The Achieve Podcast - Beejal Shah (Launch Ventures)

Welcome to another episode of the Achieve Podcast, the show where we highlight leaders, creators, entrepreneurs, those who are changing their industries, shaking up the world, and making a difference. My name is Taylor Baker Baker, your host today, and excited to be joined by Bijal Shah, the President of North America for Launch Ventures. You can find them at launchventures.co. Now, Bijal, give us the backstory on how you got involved in this space. And who you're currently serving.

Absolutely. So my background is actually computer science. I worked as a software engineer and I loved learning it in college. And then as soon as I got into the workforce and I was building applications, I realized that it was really the business teams making the product decisions that I was more interested in. And when you learn it, I was very excited to be part of that whole product cycle. And then when I got to it, I realized when you're building enterprise applications, you I don't get to do all of it. And so that's kind of where my interest started pivoting. And my journey kind of moved around a bit. And that's how I got into Launch Ventures, where Launch Ventures is all about helping companies build and scale their technology and helping entrepreneurs build out those products. That's what we're motivated to help people succeed with these high-quality engineering teams. And about in 2020, an opportunity came across where I was actually looking for a new opportunity and I reached out to a former colleague and I said, "Hey, do you know anyone that's kind of in this area that might be looking for, you know, just engineers?" And he said, "I'm really interested to build out the North America business of my engineering company," which was based, headquartered in Singapore and distributed, but not in North America at the time. And so I thought, "Okay, you know, let me try." I've always wanted to be on the product side. I've always wanted to talk to people and enjoy that journey of it and kind of see people's visions come to light and make sure we are building a team around them to make them successful. That's really how I got into it.

Wow. Now, how big is the team and the organization now?

The team right now is about 20-25 engineers. We grow systematically. We are a strong team. The leadership is distributed throughout North America, the UK, and the Middle East as well as India. We've been working, team's been around since 2012. And yeah, it's been going very strong. We're, you know, heading into our 15th year now.

Wow. And who is your current audience? Like, who are you guys helping mostly?

We work with a lot of entrepreneurs and startups and founders that just want to build out and scale their technology. They've validated, they've gotten, you know, interest, investment, and they need a team, a really strong team to help them scale. And what kind of makes us different, what I always feel is that at the core, we're this team of product development specialists. Yes, we're all engineers. And even us from the leadership background, you know, all of us have been engineers in the past. And so we really understand tech, we understand how engineers think, but we're also founders and entrepreneurs and leaders. And so we know that business mindset. And so we bring every person into our team that has that view, so that they're not just, you know, building out an app or writing software, but more so, they're thinking about business objectives, they're thinking about a person's journey as an entrepreneur, what they've put in, how do you get to that next release? How do you secure that next level of funding, right? So, That's one audience that we work a lot with. And then the other are these companies that are established companies just trying to bring in technology and grow. We're at this kind of pivot right now where everyone's talking about it, and so people are thinking about it a lot more. They have older systems, they use spreadsheets all over the place and just things like that where they're like, "How do we automate? How do we take people who aren't so comfortable with technology and actually help them grow?" And that's also very rewarding in itself because you're taking businesses that have been doing so great and helping them, you know, transform and just grow faster and grow quicker.

That's awesome. And are they usually US-based or international? Like where?

Yeah, so my, the, so all of, most of my clients are in the US. Primarily a lot of them are in Arizona and distributed throughout the US. Launch Ventures in general has, you know, clients all throughout in the UK. Southeast Asia as well, and in the Middle East as well, in Dubai. But, uh, yeah, primarily my entire business is all of the North America business, and that's what I've been building.

Wow. Now, what would you say for you, as far as main turning points in your life, positive or negative, have molded the way you think about running the organization?

Sorry, can you repeat the last part?

What turning points have molded the way you think about running the organization?

Right. So I think the most important one is You know, you don't ever study becoming a leader. You just, you know, leadership is something that you kind of grow into. And I would've never expected, you know, when I walked into this, right? I thought, okay, building a business, what does that entail? But the primary thing is leading people and building teams, right? For success. And I think my, you know, what's really molded me is a couple of things, right? It's the teams that I've met along the way, but also this kind of acceptance of, your degree is not identical to what you're going to do in life. And so what you learn is really from the different people you meet, right? And so I've worked in different companies and I've met different people. And, you know, even through this role where I meet different entrepreneurs and founders and, you know, very like large-scale successful business owners as well, hearing their journeys is what molds me. Hearing, learning how they lead, right? What do they, think is important. And I think what I've learned is it's all about the people that make up your team, and the values should be aligned from day one. And if your values aren't aligned, you're not going to go far with that team, and it's not going to be rewarding. And if your values are aligned, you're going to go very far. And that's with your team, with your clients, with your business, all of it.

