Vlad Rigenco the founder of Dood speaks about his app supporting entrepreneurs

As a budding entrepreneur, having a mentor who has been there done that can be extremely useful when you start defining your goals and building a realistic strategy. Vlad Rigenco, a talented Canadian entrepreneur and business professional, is that mentor.

Despite his academic success at a young age and being accepted to virtually every university he applied to, Vlad Rigenco decided to forego a degree from York University in business and finance. Four years of studying and doing little else did not appeal to Vlad. He left his studies to begin working right away. Vlad Rigenco has been working with business professionals in various fields for over eight years, helping them build brand awareness through engaging marketing campaigns. With a breadth of practical experience supporting entrepreneurs, Vlad Rigenco knows all about getting started as an entrepreneur.

Vlad Rigenco of the Greater Toronto Area is passionate about marketing and technology. His passions led him to create Dood, a mobile application that enables modern business professionals to showcase their talents to businesses and organizations on a live stream platform. The tool aims to make live streaming easy, allowing people to live stream to multiple platforms at once.

What is the best advice you can give to a budding entrepreneur?

You need to believe in your vision, product, or service. Being passionate about what it is you are building is crucial, as it will be the motivation and driving force that keeps you going when you feel defeated, tired, and overwhelmed. The passion you have for your business is palpable, and this authenticity will come through in every financing meeting, business incubator, and interaction with clients and partners. You need to believe in what you are selling, otherwise no one is going to buy into it.

New entrepreneurs do everything. How do you know when it is time to hire someone else to do it?

It all comes down to your primary resources: your finances and your time. It goes without saying that you will need to learn along the way, but you don’t want to take on accounting, marketing, and social media on top of scaling your business. The golden rule for hiring is six months. If you have been doing something—like social media—for over six months, it might be time to hire someone externally to do it. You need to focus on making your business sustainable, seeking out new funding opportunities and ventures, so don’t get too caught up in managing menial tasks if you don’t have to.

As an entrepreneur, how do you overcome imposter syndrome?

We all feel like imposters from time to time. The most important thing I can tell entrepreneurs is that there will always be a gap between what you know and what there is to know in any industry. The truth is, the more you know, the more you realize you do not know. Being at peace with the not knowing is the first step to being a confident leader and can build a corporate culture of honesty, openness, and foster a willingness to ask questions and make mistakes. Another great way to combat imposter syndrome is through constant and dedicated learning; you always want to be learning about your industry’s practices and major players. Schedule time for learning into your day, from doing seminars to reading digital publications. The more you know, the more comfortable you will feel.

What do you do when you hear ‘no’ from an investor?

Every investor is different, so be sure to use your intuition to analyze the situation. I always suggest scheduling a follow-up meeting or call to go over everything they think you need to improve on to be successful. The feedback you get from an investor will help you prepare your business plan and strategy for future opportunities. It also shows an investor that you are open, ready, and willing to learn. Every interaction is an opportunity to grow, so be sure to accept ‘no’ gracefully, because you never know what connections you might need in the future. Remember, ‘no’ doesn’t mean never, it just means ‘not right now’.

How long should I try starting my business before I need to switch gears?

Rome wasn’t built overnight, and the same is true for every successful business. Patience is crucial, as building a sustainable business takes time. There is another rule called the ‘three-year rule’, where you dedicate all of your time, effort, and focus on completing one task in a three-year period. The benefit of this mindset switch is that when you have three months of bad investor meetings, it is only a percentage of your total venture. But when you don’t utilize this mindset, three months of bad investor meetings makes up 100 percent of your total efforts—which can seem daunting. If you believe in what you do, you have to give it a real chance.

What is the biggest misconception about starting a business?

The idea that if you build it, they will come. When you are starting a new venture, you need to be able to answer this simple question: does it solve a problem? In order to define a niche market and stand out against the competition, you need to be providing something that no one else can offer.