Today's Entrepreneur

Today's Entrepreneur: Vitaly Vlasov

No. 1 mistake: Speak without doing

Innovation series by Kevin Hsu
July 27, 2011 | Comments
Short URL: http://vator.tv/n/1d18

Today's entrepreneur is Vitaly Vlasov, founder of Playcer, a location-based game platform, where you can discover new places, meet new people, get rewards.

Vitaly is one of the tens of thousands of entrepreneurs on Vator who embrace their passion and follow their dreams.

Our entrepreneurs develop innovative ideas, products, and teams.

On Vator, their profiles allow them to tell their stories and share their ups and downs. For us, it's a great way to learn from them.

These easy-to-make profiles give entrepreneurs an opportunity to showcase themselves and tell their story. So if you are an entrepreneur, a serial entrepreneur, or even an aspiring entrepreneur, we'd like to hear from you.

Here's Vitaly in his own words.

According to his VEQ, Vitaly is good at technology design, networking and product management.

I am an:

Entrepreneur

Name companies you've founded or co-founded:

NevaCamp Foundation, Playcer

Name startups you worked for:

Playcer

If you are an entrepreneur, why?

I want to change the world.

List your favorite startups:

Foursquare, SCVNGR, Facebook, Google

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs make?

Only speak, without doing.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?

1) First of all I understood that you should do your startup/product in the right time (when market and target audience is ready), also you should have a great right team (at least one person as your partner/cofounder and several strong guys in webdev and marketing). Also doing "right" (reliable, interesting, problem-solver) product is very important. What do I mean? See trends (like social networking, gamification, augmented reality), watch what people will use in the next year or use now (mobile, geolocation). Your product should forecast a big market and people's needs because you need time to realize your product (at least 6 month).

2) You don't need money before launching private beta. Be a bootstraper, take money from FFF. If you have product and business model - go to VC, you will be evaluated higher. Another important thing - take money not from investor, take money from your clients.

3) Be open, help another people, be cool guy, think about ecosystem because you are a part of entrepreneurial ecosystem. Don't be boring and arrogant after getting investment. Believe in yourself and your team, don't be afraid to change the world!