{"id":52851,"date":"2015-02-11T08:39:56","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T16:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/openness-staging.azurewebsites.net\/?p=52851"},"modified":"2025-06-30T05:10:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T12:10:03","slug":"my-story-what-i-learned-from-being-a-ceo-startup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/opensource.microsoft.com\/blog\/2015\/02\/11\/my-story-what-i-learned-from-being-a-ceo-startup\/","title":{"rendered":"My story: What I learned from being a CEO startup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u0160ar\u016bnas Legeckas&nbsp;is only 30, but if you didn\u2019t know that and only read about his experience, you would probably give him 5 years more the least. He comes from a generation which believes in acting, and which discovers very early on that education may be fine, but there is nothing like rolling up your sleeves and just getting down to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"background\">Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ift.tt\/1Almejm\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u0160ar\u016bnas earned his Bachelor\u2019s degree in telecommunication physics and electronics at the Vilnius University (which hesays that spurred logical thinking and quick learning) and also got a Master\u2019s degree in Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise Management from the Newcastle University. He quickly found out that <b>physics is not really his thing<\/b>, and was much more lured to the creative and people\u2019s side that business development had to offer.<br>As he says himself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>While still being at the University, I had my first job experience, just to get my<br>feet warm. You see, I wanted to get into business to get to know it and learn<br>before doing something myself. I wanted to know&nbsp;<b>how is innovation done<br>and driven? How do you build new products?<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He adds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>It was then, while working at Barclays, that I started thinking of starting my own<br>business.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Probably modesty didn\u2019t permit \u0160ar\u016bnas to tell us this, but has been included in the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/ift.tt\/1zvcJIQ\"><b>New Europe 100<\/b><\/a><b>&nbsp;<\/b>(a list of outstanding challengers who are leading world-class innovation from Central and Eastern Europe) in their ranking of <b>the most creative and promising entrepreneurs in Europe<\/b>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"New Europe 100\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/ZFWsM2kCLZY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><i>With a great sense of entrepreneurial spirit and more than ten years of project<br>management experience<b>, \u0160ar\u016bnas Legeckas is definitely one of the most<br>interesting personalities in the Lithuanian creative market<\/b>.&nbsp;<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And guess who appears in Geek Time\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/ift.tt\/1qRMmdu\">ballistic Baltic Startup scene: <b>20 hot startups from the Baltic states that you might want to know about<\/b><\/a><b>\u201d <\/b>list? Yes, \u0160ar\u016bnas again, with his open source project,&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/placeilive.com\/\"><b>Place I Live<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"we-saw-a-niche\">We saw a niche<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As it is often the case, real life situations become inspirations to ideas. \u0160ar\u016bnas tells us his story of how his adventure with his own company began:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>A colleague of mine had just moved and planned to purchase an apartment. But as<br>it turned out, there was not a lot of information readily available that could<br>help him to get the best of the deal, predict what the area will look like, and<br>so on. We knew something, but felt that&nbsp;<b>we are missing some statistics<\/b>.<br>So we began with Google: we looked up crime rates and what the demographics<br>were. I remember that we were surprised that we could actually find this<br>information. Today there is even more data available, for example we can see<br>how many bike accidents happen, but the truth is that maybe some 0,0001% of<br>people know about it and use it. <b>That\u2019s when we saw a niche where we could<br>apply our technical knowledge, and which could help in real life<\/b>.<br><\/i><i>Here is the part where developers like us come in, to use this data to make places<br>better. With 3,5 billion people living in cities, you get a lot of problems<br>with sustainability and so on, and we saw an interesting opportunity in that.<br>For us,&nbsp;<b>smart cities are smart people<\/b>, who use the data to make<br>better informed decisions. This is where we are at &#8211; we are&nbsp;<b>trying to<br>build an open data solution for the citizens of the world.