Welcome to the Innovation Conversation, a podcast
about innovators, both in business and real life.
Hosted by myself, Ricardo Rescual and Harry McCona.
This podcast is also sponsored by ODEV Tech.
ODEV Tech is your premier software development
partner. Make sure you check them out at odev
.tech. The podcast is also sponsored by Notion
.so. Notion is offering six months for free for
new users. Make sure you check out our website,
thestoreofevents .co .uk to read in the software.
Hi and welcome to another episode of the Innovation
Conversation. Today we are joined by Samuel Pedro.
Samuel, welcome. Thank you so much for having
me here, Tato. Samuel, would you like to introduce
yourself to the audience, please? So my name
is Samuel Pedro. I'm original from Portugal.
Currently I'm living in London. It's been a year
and a half. I'm spearheading a co -development
agency. The name of the company is No Code District.
It's a pleasure to be partnered with Ricardo
and the Startups event. Yeah, that's a quick
introduction of who I am and what I'm doing at
the moment. This is quite interesting because
obviously we met at my event in, I think it's
February, but you actually have quite an entrepreneur
background. I mean, you've launched your several
companies in Portugal and then you moved to London.
I think you're already launching several companies
as well. So how did that journey went? I mean,
how to get started actually in Portugal and then
over to the UK? It was quite simple. Basically,
I wanted to start working. I wasn't finding,
let's say, a job that I would enjoy. I was very
good working for my employees, my employers.
I decided to start adding my own business. It's
my seventh business. The one did in fact not
work at all. All the other ones shut off, but
I did in fact shut off all those others. So it
was mainly because I was tired of the business.
I felt that I needed other things in my life.
It was related to how much money we can in fact
make, be worthwhile in the business. So at the
moment the main focus is no code district. I
still have other two that are like e -commerce
businesses, but those are like in small businesses.
The main focus at the moment is in fact scaling
and growing districts. When you're launching
a business, I already have tons of questions
for you. I was just wondering like when you launched
a business in Portugal, for example, and you
know, I talk with people from all over the world.
It's always interesting to compare how hard or
how easy it is to launch a business in different
countries. How complicated was it to actually
launch a business in Portugal versus the UK,
and to actually get your first client? I would
say, depending on the structure, how you decide
to, in fact, start a business. There are a lot
of ways you can do it. In Portugal, I was mainly
working as, here in the UK, would be the same
as solo proprietor. Think that's the name just
one person was not working as a limited company
in Portugal It was quite fast. Let's say in one
day you can start doing business and trading
as a business Here in the UK. I decided to go
with a limited company instead of going as a
individual The company is liable not me say that
in the UK for the limited companies It's easier
and it's faster. So I opened the company like
in two days something like that is the the Tide,
sorry for the promotion, but Tide account that's
a bank. I opened my company using Tide and it
took like two days to start to be able to have
a company rating in the UK. The hurdles to open
a business in the UK were much less than it would
be in Portugal to open a limited company. Starting
getting the first clients. By reason I would
say from all the business I had Same model, the
agency. The agency model, I have at least I saw
it three times the experience. One of them did
not work at all. We need zero. We need zero.
I decided to shut it down. I'm in Portugal. Regarding
the agency model, I would say it's not time to
find the first client or to get the first client
was almost the same. We are talking like less
than two weeks to get the first client. So it's
pretty quick. I think the main difference from
what I've been experiencing here in the UK compared
to Portugal, besides my experience, it's been
at least seven years, seven, eight years that
I've been working on the entrepreneurship agency
side of things. So the experience is different
now. I would say the main difference is the speed.
The speed you get opportunities. Portable is
a it was a little bit slower than in the UK here
in the UK easy, but a nice workload Can get like
consistently it's I know that probably every
week I can get to three four and good weeks five
new meetings for new clients in the show would
be Regarding also the value of the projects,
it's very different. The market is much bigger
and is spent in a different freedom. In all these
companies you've launched, did you ever get external
funding for the company or how do you get funding?
You just literally wait if you ask for half the
money upfront and then that's how you fund in
the business or was there a different external
funding? I would say all of the business were
bootstrapped. First, the big business. Portugal
that was ST business group were working mainly
in marketing websites and business strategy and
some branding it Now I would say it was a mistake
an error, but at the time didn't felt like it
the company via a personal credit time That's
how I started a business group at the time in
Portugal Was I would say it was a bad decision
in this was a bad decision since I I made a credit
that was not necessary Now on no code district,
it's totally bootstrapped at some money aside,
but was used to create some some things for the
company The businesses have been in some way
bootstrapped only as to business group we had
a 10k no credit at the time We covered the credit
expenses after one year, so that was okay. That
was my only experience with having funding for
my own business. I know from other entrepreneurs
that when I go to VCs, Angels, and so on, I've
never had the experience. Probably in the future,
if I decided to, one of the main things we want
to do in No Code District is also to start a
startup studio, our own as a service company.
