“It isn’t all glamour” – Louis Buys, Founder and CEO of The Delta, unpacks the truth about starting a business & shares his secrets to finding good talent

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Louis Buys, Founder and CEO of The Delta, is a young entrepreneur with flair and deep love for puzzling together all the pieces that go into getting startups off the ground. He managed to scale from 0-100 products in 3 years, and launched 20 ventures in just 2! Born in Pretoria, South Africa, Louis went on to study at the University of Cape Town, completing a BSc in Mechatronic Engineering and BSc (Hons) in Computer Science. Today, Louis possesses key experience and insight into securing business investments and implementing successful business strategies.

In the latest Business Unusual podcast, Ralf Fletcher, CEO of Topco Media, engages in conversation with Louis Buys to discuss “the methodologies behind The Delta”, the many misconceptions society has about being an entrepreneur, and driving talent density. Louis goes in depth on topics such as dealing with uncertainty as a business owner, growth and diversification, “the capital frenzy”, and how to maximise the value of a venture.

Key takeaways to listen out for in this podcast:

• Starting a business is not all ‘roses and glamour’ – do not go into this with rose-tinted glasses. There is not much in this world that will prepare you for being a business owner. You need to know that you will need to piece together the parts as you go on your business journey.
• Your bottom line should be that you actually enjoy your job! You cannot be successful if you are not excited about what you do every single morning that you wake up. Pick a mission/venture that you will want to pursue every day of your life. This is where passion plays a huge role. If you don’t believe in your venture, no one else will.
• Understand that your operational roles, as a ‘business builder’, will change as your business grows. From ideation to product growth marketing and validation – businesses come with many different layers, thus, requiring many roles of a business builder all at once.
• You need to know and understand this above all else: your customer’s pain point. Gain evidence around any assumptions you may have regarding how and why your product/service will solve an important problem. You need to take an evidence-based approach. Too often businesses fail because they made incorrect assumptions about their target market.
• Tip for scaling: double-down on getting the top talent into your company. This is called the “talent crunch”.
• When searching for talent, find ways for people who are passionate and talented to solve a given problem that they actually care about. Their passion will elevate and push your business forward.
• Driving Talent Density: Zoom in on how you are measuring where you leak talent and where you are gaining talent. Once you are able to measure this, you will be able to maintain a high talent density overtime.
• Remember that a leader’s strengths can be the company’s weaknesses. Do not be too quick to make assumptions. Diversify your business’s in-house skillset.
• Tip: The things that validate a startup are not that expensive. The secret is doing thorough research on how you can cut costs.
• If you’re a young entrepreneur, especially, try and find a mentor for your mindset. Get and nurture the healthy mindset you need to be okay with making mistakes along the way, and to be in this for the long run.

Louis Buys is an experienced tech entrepreneur, leader and speaker. He has co-founded and built multiple businesses that have secured investment from venture capital, banks, and listed companies. Louis is the Founder and CEO of The Delta, a global venture builder with a portfolio of over 25 operational ventures founded since 2018. The Delta launches over 10 new ventures internally or in partnership with leading corporates, high net worths per quarter. He likes to share his knowledge as a speaker, writer and mentor. Louis also consults to businesses on strategy and trends relating to startups, and new ventures.

The Delta validates, designs, builds and launches businesses and products with leading corporations and entrepreneurs worldwide. The Delta is more than a design agency, more than an app builder, more than a startup incubator/accelerator – it is an international venture-development company.