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"place-i-live-rating-cities\">Place I Live \u2013 rating cities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As the project is described on the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/ift.tt\/1zvcJIQ\">New Europe 100 site<\/a>, &nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/placeilive.com\/\">Place I Live (Kurgyvenu)<\/a>&nbsp;<b>was launched in July 2012<\/b>. Its main aim is t<b>o provide all the important information about the quality of life in a given neighborhood<\/b>&nbsp;by collecting data from municipal and state institutions, as well as taking into account social media and crowdsourced information. The data includes crime statistics, the distance to&nbsp;the nearest schools, bus, and train stations, air pollution, the average market value of an apartment, etc. Everything is presented in the form of info-charts, tables, and maps, which makes it really easy to navigate the entire website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ift.tt\/1Almeju\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><i>screen shot of main page of <a href=\"http:\/\/placeilive.com\/\">PlaceILive.com<\/a><\/i><br>\u0160ar\u016bnas fills us in with more information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>One investor said that we are trying to build <b>an IMDb model, but for cities<\/b> \u2013 all<br>the movie info, like ratings, director, actors \u2013 but for houses. The problem<br>that we come across now is that <b>people don\u2019t really know what data exists<\/b> and<br>what they can expect.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>\u0160ar\u016bnas is a firm believer in open data<\/b>, and these are the foundations that his project is based upon (we will be writing more on this in the second part of our interview).<br>But now, to give you a better idea of the scale of the project and stage it is in right now, we asked \u0160ar\u016bnas for a few facts and figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"numbers\">Numbers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As for users, so far Place I Live has&nbsp;<b>50&nbsp;000 in Lithuania<\/b>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<b>30 000 international <\/b>(Germany, U.S., Lithuania, England). However, at this stage \u0160ar\u016bnas explains that their goal is not to acquire as many users as they possibly can, but rather <b>to have some serious feedback sessions<\/b> so that they can improve the service and product before its big launch. So 30&nbsp;000 is a number of users they have planned on having for this moment.<br>\u201c<i>Right now, it\u2019s all about testing and improving. <\/i><i>And keep in mind&nbsp;<\/i><a><b><i>that we have achieved that basically without any marketing<\/i><\/b><\/a><b>\u201d&nbsp;<\/b>\u0160ar\u016bnas stresses<i>.&nbsp;<\/i>He adds that \u201c<i>this is just first traffic, as we are still in our BETA stage\u201d.&nbsp;<\/i>Actually the big launch of the project will take place on February 21st, during&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/opendataday.org\/\">the&nbsp;International Open Data Day<\/a> (and no, this is no coincidence).<b>&nbsp;<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"transforming-numbers-into-information\">Transforming numbers into information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ift.tt\/1zvcI7Z\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><i>screen shot from&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/ift.tt\/1AlmeQt\">PlaceILive.com<\/a><\/i><br>For data to be useful, it has to be legible, easy to use and read.<b>&nbsp;<\/b>So we asked \u0160ar\u016bnas&nbsp;<b>how do you present the data?<\/b><br>And here comes the tricky part, we heard. \u0160ar\u016bnas tells us why:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i><b>This is most tricky<\/b>. I feel that with some visualizations we are getting there, but<br>still we have a long road to go. In general, people find it difficult to read<br>graphs. We are trying to think\u00a0<b>how we can read data and interpret it for<br>our readers,\u00a0<\/b>draw conclusion and automate it in order to simplify it, make it less<br>technical and easier to read.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Place I Live tech team uses a special, in-house algorithm written into their code, to help make sense of the tons of data.<br>With so much energy, experience and perhaps most importantly business intuition, we were wondering what else is in the pipeline<br>for \u0160ar\u016bnas.&nbsp;But he quickly straightened our thinking:<br><b>&#8220;I\u2019m not <a>Elon Musk<\/a><\/b><b>, and I know I can\u2019t handle a few big projects at the same time. Instead I chose<br>to do one and focus 150% of my time and effort on making it successful.\u201d<\/b><br>As you see, this conviction is based on experience. And here we come to the part which all startup founders know very well: <b>that we all make mistakes. <\/b>They pave the path to the good things, that\u2019s just how it works. \u0160ar\u016bnas has walked his path, and has his share of making the wrong decisions. He also had his<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"oh-oh-moment\">Oh-oh moment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You know that moment? When you thought you had it all figured out, but you really didn\u2019t? You have to stop or sometimes take a step<br>back just to deal with this issue. And this is how he sees it:<br><b>Number One:&nbsp;People<\/b><br>&#8220;My biggest oh-oh moment was not related to the product, but to the team. There are a lot of people interested to work with you after you get the media attention. Currently we have a team of 10 people. The lesson I learnt is that&nbsp;<b>I have to be more selective<\/b>&nbsp;and careful in terms of who I chose to work with.\u201d<br><b>Number Two: Focus<\/b><br>&#8220;We had global ambitions, but I learnt that you need to be methodological on how you do it. We wanted to go to 5 cities &#8211; all at the same time, but it would have been better to first chose NY, then go on. This time the lesson is \u2013 take it one step at a time.