We'll probably venture into trying to find funding
or capital outside. It would be a strategic decision,
so focused on other stuff and having a team working
on specific software as a service. It's actually
quite interesting, your story, because most entrepreneurs
I talk to, not most, but all of the startups
are always looking for funding. So that's the
go -to model, which is, hey, can I get some external
funding? because I don't want to bootstrap. I
just want to get a really nice office and have
unlimited beer. I need some VC to back me up
for that one. So bootstrapping is always fascinating,
but I don't know. You obviously talk with a lot
of entrepreneurs yourself. So what do you think
are the main errors that people keep on having
time and time again, or keep on making time and
time again? I mean, there are many errors that
an entrepreneur can make for sure. a ton of them
and I will continue to make I think you can find
different perspectives of what kind of errors
but on the business side of things having a clear
picture of how the business will work how it's
going to be the day -to -day business like just
having the idea not having not having full of
what it takes to market to sales to manage a
customer relationship to manage complaints to
find other suppliers, to have a team to manage
the workload of that team, of those being greedy
of the day -to -day of the business. Actually,
if you are an entrepreneur and you have a very
small team, let's say one guy, two guys, three
people working, you don't have that thing set
up. It could be a disaster, but if you are not
able to learn and adapt, could definitely put
the business in a bad spot. That's one of them.
The other one is having an idea that doesn't
have a demand or enough demand. This would be
a second take not having a good enough research
about what is going on. Sometimes we officially
launch the business without a testing period
or at least a testing mindset. Okay, I will work
on this business for two months, but Official
it's launched we are working, but it's a testing
phase. Let's see how it works Let's see what
I can learn from in fact having the business
on the ground and working That's why I was saying
like the testing is or the testing mindset that
would allow us for us to say after two months
if it's not working if you don't like it because
you Know if you like to work on that business
You are in fact working on the day to day Having
the chance to at least give it, change to something
that you weren't thinking at the first moment.
Well, I would say those are like important mistakes
not to do when you're starting business, especially
if you are a young first -time entrepreneur.
Make sure you understand that this will require
work. There's a lot of operational stuff. Make
sure you choose a business idea that will have
demand so you can make money of the effort you
are having on creating a business is not an easy
stuff to do. Make sure you are flexible enough
in the beginning to change if needed. Your own
good if you don't like the business or for money
side of things. In fact, there is another opportunity
that is better for you or the team. I'm always
curious about this, because I know you've done
a lot of sports yourself. I'm going to say well
-known athlete, but you kind of are a well -known
athlete, so you have a career in sports as well.
And when you're building a business, I'm sure
you had a lot of down moments, right? Those moments
you just want to give up and say, you know, I'm
going to throw you in the towel. That's it. That's
it for me. How do you get past those moments?
What was that one thing that kept on ringing
in the back of your mind saying, got this, or
I don't have this, or I need to keep going? doing
this because of ABC, I mean, what was it? I don't
want to be like the source of any... I may share
my opinion. So definitely entrepreneurship is
a place of learning, especially if you in fact
commit to being an entrepreneur. So for now,
definitely we can change throughout life and
stuff happens and we are always able to change.
but if in fact you don't like to work for somebody
else and you want to build your own money you
have to work and you want to have your own stuff
not working out it's it's okay being an employee
being an employee i i see the benefits of it
i see also the downside side of it on a more
personal uh personal level let's say on the value
side of things on the philosophy of life those
things I would say the things for me that ground
me the most to continue on the path of entrepreneurship
is like looking in the future, looking in the
future and see what in fact I can achieve comparing
the two things. Okay, let's imagine I spent 20
years being an employee, what will happen to
my life? Let's say regarding my relationships,
my network, my network, my network, my creativity.
those areas that I like to nourish on myself.
What will happen in the next 20 years if I continue
to be an employee or if I in fact risk and go
being an entrepreneur and continue to be an entrepreneur.
So that's what keeps me the most grounded is
what I can achieve in continue to being an entrepreneur.
Even though it's not easy, even though sometimes
it's not Sweetest fruit we can eat there's a
lot of things that we have to suck it up and
continue to do But normally it's basically looking
at 20 years and see okay What can I achieve and
will I be happy if I have at least a chance or
the opportunity to achieve this? I know it depends
mainly on me also the other person but if you
are able to adapt continue to learn and you have
a good appetite for the obvious decisions that
you have to make Time to time, it's what keeps
me grounded. Okay, I will continue to learn.
