, 3 of whom were convicted
Do you remember the first time…?
First Product to Market 1997
First Pivot
Fourth Pivot
The obstacle is the path
You always have a choice
• To walk away• To sulk• To find a plan B, C, D through to Z
This is true
You aren’t your business idea
The ability to pivot is an essential tool in your kitbag. Without it you are on the fast track to a mac job. Fearing it is pointless so it's a good idea to get there as fast as possible so you can start learning.
Be clear about this
• What does this group of potential customers want?
• What pain would they pay us money to get rid of?
And ignore this
• How cool do you think my current idea is?• Do you like the extra bits we chucked in as a
truly excellent idea after a night down the pub?
Practical Steps
• current customers• internal ip• internal skills and experience• willingness to learn and change• how much money do we have ?• how far can we spin it out ?
Our checklist
• customers – we still have some• staff – we still have some• reusable code – we have loads of it• desire within the business to change direction
– people are variously scared to death and excited, often at the same time.
What has to give in order for the whole to survive?
• Our current business model and• Our current assumptions about what we do• But never our freedom in how we do it
How we interpret the events in our lives, our perspective, is the framework for our forthcoming response—whether there will even be one or whether we’ll just lie there and take it.
Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the
darkness.Terry Pratchett
pivot improve it
fight
Learn and enjoy the ride
