One of the Key Points of Market Differentiation for GDC- Its Fraternity of Founders
Earlier this week I was chided by the best intern ever who happens to be on our team at GDC that I had been rather grumpy in my last few posts here so I resolved to get this one done to help end the string of grumpy posts. See Liam I do listen….
This week was a week of meetings with peer entrepreneurs that I work with in the community. The conversations as usual ranged from company issues to sharing of views on politics and markets. I get energy and perspective from many of these interactions. I was actually educated on a key aspect of my view of my business that if I adjust could really help to enhance our long term growth potential. Sometimes learnings come from surprising places (Thanks Chas!).
On a recent trip to Europe I had a series of similar meetings in Spain. Actually it was a series of great meals with founder/operators ranging from coffee, to a five hour lunch, to a dinner in the shadows of one of the amazing structures in Spain-the palace/monastery known as El Escorial. It struck me along the way that we have built an amazing set of relationships that are difficult if potentially impossible to replicate. At GDC, we have over 100 partner relationships covering more than 40 countries. From long standing relationships in Germany and India to new relationships in Columbia and Sweden we have built the ONLY global network of identity verification experts. Our business relationships go beyond simple contractual arrangements. We share market news, trends and understanding around new regulation and how those companies deal with it. Many of those relationships are driven by the personal connection among the founders/operators. From the young company founder in Bogota who has a clear understanding of the matrix of challenges around data accuracy for identity verification in the Columbian market to the husband and wife team we work with in Australia who know not only Australia but understand the challenges of identity through the Pacific Rim.
This fraternity of founders thus far have not been formally connected except through our API connections within the Worldview platform but this will soon change. Over the course of 2018 and beyond we will begin to work with them to strengthen the ties between us and to formalized the relationships to provide better alignments between us all. Together we will develop new data sources, new algorithms and new solutions to provide our customers with the best in class global electronic identity verification. From a weak network of business relationships to a strong network of like minded founders the true meaning of Consortium shall become more apparent in the coming months.
I love the sharing and camaraderie that I experience with peers in Raleigh and through this exercise it has also taught me to recognize the growing power of the sharing done with our global network of partners to achieve great things.
