Nemeon: Story of a Data & AI Start-up

The last Monday Learn Day of the year. What a year. What a year. Just taking the time to reflect could seduce me into writing a book. So much has happened. Before the launch, the task seemed daunting, sometimes even overpowering, a true moonshot project. How would we define our mission, how would we deliver value, and how would we be different from competitors? It sure was a learning curve. In this post, I want to take you with me - back in time. The exact starting point? Already a difficult one as we officially became an registered company in January but had been in operation as a brand of the Hyperion Group some months before that.

Going from "zero to one" was exciting but certainly also scary at times - no point in selling any "bravado" here. Our first employee - back in November 2021 was a big step. Many books on founding a company make the point that your first employees are crucial to the success of the company. It sure is, but that makes it even more stressful. How can you convince that first capable person to jump into the deep. You're probably not going to start a consulting agency with someone who has zero experience. So, how are you going to come with something so convincing that that first person is willing to follow you and leave the job they had behind? If you're hoping to find the exact formula through reading this, I'll have to disappoint you, there is none. It takes a spark and almost blind faith on both sides. It does help that - if the company becomes a success, the first employees are likely to share in that success. Another point may be that - in this first year - we all felt we were "sharing the trenches" as you could call it.

Getting our first customer was equally challenging. When everyone asks for references, what can you do? You can't lie, but would it be good to be as blunt as saying you are new to the game? For better or for worse, it does create sympathy, but sympathy does rarely help in closing deals. What did help, in our case, was being part of a larger group (the Cronos Group; Belgium's largest network of tech companies). This also means that for companies who don't have this argument, the game is even tougher at the start.

It might sound cliché by now, but perseverance and agility are (some of) the ingredients for success

When starting a company, things will get bad at some point. You'll start with buckets of enthusiasm and - hopefully - you crafted a story that resonated with market needs. How that market will respond however, will never be totally under your control. Finding "product - market fit" is important - even for services companies :). Too many times, I hear founders from other consultancy agencies saying they have "the better people" swiftly following-up on that slogan with the argument that they can also go "very low" in price. It would be ignorant to say price does not play a role but playing the "discounter card" can surely affect how your brand is perceived.

Many start-ups - especially in their early days - follow much of the mindset of their founders. In the case of Nemeon, it was my role as someone who had bought into the rationale of SaaS companies, that impacted our current offering. Instead of going full "Time & Materials" mode, we also offer our services in a SaaS model package. Two examples: our "dashboarding as a service" and "data team as a service" offerings. Simple packages, straightforward pricing and charged on a subscription basis. Risky? For sure! Proven that it works? It is early days but it seems to be heading the right way!

Another important lesson I learned in these early days: it is relatively "easy" to be an HR company, it is very hard to be a tech company. Obviously, it is written from my perspective, a non-technical founder in a technical environment. So let me clarify this statement: if you're not coding yourself in a software company, it is hard to know whether your people are doing the right things at the right time. On the other hand, it is "relatively" simple for such founder to play the "recruitment" and "sales" game. However, this does not set you apart from the pack. My advice would thus be: find the right technical people to support you, and do it fast. If you want to become a "tech company" (doing more "project-based" work instead of more "Time and Materials" (hour factories)), putting highly skilled tech people in "lead" roles or even in the CTO role will make all the difference. It does not mean you have to shift gears or move away from your initial idea, quite to the contrary. Senior tech professionals will help you navigate the waters and think with you as to how that initial destination can be reached.

Speaking of destinations - only a handful of companies probably keep on developing the very first idea the founder(s) ever had. Many pivot, and there is nothing wrong with that. Admitting you were wrong on some aspect does not make you a fool, stubbornly clinging to something that does not work on the other hand... This being said, it sometimes feels like walking a tightrope between "persevering" at what you believe is the right path and "pivoting" when needed. Some resistance should not automatically send you into a 180° change in course.

Sometimes, playing the "long game" does pay off. Especially in consultative selling, it is not unusual for sales cycles to take up 6+ months. Listen carefully to what the market says and try out many things - keep what works (a valuable lesson I got from our good friends "Collins & Porras" ("Built to Last"). For everything I could share in this last Monday Learn Day, it will always leave the taste that it "wasn't" enough. For sure, a blogpost does not do justice to describe the first year - of any start-up for that matter. I do hope that it gave other founders (or would-be founders) a chance to have a peek behind the curtains of how it felt from my end. It was hard work but in the end, I would not wanted it any different way. I'm grateful for having learned a great deal throughout the journey thus far. Together with the other Nemeonites, we can't wait for more to come in 2023! Remember, if it feels like a job, you're probably not doing the right thing (yet). Have fun!