Interview Edition: Aleksandra Porebska

Describe yourself in 50 words or less.

I am Aleksandra Porebska, Director of IT at FORDATA. I am also responsible for business development, including identifying new expansion areas. I studied at Poznan University of Economics, majoring in “Electronic Business” and then gained experience as a systems analyst in international corporations such as Procter & Gamble and GlaxoSmithKline. In my free time, I am passionate about traveling and trekking.

Tell us a bit about FORDATA.

The primary product of FORDATA, the virtual data room, is a proprietary web-based application that is used to securely manage confidential documents and communication during complex transactions.

As a startup, we supported transactions as Mergers & Acquisitions and IPOs. Now we are the leading Virtual Data Room provider in Poland and we are supporting the biggest and also the most demanding projects such as restructurings, capital raising projects and privatizations.

The virtual data room allows our clients to execute deals in an entirely electronic form, efficiently and fast, while ensuring full control and security of any shared information. It is offered as a service, made available for the limited time of the transaction. We also provide professional support and the appropriate organization in the processes. FORDATA services are used by market leaders in Poland and abroad, including the largest advisory companies, banks, investment boutiques, law firms and Private Equity / Venture Capital funds.

While most businesses operate with the business-to-customer (B2C) model, you are a business-to-business (B2B) company. What do you see as the main differences?

I think a common early mistake is to confuse, or forget, that in a B2B you are dealing with both users and customer. In B2C, the user is also the customer. But It is not necessarily that way in B2B.

What is the difference then?

A customer is someone who uses your service, but is not necessarily the one paying for it. The customer is usually the organization, business or corporation, who pays for the product.

The common advice for startups is to speak early and often to their user. What’s the B2B version?

It is trickier – you still need to speak to your users to understand their needs and pain points, so that you can build the product that addresses them. But you also need to talk to the customer, the company representatives, purchasing departments or project managers – the people who make the purchasing decisions and can write the checks.

How to approach businesses?

You do your research – who are your potential clients? Then reach out to them! We did a lot of cold calls in the early stages. Networking events, conferences and workshops can give you further – much needed – exposure. This is how we started and now our Virtual Data Room became a standard tool used during complex and confidential deals in Poland and other Central and Eastern European countries.

For a young startup this might sound daunting. Why should a large firm listen to them?

It can be scary, but ultimately, you are trying to help their business. If you really found a valuable solution for them, they will welcome the opportunity to talk to you. In the earliest stages you have to establish your credibility just by your personalities and accomplishments (your previous experiences, awards or even your study accomplishments). But as soon as possible start to build up a portfolio of references. If you deliver a good service, companies will generally be happy to serve as a reference for you. That will open many doors for you.
The recommendation is – start early. Don’t put off talking to your clients!

Assuming we have established first contacts. What’s next?

After establishing your credibility by being smart and attentive to the needs of your clients, you start working on your product or service. In our case, we came to our first clients with just a mockup of the virtual data room. We put a lot of thought and care into the mockup, so that it is convincing, but we only started to build the functionality after talking to our first potential customers. You will get a lot of very valuable feedback for free!
You have to stay extraordinarily flexible and focused on your clients’ needs. Processes in which we participate are characterized by a high level of complexity, multiplicity of parties involved, and a high time pressure. We understand this, and therefore we focus on instant response time, proactive contact and flexibility. All these are very important for B2B.

How do you keep up the relationships with business?

This is very important! Even now not a single week passes, that we wouldn’t reach out to an existing customer or a new prospect. Keeping the relationship alive is essential, always stay in touch. It can be just a phone call, lunch or meeting at an event. In the early phases we have always sent a Christmas cards to all our customers and investors, but also to all firms that declined our services.

Building strong customer relationships to the customers is the single most important factor. And you won’t accomplish it by avoiding talking to the business! Be friendly and helpful and always try to stay on their mind.

What do you think about partnerships with large companies?

For a small startup partnering with a large, established company might sound tempting. And sometimes it is the right step. But you also have to beware of the downsides. Early partnerships slow you down by getting involved in less agile business processes of larger companies.

There is also another risk. Ask yourself: why doesn’t my client implement a similar solution by themselves in-house? Why has this niche not been filled already? If you have a proprietary technology, you can feel safer than if your solution has low technological (or procedural) barriers.

What are your recommendations for the team itself?

You need to work with smart, hard working people, you can rely on even in the most stressful situation. Despite that, you’ll have conflicts and you’ll learn a lot about your team and about yourself. It is hard, but also very rewarding.

At this point I’m not telling you a new secret – communication is essential, talk about issues early and openly. And don’t forget to celebrate your successes! Passion for the project is essential – without being passionate, you’ll not be able to put in all the hard work it will demand. Therefore: only work on what makes you happy!

What do you wish you’ve learned earlier?

At some point, we have realized that we really need to understand how large companies and corporations work. This was the key to better understand how our clients work and how they make business decisions.

Learning to say “no”, is also an important skill, that most of us have to learn the hard way – and most of the times too late. As your startup grows, you as a founder will also have to make at some point the transition from managing your clients to managing your company. This brings completely new challenges, like the need for delegations and learning new skills. Getting a management training might be a good idea at these stages.

What do you wish you knew before you started your startup?

If I had known how hard it will be before we started, I would not have gone into it. Sometimes it is better not to know that something is impossible, then you might end up accomplishing it!

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