Compiled by Monica Bay

Meet Edward Taylor, 31, CEO of synergist.io, his first startup. The public launch is scheduled for Q1 2017. An Australian, Taylor is currently based in Berlin, Germany.

 

Social Studies
Website: www.synergist.io
Twitter: @synergist_io
Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/synergist-io.

Education: Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (incomplete), University of Technology, Sydney.

Past significant jobs: Director, Corporate Business Development, Office of the CEO, SAP, 2010-2015. Account Executive, IBM, 2005-2009.

What problem does your startup solve? Our product primarily addresses organizations that are negotiating a high volume of low value contracts. Our current users include contract managers, procurement managers, sales managers and legal counsel. There are two major problems they face: First: The time taken to negotiate contracts (16 weeks on average for a complex contract). Second: the limited trust—and selective sharing of information between parties. This often results in counter-productive contract terms focused on assigning risk rather than enabling mutual gains. With synergist.io, users no longer need to manually “redline” contracts as we automate the tedious parts of this process. Users may also choose to share internal preferences confidentially with synergist.io and it will recommend terms or suggest offers when a perfect match of intent is identified.

What inspired you to pursue this startup? We noticed a lack of ambitious problem-solving in this field. Current technologies are variations on the well-known Microsoft Corp.’s Word document review/markup process and computer-aided negotiation systems have been discussed but rarely implemented outside academic circles. After spending 10 years negotiating complex deals, I’ve seen the correlation between deal outcomes and the level of trust and transparency present in negotiations. However, I have not seen any currently available method to identify mutually acceptable terms in commercial contracts that is both intrinsically safe and highly scalable.

Is the startup on the market? Synergist.io is currently in closed beta and will be released in Q1 2017. Pricing will be based on monthly contract volume.

Do you have patents? We’ve begun the patent application process.

Do you have funding yet? We’ve received a substantial innovation grant from the Investment Bank Berlin and are currently preparing an additional investment round.

What is your biggest challenge re: the start-up? Finding early adopters and helping users deal with the behavioral shift that software and automation introduce in their professions. Some users have decades of negotiation experience, but it is confined to document redlining and using haggling or disruptive bargaining techniques to try and reach consensus. or using haggling techniques to reach consensus. Some have in-person bargaining techniques. Many people—despite acknowledging the benefits of automation—are not yet willing to embrace change to established processes.

What do you need:  Right now: The right balance of technical, marketing and legal talent to fine-tune product market fit. In six months: Experienced company builders to scale processes beyond a 10-person team. In a year: 100 enterprise customers using automation to collectively negotiate 300,000 contracts per annum (this would result in a cumulative time-saving of 22,000 personnel days, an approximate €44M efficiency improvement and a clear validation of the legal-tech automation trend).

What have you learned that you wish you knew five years ago? 50 percent of a successful company is its distribution strategy, not just its product.

Who most influenced you: John Demartini. I met him when I was 17 and he introduced the notion of every person having a unique hierarchy of values—things you value very highly and things you value very little and this order descends based on self-interest. This very simple, fundamental truth has underpinned all the key decisions I’ve made in my life and is what I instinctively focus on whenever I communicating with anyone.

Most important mentors: Sean Sullivan, my first line manager at IBM when I was 19, who imposed on me to never confuse effort with results. David Williams, my second line manager at IBM when I was 21, who imposed on me that your options and ambitions are limited only in so far as you choose to limit yourself.

 

What book changed your life? Alan Watts – Become What You Are, (page 19 and 20).

What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs? Continue to ask, “Am I doing the most important thing I could be doing?”

What are you afraid of? Forgetting a key link in the backup chain.

What are you most proud of? Presenting to a large number of baby boomers with analogue mindsets who resent change.

 

Where do you think you’ll be in 10 years?  At the United Nations presenting to heads of state on how to use technology to reach agreement and giving back to entrepreneurs who were where I was 10 years prior.

Favorite vacation destination: Nepal, because of the endless mountain ranges you can descend on a mountain bike.

 

Favorite musician or group: Goldmund. They help with flow.

Favorite food: Ceviche.

Favorite quote: “Luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparedness.” – Earl Nightingale.

Your mantra: Do one thing every day that scares you.

Who would you want sitting next to you if you got stuck for 3 hours on the tarmac in a 737? Gunter Pauli, author of The Blue Economy. He has accumulated a lifetime of research contrasting environmental science & anomalies with social business opportunities. There is and endless amount of inspiration that we can take from our environment.

Compiled by Monica Bay, CodeX Fellow.

Photo credits: Simple Recipes (Ceviche).  Become What You Are: Amazon.
Cover image : Clipart.com