by maria | Apr 2, 2016 | Uncategorized
Alright, I must admit, I’m a huge House of Cards fan… It’s just one of those TV shows that gets me on the edge of my seat. However, just the other day, when I finished watching the latest season, I realised how we could all learn from it, when it comes to startups and pitching, especially with the Lisbon Investment Summit coming this June.
So, what can you actually learn from Frank Underwood’s convincing speeches and political games? How can you improve your speech and seem as convincing as Frank or Claire? Well, you’re about to find out.
Take all these useful tips to improve your pitch for the Lisbon Investment Summit (if you haven’t applied to pitch yet make sure you do so right here), and impress some of Europe’s top investors on June 7-8.
Start with a powerful statement
If you’ve been watching House of Cards you probably remember the speech Frank gave on his program, America Works. Nonetheless, let me refresh your memory…
He starts off by saying: “Good evening. For too long, we in Washington have been lying to you.”
That’s not just a powerful statement that gets everybody’s attention, but also a shocking truth. Think of what could be your powerful statement. What truth, related to your startup, can grab your audience’s attention? What problem are you solving?
And this brings us to the next tip…
Start by the problem and then talk about the solution
In that same speech, Frank talks about how Americans have been growing in disappointment with their governments and their lives. To then, explain that the real problem is not what people expect from the government, but the creation of jobs, “real paying jobs”.
And that’s the message he’s trying to pass on, the importance of this job creation program he’s trying to implement.
Try and do the same here with your startup pitch. Start with the pain point of your potential customers, introduce the problem, and only then, explain the solution.
Use metaphors to explain your product
Your message needs to get across the room. People need to immediately understand what you do, and the more complex your product is, the worst it gets to explain it. So, the use of metaphors and comparisons is definitely helpful.
“Power is a lot like real estate. It’s all about location, location, location. The closer you are to the source, the higher your property value.” Frank Underwood
This actually reminds me of the winning pitch at the Web Summit 2014 from Codacy’s Jaime Jorge. He started off by comparing his tool for developers with cleaning dishes. Simple and effective.
Know your competition…
The thing about pitches is that in the end people usually get to ask questions, and that’s also a good sign. But you definitely need to be prepared for it.
One of the most common questions is actually about your competitors. Who is your competition? How are you doing it differently?
Frank Underwood is known to be always a step ahead of his competition, because he knows everything about them. In the end, you’ll know a lot about your competitors to realise how your solution can be the best in the market. But hopefully, you won’t be as ruthless as Frank when it comes to defeating them.
…But also your weaknesses
As Frank Underwood once said, “even Achiles was only as strong as his heel”. Everyone has weaknesses, and if you’re aware of yours, you can improve them.
Practice your pitch a thousand times, with lots of different people. Understand what’s the most difficult part for you, if it’s answering the questions from the audience, if you can’t pronounce a word correctly, if you look nervous… and tackle it from the beginning to make your pitch better, every single time you say it.
Were these tips useful? Is your pitch getting close to perfect? Then, pitch at the Lisbon Investment Summit, this June 7-8, apply here.
by maria | Mar 31, 2016 | Uncategorized
A few months ago we felt the need for a change. We felt that our image couldn’t possibly reflect the dynamism, the adrenaline rush, the risk and the unpredictability that is working with startups.
After some careful thought, we made a choice, a choice that every entrepreneur makes when they decide to build their own business, and that is to embrace the unexpected (in this case, go for the rebrand)… Luckily for us, we bumped into Ogilvy, who guided us through the whole process, who took the guts to take our wildest ideas and put it into practice.
The result? A whole new brand that truly represents who we are and what we do.
So, when last night, our own President, Pedro Rocha Vieira, sends a whatsapp to the whole team saying that our rebranding and new logo won the prize of the year in advertising in Portugal, we kind of felt like our friend Conan right here…
Thanks to the brilliant design of Ogilvy, at the Meios & Publicidade Award Ceremony last night, Beta-i was awarded with Best Rebranding, Best Logo and Best Piece (our squiggle cards).
We couldn’t have felt more proud… Thank you to all those at Ogilvy who contributed to this design and new concept, and to all those entrepreneurs who have inspired us along the way.
by maria | Mar 15, 2016 | Uncategorized
A couple of months ago we got an email from Sandra Wolf from Codacy about this international Scala meetup they wanted to organise. However, what started off as a meetup turned out to be a ‘slightly’ bigger event… Codacy, together with 47 Degrees, is now organising, instead, the first international Scala conference in Southern Europe called Lx Scala.
Lx Scala is bringing to Lisbon top Scala experts, from all over Europe, to discuss the present and future trends around this programming language, in an event that promises to be a great learning and sharing experience.
Earlier last week, we spoke to Sandra Wolf, from Codacy, and Jorge Galindo, from 47 Degrees, who are the main organisers behind this event, to understand what this conference will bring to the table.
According to Jorge, Lx Scala “won’t be a huge conference, it will be personal and familiar, so that everyone can meet each other and share knowledge and experience around Scala.”
