Company Name
Specno -A Tech Startup that builds Tech Startups
Founders:
Daniel Novitzkas, Jacques Jordaan
What they do:
Specno is an end-to-end digital partnership – whose core focus is on increasing the success rate of entrepreneurs in the tech sector.
Thousands of hours get spent designing and developing tools and processes to understand how best to turn an idea into a viable business and how to design a product that users will love.
Specno then uses that R&D to reduce costs needed to get startups to market, while advising the best course of action that leads to success.
How does it work:
There are 3 different phases to every journey.
The planning and prototyping phase is about understanding the business that is getting built and designing a viable solution.
The Proof Of Concept phase is about applying the techniques of lean development to develop a minimal lovable product.
The Scale-up phase happens after the concept is proven and it is time to rapidly scale the solution and usage.
During each phase Specno will advise on everything from the business model to the marketing strategy to the different fundraising options. Specno’s success is measured by the success of its clients.
Founding story:
The idea rooted from a love for entrepreneurship and innovation – coupled with a fascination for Silicon Valley and understanding how startups formed, built products and scaled.
That fascination lead to a desire to understand the process better than anyone else on earth, and to then turn that understanding into a service that could be offered to other entrepreneurs to help them succeed.
Specno literally started as a university garage startup – with some students crammed into a room eating ramen noodles and coding into the late hours of the night. Focused on the mission of defining the industry standard for innovation development, Specno set out to grow and learn quickly.
Within the first year, Specno had managed to raise the capital needed to grow to a team of 8, set up offices, and could begin building solutions. Specno was lucky to achieve success from the get-go, with one of their solutions receiving an invite to the world summit of Agritech innovation – where they presented on stage to over 500 international businesses and investors.
That year they were also invited to partake in the Akro accelerator, and also won the Seedstars regional competition where they went on to represent Cape Town at the Africa Summit.
The Akro accelerator provided access to a massive network of highly talented individuals and brought in industry experts to give lessons on every area of a business. The aim of the accelerator was to teach rapid business scaling of tech-based startups. Specno made invaluable connections, learning lessons from hundreds of startup founders and advisors, and began to incorporate these lessons into their service offering.
Covid hit as Specno entered their second year of business, and it forced them to reevaluate their business model and how they serve entrepreneurs. The decision was made to invest thousands of hours into design techniques and prebuilding drop-and-drag coding modules that would massively increase the speed of development – while simultaneously reducing the costs of developing a proof of concept. Though the shift of the business model required many late nights and weekends, it paid off. The team began operating across borders on a number of different startups and was able to grow from 8 to 22 people. The benefits of the shift could also be felt by
the startups, stories of multimillion-rand fundraising rounds, and partnerships with companies like Discovery and Nedbank.
As Specno enters their third year they are more committed to their mission than ever before – helping startups to realise their vision. The team is also opening their first international office in Amsterdam, and is committed to growing to a team of 30-40 people by the end of 2021. Many thousands of hours are still spent continuously improving the process of going from idea to industry leader. The team invites people from all walks of life to follow along their journey, which is regularly posted onto their Linkedin.
How to contact them:
Daniel@Specno.com – 0823649864 or take a look here
Akro’s Take:
Daniel and Jacques are hard working, innovative and prepared to do what it takes to move their business forward. A key element to working with startups is to see if they make use of opportunities at hand, and the team at Specno does this hands down.
But what about Specno as business? Specno has a solid space to serve companies looking for a digital solution and you know it will be project managed in a competent manner, with passion and great communication. Already an integral part of a number of startups journeys, and not afraid to push parameters, we are proud to have been a part of their journey and watching them move forward. No one can afford to be out of the digital space, and the Specno team is a fantastic outsource partner.
