Bob Kneip (Kneip): What a Startup Needs to Succeed

Building a business is tough, as veteran entrepreneur Bob Kneip can testify. But while he’s had to work hard for his success, he’s also learned a lot from his experience, providing insight into what a new company needs.

The Right Vision

Any company needs to start with a vision, to provide motivation and keep it moving in the right direction. “What I am lacking with a lot of projects that I'm seeing today is what is my universe?” Kneip says. “In what pond do I want to go fish and what are the type of fish I want to take out of that pond?” For up-and-coming entrepreneurs, he recommends finding the sense of purpose that defines what you’re trying to achieve. “Am I building this to make this world a better place or to make a group of people happy? I think that's something that you need to determine from the outset.” But that doesn’t mean getting tangled up in complexity – a core concept that’s simple to explain and bring to market will ease the path to success.

“You're never as dependent as when you are independent.”

Bob Kneip

The Right Competition

Running a business inevitably means competing with others, but according to Kneip that shouldn’t mean destroying them. “Competition keeps you on your toes,” he explains. “They give you sort of a benchmark of the market and tell you where you can do things better.” It’s important to identify and examine your competitors, but it’s also important to think about how best you can compete with them. It’s easy to get focused on price, but as Kneip points out, winning on price can also mean losing through it. Creating added value, providing consistency and reliability for clients, these are the tools of successful competition.

The Right Ecosystem

Even the most independent-minded entrepreneur will sometimes be reliant upon the work of others. Working within the right ecosystem can therefore make a big difference to a company’s success, and over the course of his career, Kneip has seen Luxembourg grow into just such an ecosystem. There are now multiple sources of support, including administrations, ministries, and C-level contacts in existing businesses. There are sources of finance that can help a young business get going, and the country is increasingly appealing to outside investors. Kneip himself found that investors didn’t see the value in Luxembourg when he was fundraising in 2007, but that’s changed. “Now there's an awareness that there are companies in Luxembourg worthwhile investing in.” But ultimately, what a business needs most is to prove itself. As Kneip says, “the best proof of a business model is you have onboarded clients and they are paying for the service.”