That's so true. That's so true. The people make it up. Now, as you guys try to grow and expand, what have been some of the biggest bottlenecks or obstacles that show up?

Yeah, growing is hard. You know, that's a very good point. Um, that's the number one thing I've learned, right? Persisting is very easy when things are going great, and you know, when things aren't going well, it's very difficult. I think some of the biggest bottlenecks that we faced, A, is the talent gap, right? I told you how important it is to have people that are aligned with your vision and how you work. Finding them is all the more difficult, right? How do you find people that are proactive, that care? As I explained, for example, the product mindset, how do you find someone that's gonna care about someone's product just because, right? Because it's important to them to see that person succeed. So there's more than just finding strong engineers, but it's a lot more about finding people with those shared values. So I think the talent gap is a number one challenge. The other challenge I think for growth is just that it's a very competitive industry. And there's a lot of buzzwords around it as well, right? And so people kind of struggle with what is the value, right? Can't we do it somewhere else? And my answer to that, to most people, for us to grow, right, has been just work with us, right? No strings attached, no contracts. Once you experience that value, that's when you're going to be able to grow. And that's when someone's going to trust you. And so How do you build trust, right? And that's where it all comes down to. And I think figuring out how to build trust is letting people experience the value you have to offer.

I love that. Now, when it comes to your messaging and outreach, your marketing systems, what's been working well and where are you filling the gaps?

Cold outreach is the toughest thing to do, um, and it's really interesting to me because I feel like what works the best for us is referrals, right? Word of mouth referrals, that's where business grows. But I actually started this on complete cold outreach. So when I started this, though I had a network, I didn't have a network in this side of things, right? I had worked in more of the corporate. And so like when I think about it, our business has grown through referrals, but even those referrals came from cold outreach somewhere. And so for us, those have been, we've, we've done marketing campaigns, we've done email campaigns, we've tried a lot of that, but I think at the end of the day, it's referrals and reaching out to people, um, personally, right? Not, you know, trying to actually think about who do you want to reach out to, right? Maybe learning about those businesses, figuring out where the fits are, and then reaching out versus just, okay, I'll learn about it if they respond, right? So I've kind of always taken a different approach, which is a bit slower, um, but it's always been more rewarding. And I think that's where we've gotten to where we, you know, are today.

That makes sense. Now, when you, you mentioned earlier a lot of the buzzwords around AI automation, where have you guys found ways internally to use it and where's the opportunity?

Yeah, so of course the most obvious answer is engineers are using it to improve their velocity, improve their turnaround. You have to use it, you know, with a lot of caution as well because we're trying to build scalable technology, right? Not fast and quick, but also something that's going to last and scale. That's where, yeah, that's where AI can become tricky, right? And that's where, you know, we get a lot about, well, we've already live coded it. Can you guys just finish it up? The answer is no, we can't, because of what you want to build. One thing that vibe coding has been very helpful for is helping us understand the customer vision, understand the requirements better. Instead of just a document of requirements and screens that show images like Figma screens or prototypes, you have these working vibe coded applications that help us understand more, dig more, figure out the user journey better. So that's one place it's been very helpful. It helps us also communicate better with clients when we're trying to do more of the discovery and the scoping. And, you know, the other place, of course, we're using it is in our day-to-day, you know, in recruitment and things where we can kind of speed up our work, speed up our turnaround. But again, one thing we've— and I'm sure everyone who's using AI knows— is you can't just use it and, you know, leave it, right? There's a lot of, you know, even when you're building out resumes, when you're recruiting, right? There needs to be that, you know, human in the loop. And that's kind of where we find it. So we find it helpful, especially from an engineering perspective, you need to use it. But you also need to think about the end goal, right? And use it where it helps and then apply your engineering knowledge or apply, you know, your capabilities and whatever it is, right? And that's the very important thing that you don't want to lose.

I love that. Yeah, you're not just building fast and quick and cheap garbage, like scalable.

It has to be scalable. That's kind of what we believe in, right? Scalable technology, no technical debt. And for all of that, AI, you know, is something that we're going to use, but we can't just depend on, right? And like I said, I see it as a great tool to get people to that first phase to where they are ready to build out something that's scalable. It reminds me of the low-code, no-code, right? There's a lot of things that have come around that make things easier to get started. And then when you're ready, you know, right, but you can get started quicker, faster, cheaper before you invest everything in, right. And that's, that's always the best way to go ahead.

