As I started to evaluate some of great ideas, I had to realize that there were plenty space for the improvement in term of design. And when I talk about design, I don’t talk about pretty screens or beautiful product, I talk more about relevance and about the user experience.

Today, among all startups based in Silicon Valley, the distinguishing factor of Silicon Valley’s brightest companies is their design. Instagram for instance simplified the cacophony of social media into single, beautiful images. Pinterest is another example, where it turned links for fashion and recipes into shareable, lust-worthy cards. In a recent study regarding the impact of design on success rate of startups, they find out that 27 startups co-founded by designers and 13 creative agencies were acquired in the last 4 years by companies like Google, Facebook, Adobe, LinkedIn, Dropbox, and Yahoo.

Why are VC’s and giant technology companies like Google are suddenly so interested in design? Why Google paid $3.2 billion to purchase Nest Labs? And why many VC’s hiring designers as partner? It is very simple. A designer can bring a viewpoint of not just aesthetics, but economics and usage.
And why you should care as an entrepreneur for design? Just because design has become a “game changer” and this in not only in Silicon Valley. All statistics show that startups co-founded by designers have created billions of dollars of value and are raising billions of dollars in capital, and since the VC firms increasingly see the importance of design, it is more likely that they invest in your start up, because of great user experience.

My advice for startups in Iran: Start with design, rather than just end with it.

*Disclaimer: Due sanction we did not offer any mentorship or any similar coaching activities. We only gave feedback to their ideas without any follow-ups after the event.

Written by Peter Thiel

Published in September 2014

I recently finished reading a book about startups. The name of the book is “ZERO to ONE”, written by PayPal Co-Founder Peter Thiel . My key takeaways from the book are the seven questions, that Peter Thiel recommends, that “Every Entrepreneur must answer:

1. The Engineering Question: Can you create breakthrough technology instead of incremental improvements?
2. The Timing Question: Is now the right time to start your particular business?
3. The Monopoly Question: Are you starting with a big share of a small market?
4. The People Question: Do you have the right team?
5. The Distribution Question: Do you have a way to not just create but deliver your product?
6. The Durability Question: Will your market position be defensible 10 and 20 years into the future?
7. The Secret Question: Have you identified a unique opportunity that others don’t see.

The book provides helpful information on being an Entrepreneur and how to be and remain successful. And how we can apply and answer these questions in context of Iranian Startups?

Let’s walk through one by one:

• On #1: Iranian universities produce lot of great engineers each year. But when it comes to creativity and coming up with new ideas, many of them tend to copy new ideas instead creating them. It might work for short time, but in the long run this will end up in a flop.  I like the quote from the film “Beautiful Mind” where John Nash says: “Find a truly original idea. It is the only way I will ever distinguish myself. It is the only way I will ever matter.”
• On #2: Timing is another factor for any entrepreneur. I think the current Iranian market has a huge potential for launching new products and services, however we need to do our homework and be aware about the market trends and not to bee proud about our achievements.
• On #3: Thiel says monopoly, not competition, is the way to go. His advice to entrepreneurs is to find a niche and dominate it. From the current market situation perspective in Iran, many new ideas can play a monopoly role, but don’t forget, many similar ideas are on the way and this means you have to see constantly in your rear mirror.
• On #4: This is for me the most important issue many (established) Iranian businesses have in Iran and this is also a cultural one. Our education system never thought us to work as team during our 12 years of schooling.  Our parents encouraged us to compete with the others rather to collaborate. Teamwork should be learned and can be enhanced through education and proper working environment. We need to change our mindset and also trust others more thane ever.
• On #5: Many entrepreneurs I met, are very good engineers, but not a good salesman. No matter how strong is your product, Iranian startups underestimate the power of Sales and Marketing. Don’t be afraid, work also with somebody who has also have a sales and marketing background.
• On #6: Durability is another factor, which many Iranian businesses (not only startups) oversee. The reason is again our cultural mindset. We have never learned to plan for the long term. We want only make quick wins. Iranian businesses need to incorporate sustainability in their company culture.
• On #7: The education system in many countries (even industrial)  teaching us to stuffs that more or less are old standard. We never try to challenge those stuffs we learn in the school. We must learn to see what other people don’t see.

Looking forward to hear your thought on this review.

Happy Reading!

Prior to Periscope, Kayvon founded his first startup, which he sold to learning business Blackboard for $4 million before he even turned to 21. Kayvon is 27 years old and was born in San Francisco. His parent immigrated from Iran to US before 1979 revolution. He has a B.S in Computer Science from Stanford University.

Since Live-Video streaming is shaking the tech world, this become for Periscope the momentum to sell the startup to Twitter. Twitter paid in March 2015 in a quiet deal slightly less than $100 million*, which made Periscope one of Twitter’s more expensive purchases. This seems a good deal for both sides. For Periscope which was founded in 2014 and had only 5 team members (today 25 employees) without even launching the product after 11 months of works and also for Twitter as real-time communications platform, who wants to become the major player in the Live-Video industry.

There are also big challenges Periscope (Twitter) business model faces toward content providers such as HBO**. HBO and other content providers companies are concern about piracy on the new services like Periscope. In April this year HBO’s “Game of Thrones” premiere, were illegally broadcast through the Periscope app. This incident led HBO to send takedown notices to Periscope/Twitter (in the United States the law requires that unauthorized copyrighted material online be taken down within 24 hours). In order to fix the piracy issue, Periscope needs to work on a better technology for automating removal of copyright content, but technical complexity for fixing of this issue is more complicated than it is on YouTube or similar platforms.

Other major player on the Video-Live Streaming field is Meerkat, which was launched in March and turned Live-Streaming into a Twitter’s platform. But Twitter now offers Periscope as a new service. Interestingly Periscope isn’t built into Twitter, it’s a standalone app with Twitter integration. Now the question is if Periscope will win over Meerkat and other competitors like YouNow.
Periscope has changed the game for the Video-Live streaming and is going to shake up the media. That is the reason why Twitter did not wait for the launch of the first release of Periscope.

* Industry sources tell the deal was somewhere between $75 and $120 million USD
**HBO is an American premium cable and satellite television network