Detracker: “Making Clients Happy Is The Best Benchmark To Adhere To.”

Describe Detracker in 50 words or less.

Detracker is the first online privacy and information security advisory firm focused solely on helping startups and entrepreneurs with the new data protection regulations (GDPR). Ex corporate and cyber security, our team has worked with SMBs from Moscow to San Fransisco.

Why did you decide to pursue your own dreams rather than someone else’s?

Privacy is our passion and we have a clear vision of how to help startups get it right. Our previous lives, albeit comfortable and stable, were not benefiting the world as we do now. The new data protection rules (General Data Protection Regulation) are especially more complex than the old ones and if not applied correctly will cost companies 4% of their annual income; whether a one woman/man band or a multinational.

We believe that it’s something about the freedom to be creative when working with our clients and to help the people who really need it at affordable prices that lies at the heart of Detracker. Knowing that we’re going to pull 100 hour weeks on a regular basis we didn’t hesitate to quit and start our own thing. Since then we’ve been growing very fast and have already helped startups from Moscow to San Fransisco as well as across the EU and Canada.

Describe your typical working day from coming to the office to leaving it.

The best thing about being in the startup world is that there is no typical day per se (despite the fact that the office still stands). Rather, the typical things to do are meeting clients – lots of meetings over lunch or during any part of the day, working on deliverables, brewing green tea, commuting, having calls across multiple time zones, liaising with partners and media. Now take these previous things and shuffle them in no particular order. That would be very close to a typical day.

In what ways do you measure your success and how do you make sure you don’t lose track?

Making clients happy is the best benchmark to adhere to. Not only as a success measurement tool but also as a market advantage. We constantly keep in touch with our clients to answer their questions, address their needs but also to grab drinks and brainstorm the latest explosive trends in the startup world.

Making sure not to lose track is the part that involves a lot of tools and get very technical. We set quarterly and even monthly and weekly goals for reaching out to clients and generating new ones as well as maintaining the proper communication channels.

Already pivoted? Did customers use the service like you imagined it in the beginning?

Luckily, now is the time that attitudes towards privacy are changing (to the better). Nevertheless, some people don’t fully grasp the urgency of the situation and gravity of the fines for not complying with data regulations. For that reason, we offer free explanatory sessions about these things so that customers know better how our services apply to them.

Bootstrapped or financed: What fuels your startup now and what will in the future?

At the moment (and from the start) bootstrapped. Admittedly, its the hardest way to start but it’s the secret sauce of having the freedom to really experience entrepreneurship.

With ferocious competition and a booming trend to build new companies: How do you make sure you don’t get lost in the shuffle?

With our hybrid background in online privacy, business development and cyber security we are a long distance ahead. Additionally, being startup oriented and a startup ourselves we know what idea and scaling stage companies are looking for. We always keep an eye on the latest trends and pursue the best channels for reaching out to people.

7 years from now: How did your startup change the world?

By then we will have kept 1000 entrepreneurs and startups out of data protection inflicted bankruptcy. If that’s not good enough then we will have also grown their customer base by 20% by the time its 7 years + 1 day. Research across the EU shows that people would pay more for a service that offers privacy guarantees and a fifth would choose it over a competitor offering the same service. We are taking it step by step now and are more focused on spreading awareness about the topic through talks and free consultation sessions. So hopefully 7 years from now, our startup will have educated more companies and consumers about their rights and responsibilities.

Why would a talent join your team?

If they are passionate about privacy, want flexibility in working with companies across the globe, love London 🙂 and are passionate about privacy again.

What was your most memorable moment so far?

Validating the idea and the numbers that resulted in the leap of faith.

What advice would you give fellow founders for their startup?

Do the research. Lots of it. Besides knowing the market and where you can come in, this will be your foundation to look back to on rainy days. You will also have to do a lot of customer research to really refine your approach. This might sound repetitive and indeed it is but with every new piece of information gathered you will save on time wasted learning not from research and avoid those awkward moments with customers or partners. At the heart of things is trial and error – don’t shy away from going out there and seeing what the world throws at you. The more you do of that the more knowledge you will have about doing things better and more efficiently.

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