That makes sense. Now, when you think about the next stages of the business, what are you most excited about?

Yeah, I, there's two things. I think for us, the number one thing is, as we work with a lot of founders and startups, we're also working with a lot of, a lot more, you know, small and medium businesses. Businesses. And the opportunity there right now where people are transforming from these legacy applications, as I said, to a lot more of bringing in technology for the first time. And what they tell me is, all right, we have a team that's very resistant to technology. We don't know how we're going to do it, right? And our approach is not just we're going to build and leave, right? It's we're going to figure out what your team is doing. We're going to figure out how to make it done better and excite them also and train them to where they're just like, wow, I don't have to do that anymore, right? So there's something very exciting about this pivot that's happening for these businesses where they are ready, you know, they're really ready to go, right? They're really ready now to bring in technology because they kind of know that this is a point where either you bring it in and come out more efficient or you're gonna be left behind, right? And so how do they use that tool? Again, as I said, right, it's not gonna, it's not about replacing who their employees are, but it's about making their employees faster and more productive. So that's one side that really excites me. And the other side of it is, as we're growing in this next stage where we're working with a lot more startups that are further along, right? Recently, some of the startups we're working with have been acquired, some have grown into unicorns. There's a lot of excitement around these new and emerging technologies that are coming out, right? We hear about a lot of things that come out so quickly. So to be part of the journeys of people that make it, that get to the end, right, and be their support system, you know, and make sure that they make it to the end the right way. That's just very exciting as well, right? It's more than just that next round of funding or that next release, but it's what is their end goal and how are we a part of that, right, to really push their growth, right? I love when clients share with me, we're about to get a new contract, we're about to, you know, it's the excitement because they feel like we're their partners. And For me, that's the number one thing, right? We don't think of ourselves as a timesheet or, you know, we're partners with them, right? We're part of their journey. If, you know, if they have a business-critical event coming up, how do we support them through that, right? That's the idea.

Yeah. Do you do like a retainer model or like a project base or how do you typically engage?

We're flexible engagements. We do a lot of retainer models where engineers are part of people's teams along with the leadership level. It's great because they feel like they're their own engineers. They tell me that they can't imagine their team without those engineers. That's what we want to be. We want to be partners, not someone that we can just trade out tomorrow with someone else, especially because those engineers are thinking about the products. They're thinking about, "Oh, let's do this. This will make it better." That's one model, and we do project-based as well. We're very flexible about how we engage with people. It's more about the project and the opportunity. And the founders and the teams we get to work with. I think, you know, we filter more on the founder, right? And as I said, the people you work with should also share the same vision and values. And then how we work with them, we can be flexible.

That makes a lot of sense. Yeah, and the team on your team, but also the team you're plugging into.

Yeah, exactly.

So now, if you look back for your own journey, the wins, the mistakes, What lessons stand out to you and what do you wish you understood sooner?

Yeah, the first thing I wish I understood sooner is that entrepreneurship is very volatile and you need to embrace that uncertainty and enjoy that ride, right? You— and if you do, it's going to be a lot more rewarding, right? Um, and I think you start to understand that when you're in growing phases, right? Um, but you've kind of got to keep that vision and you've you've got to persist, right? I know it's a very easy thing to say and it's a very easy thing to hear, but I've realized that there's so many setbacks and if you can actually think about how those setbacks are gonna move you forward, you're not gonna get dragged down by them. So I think, you know, those are two lessons that I felt have been very, very helpful. And a third one is, and it's so simple, but if you don't ask, And if you don't try, you're not going to get anywhere, right? And that's something we put in our team as well, right? You need to ask. Let's say I'm not going to— if I don't ask, I'm not going to be any worse off, right? I don't know anyways. So I might as well ask and ask for help, ask, you know, for referrals, ask where you can, you know, add value. Just ask, right? Ask and you might get something out of it, right? And it's funny because even when I started with cold outreach, The ones that responded were all the ones I was kind of hesitant, like, you know, you're at that point, well, I can reach out to them, I'm sure they won't respond. And here you go, right? They're the ones that did. So I think, you know, just ask, you know, ask and try. And, and that's the most important thing. And then the last lesson that I've learned and I'm still learning is the importance of sowing seeds and building these bridges.

Mm-hmm.

