Genco Cebecioglu
Our latest blogged presenter to visit was Genco Cebecioglu (first name pronunciation provided below). Genco came packed with experience about the entrepreneurial path that we as designers could take and advice on how to be one of the startups that doesn’t fail. Another Web Design grad, which I have started to finally notice is a trend amongst our speakers, and Founder, CEO, Design and Strategy Director at Junction Design Inc, Genco’s most important lesson was preparation and perseverance.
Genco pronounced Gain-joe
Born and raised in Istanbul
Education
OCAD University - Graphic Design
Sheridan College - Post Graduate in Web Design
Work History
Ecentricarts | 2007 - 2010
Normative Design | 2010 - 2011
Junction Design | 2011 - present
Junction Design: The Entrepreneurial Pursuit
Upon reaching his graduation from Sheridan’s Web Design program in 2007, Genco made a point of directing his thesis project to the company he knew he wanted to work for, Ecentricarts, and it worked. Spending a few years there as an Interactive Designer, Genco decided to move on to what he thought was the right next move for him, to Normative Design, focusing on UI/UX design. At that point, he realized that it wasn’t quite everything he had hoped for, and decided he needed to start his own business to follow his passion. From this, Junction Design was founded by Genco and his brother through the amount of freelance work they were both receiving while working for other companies. From 2011 to now, the company has gone from a 6 digit income to over 1 million dollars in revenue, thanks to a merger. Genco commented, “In a nutshell, it was a success story” but “behind those success stories, there was a ton of failure.”
In the case of Junction, they chose to target the wrong market initially for what kind of income they needed. Targeting startup companies in Toronto meant that their customers didn’t have a lot of money to pay with, no matter how good the work was. Because of this, Junction had to start working on some project that they didn’t love, making compromises in their company to make some money but ending up poor and bored. It was at this point that Genco threw us a reality check in the form of a graph. If you can somehow make all three of these things a reality at once, then you will (hashtag) win.
Tips to Your Entrepreneurial Success
Now let’s get into the nitty gritty, where Genco broke down the process for us.
Step 1: First you must start by asking yourself, “Is entrepreneurship right for you? Are you in it for the right reasons?” Be aware that while from the outside, all you may see is success, but what is behind that success is changing habits, self critique, calculated risk taking, financial struggles, patience, hard work, burn out, failures, disappointment, self-doubt, determination, perseverance, listening and researching. For an entrepreneur, you have to let yourself learn always, keep your connections, and find an advisor as it’s important to see their perspective.
Step 2: Reality Check - The Top Reasons for Failed Startups:
Not a real need or desire
Team/Culture/Process Problems
Can’t find a real revenue stream
No valid marketing or user acquisition plan
No advisors/connections
Step 3: You’re still here? Genco says, “Great, now let’s talk about how to solve these things.”
When getting started, he recommends using the Business Model Canvas, linked here. You have to consider these building blocks. If you can fill each one, you probably have a value
Step 4: Now it is time to scale! Scaling without preparation can eat up your working capital like no other and demotivate your team. Before you scale, you need to put contracts in place with your partnerships.
4 Pillars To Have in Place Before Scaling
Right people on the bus
Data driven business strategy
Airtight execution with clear KPIs (key performance indicators)
Healthy bank account
To make these pillars more clear and developed, Genco suggested the Strategy: Vision Summary.
Step 5: Just keep showing up! Entrepreneurship is a journey and failure is a necessary learning mechanism. You have to celebrate every small victory as “you are one of the few who dared to overcome adversity to change the world.”
All in all, the path to a successful entrepreneurial career seems like one filled with many hardships, but lots to look forward to as well. It may be difficult but with that, it is equally rewarding. While a lot of this presentation may have involved graphs and forms to fill, the most important place to start is with your gut and knowing if this is the right thing for you specifically. I believe that for myself personally, this is a path I would choose not to take, not for fear of the struggle but honestly just out of disinterest in managerial aspects beyond the creative. Regardless of that, I still appreciate the talk that we had and think that the most valuable lesson was in knowing that failure comes to all of us but we make the choice to overcome it and learn from it. I think that all of our speakers have really drilled that into us, which means it ought to be true, right? And so on that note, I leave these last 2 and a half months of blogging knowing most importantly that failure is inevitable, but it is how I choose to accept that failure that will guide me to success in whichever path I take.
Recommended Resources: Scaling Up - Verne Harnish
Lean Startup - Eric Rees
SR&ED, IRAP (Tax credits)
BDC, MaRS, ICTC
If you’d like to know more about Genco and the work he is doing at Junction Design, check out the website, his LinkedIn, and some of the great work he has done, like this branding for Death in Venice Gelato or the logo for the National Ballet School.
Want to get in contact directly?
Email Genco at genco@junctiondesign.com