It's just a challenge. If I face this challenge
twice, and I'm able to overcome it, it will continue
to become better at overcoming challenges in
the business, whether it's marketing, strategy,
product, and so on. So I would say If you have
the to quit, continue to do it. In this case
scenario, we can always bounce back as being
an employee and it's a learning experience at
the moment. What I would say to, for people that
want to continue to be an entrepreneur and face
those hard times would be, okay, just focus what
is the opportunity that lies ahead in the next
years. What is the risk of not taking that chance,
just being other thing. Because it's all about
risk management, isn't it? Because I talk with
a lot of people and they all say the same thing.
It's all about managing your risk and then calculating,
okay, can I handle the pressure of having this
risk on top of me for X amount of time or not?
And then based on that, you risk it. And you
just see if you're able to be successful, isn't
it? Being an employee is also a risk. There are
things that only happen if you are an employee.
You can be fired, for instance. In your business,
you cannot be fired. So it's your business. Worst
case scenario, you have to work harder. If something
is not working, you just have to try to do it
in a different way. It's on your learnings. But
yeah, I would say risk is definitely one tenuous
aspect of being an entrepreneur. Risk of time,
risk of money, risk of relationships, risk of
mental health. personal, your own health. I think
again, if we are able to be in a specific context
or moment of life and be open to learn and adapt
with some kind of intention behind, we'll be
able to operate and do other stuff. I'm always
curious, how do you manage your own mental health
on this journey? Because you've had many successes
throughout your career. So how do you keep How
do you keep on making sure that you make the
right decisions, but also that you're able to
control your stress levels, to have a somewhat
healthy life? How do you manage all that? I think
that's very flexible. I try my best to stick
to routines, let's say, but it also depends on
the workload I have at a specific moment. If
you ask me any habits or things that I do to
make sure I'm healthy, Be definitely to a couple
of hours a day at least one or two that I'm not
working Or to that I'm doing something else not
work It's one of the things I try my best to
do sometimes we have like 16 hours work days,
but it's not possible it depends It may happen
sometimes it's not every day, but let's say it
may have it already happened several times throughout
my career, so I would say definitely have a specific
moment of your day that you are not working.
I do recommend exercise at least three or four
times a week just to keep your body healthy and
your mind healthy. I do like to journal. It also
helps me to get my thoughts out and be able to
see them, learn from what I'm thinking. Also
helps to in some way structure your thinking
like as a entrepreneurs we May be bombarded with
messages about mindset and how mindset is important
For you besides just of your internal self -talk
if you are able to put it in words in a paper
for instance or on your iPad or computer To some
way even out noticing you are committing yourself
to process of reflecting Writing and making sure
one thing is thinking one thing is thinking is
writing so One thinks but not everyone is able
to write or express an idea in in a phrase So
I would say that Without being aware of it. You
start creating your own narrative Then you can
in some way direct for words and your way of
thinking towards your goals It's like being in
the woods, let's say. You start finding your
path and creating your path based on what you
are thinking and how you are able to articulate
your own ideas about, let's say business for
instance. You can even explore the business side
of things. I would say write, journal, some exercise
and take some time off every day just to be able
to operate on another level the next day. It's
not possible. Try your best to manage workload,
and if it's not today, try to do it tomorrow.
I'm always curious on one very interesting thing,
I think, which is the books you read, right?
So, which ones are the ones that give you the
most motivation? I mean, to be honest, I'm a
big fan of, it's gonna sound even embarrassing,
I'm a big fan of comic books, and I remember
reading Donald Buck and stuff like that whenever
I'm feeling down thinking, you know what? I'm
probably having a better day than he has. So
that always keeps him motivated. So what books
do you read and keep you motivated? I don't read
books that are not technical. So the only time
I read like fiction books were in school, was
in school. Otherwise, I started reading a lot
when I entered the university, my bachelor. That's
when I started reading a lot. Until university,
I didn't like a lot to read. But then I found
Said in fact, I like to read there because I
can learn something from them. Oh at the moment
That's regarding books. I only read technical
books where I can learn something from it. I
don't like fiction I will probably start reading
fiction somewhere in my life, but it's not easy
for me to let's say Warrant piece of Tolstoy
out. I will rather I will rather read 2 ,000
pages or 3 ,000 pages of something about business
or app development or marketing so I can turn
that knowledge into something useful or at least
touchable for my life. Books that I would recommend
for somebody to read. Profit First. I would say
Profit First is a nice book to read if you are
a business owner. If you are starting a business,
start thinking about the profit, how you're going
to make a profit. I would also recommend some...
