Founder Insights #2: A fireside chat with Al Mackin

Manchester has no shortage of inspiring leaders who stand out not just for their business success, but also their contribution to the city’s thriving startup scene.

As founder of theEword, Chair of Forever Manchester, and now CEO of Formisimo, an advanced form analytics solution, Al Mackin is up there with the most influential businesspeople in Manchester.

Following on from the success of our first fireside chat with Paul Stacey, founder of Fatsoma, we were eager to learn about the experiences of an entrepreneur moving from one very successful venture to a second.

We were thrilled to partner with sponsors Brabners again for our return to Old Granada Studios, where we welcomed guests over a few Shindigger beers for networking before the interview got underway….

The road to Formisimo: Al’s background

Al Mackin has delivered impressive growth with Formisimo since its formation in 2014, demonstrating a remarkable shift from his legacy at theEword to running a digital product business. To gain insight into how the transition came about, Luke started by asking what stages he went through to realise Formisimo as it stands today.

Recalling his experiences at theEword, Al explained how he reached a point where he no longer felt he was adding value to the company. He wanted to do something different.

To branch out, he embarked on a mass-scale SEO project, with the aim of crawling every website in the world. It didn’t take long for Al and his team to realise why it hadn’t been done before; the project failed, but it was an important learning curve for them to undergo.

As a result, Al approached Formisimo in a very different way. Determined to make this venture a success, he adopted a lean structure and was sensitive to the needs of the team when sowing their excitement.

Luke: So were you using the same people to build Formisimo?

Al: Yes, we used the team at theEword. One of the learnings around that first project was just because you’re excited about something doesn’t mean everyone else will be… and there’s nothing you can do about that. You can ask them to be excited, allow them to be – but you can’t force it.”

A developer at heart, Al took time to learn the principles of managing and motivating people. Partnering with co-founder Tom New made this much easier; everyone needs an energised, excitable lightning rod in their business.

First steps to success

In the past three years, Formisimo has evolved from a side project to a business that’s raised over £1 million in investment and secured 3,000 clients, including leading blue chip organisations.

The concept originated from a project at theEword. Al told the client that they had terrible forms, but they wanted data to prove it. He then realised there was no way to measure user behaviour in this critical process, so set about creating an early version of the platform.

Before embarking on the venture, Al had drawn up a checklist of what his next business would look like, but he didn’t know much about startups, funding and selling to enterprise. He couldn’t say for sure if it would be successful. But he knew early on it was what he wanted to do.

Finance and Formisimo

Al and Tom bootstrapped the company for as long as possible, but eventually they sought investment to take their startup to the next level. To get the ball rolling, Tom entered a competition with the Israeli embassy, which Formisimo would go on to win.

As a result, they were invited to Israel to meet fellow winners from around the world, an experience that really opened Al’s eyes to things like accelerators and funding models. They met countless people who had been through the rounds before, and who guided Al and Tom through the investment-seeking process.

Luke: It must be very different going from earning money commercially to actually spending someone else’s money. Did that put any pressure on you?

Al: I’m very happy spending someone else’s money. laughs No, it’s so weird. But essentially, you’re asking rich men and women for money. It’s no more complex than that. You can ask them in different ways, but that’s the reality. And it does take a change in mindset.

Al went on to talk about the practicalities and importance of sound financial management in a startup. You can’t wait until you’re down to the last £100 in the business; you need to be looking three, or even six, months ahead.

Process, visibility and planning are key. As part of this, it’s important to have a sensible view on the market – what you can achieve and when you can achieve it. Don’t try to overreach; lay small steps in your plans, taking one at a time.

Al: The human mind is a crappy calculator. You need to have a plan. You need to have people around you who have been through this before.

Plans for the future

Finally, Luke asked Al about his plans for the future. He explained that it’s an exciting time for the business; Formisimo is doing really well in terms of funding and securing clients, a wave which Al hopes to ride over the coming months with new hires to drive growth.

Meanwhile, Al’s team are working on the beta version of a product called Nudgr, which uses machine learning to predict in real-time whether or not someone will complete a form. If not, they nudge them with a prompt to boost engagement.

He also alluded to a top secret project, which he’s keeping under wraps at the moment…

As Luke rounded off the interview, he opened it up to the floor, which triggered a stream of questions from the audience. Al continued to fascinate with his answers, giving a deeper insight into his views and priorities as a serial entrepreneur.

Filmed once again by What Marketing, the full interview is available on our Facebook page. We’ll be back in September for our third Founder Insights, and we cannot wait to reveal the next guest. So keep an eye out for the announcement over the coming weeks.