The business of Biarri

At Biarri we build mathematical optimisation products and models and we have also been building up the business over the past two years from very humble beginnings. Below are a few more of the business lessons we have learnt growing a tech start up in Australia.

1. Get some rhythm – we have used the Rockefeller Habits checklist from Verne Harnish – it gives each day, week, month, quarter and year a target and keeps the team accountable for key actions. It also means we are always watching the cash burn. To quote Verne “cash is oxygen”. This is important as we were also told very early that costs have a way of taking care of themselves if not very closely watched – this is true.

2. Meet your competition – how else will you really know how to differentiate and where their weaknesses are?

3. Give people space to deliver – give good people the space to deliver and they almost always will.People don’t need rules or process – they need a challenges and support.We have been amazed at the great work our super smart university students produce on our projects. Our customers also love it.

4. Keep low cost – we have had many big corporate guys come to our offices and comment on the poor paint job, old carpet or our back alley address. They don’t seem to get it. You don’t need to be on level 24 to produce a great product and you can certainly sell it cheaper if you are not.

5. Stay close to customers – make the calls every day to stay close to people and opportunities arise. We find that you need to be out speaking to people, catching up for coffee and on the phone to grow a business like ours.