I don't know. I'm awful on the... of the authors
and so on. But I would recommend Gordon for marketing,
that's for sure. There's also, no, it's a collection
of how to build business models and how to build
value propositions. I think it's from strategizer.
I guess that's the word. I think that's the company
that produces the books. I would say I have read
every area of a business. from law to HR to marketing
to strategy operations and so on. So I would
say if you can read the topic that you like and
read and learn and try to make something out
of it. I'm wondering, you know, all the companies
you approach now and become your clients. Have
you found them? Let me rephrase that. Everyone's
kind of talking about WebTree and Fibto and blockchain
and all these things. And we're still building
websites, not fully on WebTree, but mostly Web2
today. Do you think everyone should start building
things on WebTree or just continue Web2? Because
if you're just in the basic thing, Web2 actually
works well. Say you can definitely continue to
build on Web2. We cannot run from WebTree. It
will come and when it comes, it will be the normal
thing. Same as AI. Beginning, very few people
were using AI. No. Today, almost every business
is using AI. To be honest, I'm not a specialist
in blockchain, web 3, or quantum computer, or
virtual reality, or augmented reality. But those
are like the main areas that will end AI. Those
are the main areas that will impact how we as
human beings do stuff. A business, if they should
build a business website on Web3, what kind of
business are we talking about? Do we have a vision
for that business? Because that's true. If you
are a company and you want to build a website,
okay, why are you choosing between building on
Web3 or Web2? I think that decision only be made
to have a clear idea of why you want to go to
Web3 at the moment. Otherwise, you can just continue
on web2 and don't have all the other things that
web3 will require, chains or so on. Think again
mainly about what you want to achieve on the
business and what are the goals. Makes sense
to go with web3. If it doesn't make sense and
we don't know why I would go with web3, let's
continue on web2 to what it's most to be doing
at the moment. But for sure, Our business owner
myself include myself on that on that pool Something
I want to I will come here probably I will learn
more about blockchain and web tree Why can in
fact be prepared to? Operate on that area without
any of knowledge at least those areas Those are
like That's the future, those are the areas,
at least on the technological side of things.
That's what is done. I wanted to ask you, if
you could go back three years in the past, and
knowing what you know now, what would you say
to yourself three years ago? That business, to
have an idea about, started. It's a matter of
doing, and that doing will compound. It's a matter
of action. I would say probably more, if you
can. More try more worry that much. We also something
I would say don't worry. You just keep working
and things will come One fold in a good manner
Yeah, those will be like three things I would
say to myself like if I was looking three years
ago About what I was doing It changed from Portugal
to the UK. So that change on that relocation
It start working for a company That was because
I felt the risk was too much coming from Portugal
and on the same Say after one week coming from
Portugal opening a business in the UK without
having without never have been on the UK So I
did wait like for nine months before I started
working on the UK as an operating as a Business
Yeah, those are like the advice I would say Stress
and continue to work For your agency, the No
Code District, what services do you offer to
companies? Because obviously we have a lot of
entrepreneurs and I want to make sure that they
know exactly what we do. So what type of services
would you offer them? In simple terms, we build
websites and applications. That's what we do.
We do those two services from end to end. So
from the concept of the website to the concept
of the application until the moment the application
is in the application or the website on the market
and trading. All the work that's needed after
like iterations, analytics, some inputs, some
changes on the website and applications or version
one, version two, version three. We support that
development. If it's a company that is starting
with us, we also work on the marketing side of
things. As a development, if we help that startup
with their first version of their product, let's
say their first MVP, we help them with a go -to
-market strategy and all the stuff that's required
on the marketing side of things. We work mainly,
so those two services, end -to -end and continuous,
ongoing in order for iterations and growth. Those
two services and the process work with founders,
small and medium enterprises. Normally the founders
want to start their own software as a service
company. It's mostly the type of founders we
work with. Only the small and medium enterprises
want to build their internal tools. They don't
have to depend on third party software. They
want to start integrating AI in their own operations
in the business and they need like internal tools
that are able to handle AI. Those are like the
three main, the two main segments. And we also
help companies that are already built on bubble
.io to work with them in order to continue to
create versions, features, monitoring, auditing,
security. That's what we do at the moment on
NoCodeDistrict. Samuel, if people want to reach
out to you, how can you do so? Easy. You can
find me on open -experts .com. I have a profile
over there. You can also reach me at samuelatnocodistrict
.com. Or you can find me on LinkedIn, Samuel
Pedder. That's not a lot of Samuel Pedders in
the world. So Samuel Pedder, NoCodeDistrict.
You can definitely find me on LinkedIn. Thank
you so much for your time Samuel, I really appreciate
it. The podcast is also sponsored by Notion .so.
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