&#8221;<br><b>Number Three: I started too late.<\/b><br><i>What was your single most difficult decision?&nbsp;<\/i>We asked \u0160ar\u016bnas about that too, and thankfully he was open to share with us his feelings on this one:<br><b>&#8220;Taking the first step.<\/b><br>Honestly, for me, the hardest part was to quit my job, say bye-bye to<br>my salary<b>&nbsp;and be on my own.<\/b>&nbsp;I started calculating how much I<br>could lose.&nbsp;<b>Now it looks stupid.<\/b>&nbsp;After a month I felt a huge<br>relief. I would say if you want to, just give it a shot. Make some savings,<br>try. What could be the worst that could happen? I think it is better you regret<br>what you do, than the opposite.&nbsp;<b>Now I feel I started too late.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"support\">Support<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><b>As for all startups, the beginnings were tough.&nbsp;<\/b>You have to face the phase when you need a lot, and are&nbsp; still waiting for the results. That is why any help that you can get can make a&nbsp; difference between making it or not, and means less struggling to get where you want to. Microsoft has a special program to support startups, which is <b>BizSpark<\/b>, and Place I Live participated in it. &nbsp;<b>How was it? <\/b>What<br>is the general feeling of being part of this program? It\u2019s best you hear this from \u0160ar\u016bnas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>We were part of the BizSpark program, so we benefited&nbsp; from help concerning<br>the usage of different technological solutions. We got that for free, which<br><b>really is the most awesome thing when you are in a situation when<br>you are counting how much you can spend on a cup of coffee<\/b>.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>We also felt the support and help of the Microsoft team in Lithuania. We worked<br>together, and I can say that it was a hands-on experience, for example with<br>helping us to migrate.&nbsp;<b>We received very close support, and I have to<br>say that I very happy about the decision.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"azure-helps-startups\">Azure helps startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As a member of the BizSpark program, Place I Live benefited from <b>free hosting on the Microsoft Azure platform<\/b>. Did everything go<br>as expected? Here is what&nbsp;\u0160ar\u016bnas has to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>What surprised me was how smoothly it all went. We didn\u2019t encounter any problems, we<br>didn\u2019t have to think whether we have enough VMs or CPUs.&nbsp;<b>We use Azure<br>and find it very useful.<\/b>&nbsp;We could just focus on other things relating<br>to driving our project forward, and that was in a great part thanks to the<br>Microsoft team and awesome technology. &nbsp;<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the user perspective, it is important that whatever technology you use &#8211; you don\u2019t have to spend endless hours on learning it (even if you are a developer).&nbsp;\u0160ar\u016bnas told us about his experience with using the Azure cloud:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>It\u2019s quite simple, as it is a matter of a just few clicks and we can add new VM, so<br>we can experiment in development and then production. From the technical point<br>of view &#8211; <b>it is easy to manage<\/b>. This is especially important when you are<br>working on big data sets, like we are. Actually, we are about to finish the<br>BizSpark program, so I would like to take the opportunity to thank Microsoft<br>for being a part of it.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What can we say either than you\u2019re welcome, and if we have been able to help in the slightest way on your road to success, then we can be your vehicle any time \ud83d\ude42<br>We may have come to an end of today\u2019s article, but this is not the end of the story yet. \u0160ar\u016bnas says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>I&nbsp;cannot call myself successful, but we have moved a step or two further than<br>other people, thanks to our investors.&nbsp;<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Join us again soon for the second part, where \u0160ar\u016bnas&nbsp; will tell us about the&nbsp;<b>open source technology&nbsp;<\/b>that his project&nbsp; uses, he will share some<b>&nbsp;insights on servers and databases<\/b>, but we&nbsp;will also talk about&nbsp;<b>VC financing<\/b>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<b>marketing<\/b>&nbsp;that he is doing.<br><i>Thanks for being with us today!<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u0160ar\u016bnas Legeckas&nbsp;is only 30, but if you didn\u2019t know that and only read about his experience, you would probably give him 5 years more the least.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5562,"featured_media":95480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"msxcm_post_with_no_image":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_error":"","footnotes":""},"post_tag":[160,166],"content-type":[],"topic":[2241],"programming-languages":[],"coauthors":[2342],"class_list":["post-52851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-linux","tag-azure","topic-cloud","review-flag-3-1593580442-169","review-flag-5-1593580453-725","review-flag-free-1593619513-693","review-flag-new-1593580248-669","review-flag-vm-1593580807-312"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is 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