We started just a couple weeks ago working with a client that I initially started speaking to in 2020. And, you know, you wouldn't think about it at that time, right? That that's something that's going to work out when it does. And so I've really learned the value of the importance, you know, of building bridges and letting, you know, and, you know, it's not just about building them and letting them be, right? Or it's not about don't burn bridges, but it's, you know, keep the bricks polished, right? You know, keep things warm. Yeah. Keep the bricks polished, keep things warm. And, um, and invest your time in people that you would want to work with, right? So you also have a capacity of how many bridges you're gonna build, and that's kind of where your intuition comes in on where is it worth it and where is it not. And that's a lesson I would say I learned the hard way because at the beginning I didn't know, right? I didn't know business. I didn't know how people think. I don't, didn't know how people talk. And yeah, you know, you learn slowly of why am I investing my time in some things and not the other, but always always take the first meeting. That's my view, right? Never say no to the first one.

I like that. Yeah, never say no the first meeting. Yeah, keep your bridge polished.

Yeah. And somewhere it'll work out. And, and maintain a partnership mindset. At the end of the day, yes, they're clients, but they're my partners, right? And if they do good, I do good. If they get acquired, we've done something right, right? That's my view.

I like that. That is really good. Wow. So last question, Miguel. If you had to focus on one constraint for the next 90 days to solve, what would it be?

That's a very good question. Um, you can see me, right? Because you're frozen. Okay, perfect. Sorry. Um, if I could focus on one constraint for 90 days I think it would, right now, the number one constraint we would solve is how do you build out a team that can continue to scale? And by that, I mean, as I told you, there's a talent gap and there's finding really good people with shared values, right? But how do you replicate that model to where people feel the contagiousness of that, people feel the excitement running down, right? Because you've got some people you know, people like you and me and a lot of people on our team that are just always so excited about what's coming next. And you have some people where they're really good at what they do, but how do you, how do you get them thinking in that proactive mindset, right? How do you get them thinking and sleeping and, you know, living that product? And so I think the number one constraint that we're really— and one of our initiatives in the next quarter actually is how do you to really figure out a way to make sure this team can continue to scale without any sort of sacrifice in quality. And that's one of our fundamental things at Launch Ventures in everything we do is there should be no sacrifice to quality.

Ooh, that's a good line. Say that one again. It should be no sac—

How do you build out a team to make sure that as you scale, you don't sacrifice quality? We 100% believe that there should be no sacrifice in quality. Tomorrow, even if someone decides to work with someone else, they should be able to take that code and have any external party review it and say, this is amazing code, right? This is amazing product. And so, what we're really working to solve, I would say, in this next quarter is, as we're growing and as we're scaling, how do we replicate this and make sure we don't lose the quality and the values, right, that are within Launch? And those values are care deeply, ask smart questions, Speak up, right? Things like that. Very values that seem very simple, but if it's within a person and it's, that's where you're gonna scale the business of the same quality. And my number one motive is to build a customer-centric business driven by high value, right? Everyone should feel value. And the only way to do that is figuring out how to scale. That's probably what I would say is the number one thing we would work on in the next 30 days or in the next 90 days is How do you, you know, keep building these layers of leadership and these layers of business where no matter what, every person that someone's going to interact with in our team has that mindset?

Leadership development in a systematic way.

In a systematic way, yeah. And again, in a scalable way, I would say as well.

I love that. I love that. So, Bijou, thank you so much for coming on. Any final thoughts or words for our listeners?

No, I think it's a really interesting time. I think technology is, you know, I think technology is always going to be interesting, to be honest, right? There's always going to be something new and something that's next. And I think embracing it and enjoying it. And I think for others who are, you know, leaders and trying to build businesses out there, my view is pretty much the same of, you know, you just, if you, you just have to think about the people you want to lead and the people you want to work with and just keep going after that. And it kind of comes together very well. You just can't lose sight of, you know, who it is you want to work with and how you want to work. And if you keep that, you know, fundamental, then the rest comes together.

I love that. So for those who want to learn more, they can reach out on LinkedIn or launchventures.co. Anywhere else you want to send them?

No, I think that's perfect. Yeah.

Okay, and so thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story.

Thank you so much for having me.

And thank you to our sponsors of today's episode, Achieve Fractional, which provides fractional executive leadership for growing businesses. And if you enjoyed the episode, share it with a friend, with a colleague. If you're wondering about the tech in your business, if it needs an upgrade, a facelift, or just an overhaul, reach out to Bijal and the team. They'll get you squared away. They'll look what you have and get you taken care of. And we will see you all on the next episode of the Achieve Podcast.