Why being afraid of customers can hold tech start-ups back

Design marketplace 99designs is one of Australia’s major start-up success stories. The international platform has grown to 240,000 registered designers, and pays almost $2 million to designers each month. The 90-staff strong team is based in Melbourne, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris and London and has launched a new stand-alone service this week. […]

Rose Powell 15 August, 2013

Design marketplace 99designs is one of Australia’s major start-up success stories.

The international platform has grown to 240,000 registered designers, and pays almost $2 million to designers each month.

The 90-staff strong team is based in Melbourne, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris and London and has launched a new stand-alone service this week.

Chief operations officer Jason Sew Hoy spoke to StartupSmart about why their plans to hide behind a well-functioning tech platform held them back, and how they stopped being afraid of their customers.