With top speakers and experts such as Noel Welsh from Underscore, Eric Torrebone from Zalando and Alexy Khravov from Scala By The Bay, this conference will be a great learning experience that has a lot to add to the tech community in Lisbon. “We’ve been organising scala meetups in Lisbon but this time, we’re taking a step further, and bringing to Lisbon great international experts” explains Sandra.
But, according to Sandra and Jorge, this conference doesn’t end when the keynotes and panels are over… It keeps its casual and informal atmosphere for the closing party, where a rock band will be playing live.
Lx Scala will be held at Microsoft on the 8th and 9th of April. So, make sure you get your ticket, as there are only 100 tickets available, and check all the details right here.
The post Lx Scala: the 1st International Scala Conference in Lisbon appeared first on Lisbon Challenge.
by maria | Mar 8, 2016 | Uncategorized
A couple of weeks ago we found out that Remidi, an Italian startup from Lisbon Challenge Fall 2015 who blew everyone away with a music playing and recording glove, had launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. That made total sense… If there was a startup with a product for crowdfunding it had to be Remidi.
And as it turns out, their campaign completely matched the expectations, as they just announced that they reached their initial goal… in fact, as I write this, they have actually doubled their investment – it went up from 50.000 dollars to 114.000 dollars, from a total of 449 backers.
Impressive, right? But, just before we allow ourselves to get carried away in this crowdfunding frenzy, we need to understand why did Remidi’s crowdfunding campaign work so far. How did they pull it off? What can other entrepreneurs, who are also considering crowdfunding, learn from this? In other words, what does it take to successfully launch a crowdfunding campaign?
I did a bit of research on this and talked to Andrea Baldereschi, CEO and founder of Remidi, to get a few answers about the strategy for crowdfunding and here it is.
So, first things first…
Crowdfund where your audience is – choose the right platform
Not all startups should crowdfund. Yeah, I know it’s cool, but not all products can easily attract support from a general audience, simply because some products are too complex or just not that interesting for consumers. If you’re building a B2B software product for example, maybe going after Kickstarter or Indiegogo is not the way to go – your audience is not there. But if, on the other hand, you’re developing a B2C product, that is a physical product and not just a software (just like Remidi’s T8), you have real chances of nailing a crowdfunding campaign. You need to bear in mind that people will go after what they need and what they think is cool, and that’s what happens in most crowdfunding platforms.
For Remidi, for instance, choosing Kickstarter was a crucial factor. According to Andrea Baldereschi, CEO of Remidi, Kickstarter is “not only one of the coolest ideas and communities I’ve ever heard of, but it’s also managed and directed by the most open-minded and easygoing people that I’ve ever had to deal with – when you stream them your passion, they’ll help you as much as they can”.
So, if you’re building a B2B startup or just something that’s hard to explain to general public don’t do crowdfunding on Kickstarter or Indiegogo. Take a look into other crowdfunding platforms that might be more suitable for you such as Seedrs, that focusses on startups mostly to help them get the best out of crowdfunding, taking a different approach from the generic platforms. However, you should really take the time to think this through. You don’t want your crowdfunding campaign to turn into a major flop.
Build an audience before launching
Most successful crowdfunding campaigns have taken the time to build an audience before kicking it off. Some of them have actually pre-campaigned for 3 years. And that was the case for Remidi as well. They decided to really focus on creating an audience during 8 months before launching the campaign. “If your idea is not properly marketed and if it doesn’t create buzz before the campaign, it will be very hard to reach the right amount of people needed to get to your goal” says Andrea.
Set a smart goal
Your goal shouldn’t be the money that you would like to raise but how much you actually need to develop your product. People love to bet on a winning project so if you get to your goal within the first week you’ll get much more backers from then on. Also, campaigns that have reached or surpassed their goal are usually highlighted on Kickstarter’s or Indiegogo’s homepage, so this is more exposure for your campaign.
In the end, just like I read on Forbes, what matters is for you to “set an amount high enough to cover the costs of actually manufacturing and delivering your product, but your goal should be one that you’re confident you can reach”.
Nail the pitch
This is all about how you tell the story and how you explain to your audience the real problem you’re solving. People support your campaign because they can relate with what you’re doing, they’re drawn to it. Don’t focus too much at first on lots of features, instead, let people know why you’re doing this and who is behind it. Introduce your team and be transparent. You should only emphasize the features later on and especially if you have some competition, because that’s what makes you stand out from the crowd.
Anyway, these were just some tips I picked up from a bunch of places and from Remidi’s experience. I really hope it helps those of you who are considering crowdfunding.
As for Remidi, their campaign is still up and running and they have now moved on to Techstars in Austin, where they’re putting together the pre-production sample before starting manufacturing. According to Andrea, Lisbon Challenge was “the most meaningful experience where we never learned so much in such a short period of time and it’s very hard to find such a dynamic and fun environment as we did in Beta-i”, but now it’s to “create a great network in the world of wearable technology and music tech”.
Of course that from our side we wish Remidi the best of luck and we hope you keep on surprising us with innovative technology that get us on the edge of our chairs.
P.S.: Check out Remidi’s Kickstarter campaign for some inspiration and if you’re interested back them up so that they can develop the first wearable instrument to record, play and perform.
The post How to successfully launch a crowdfunding campaign appeared first on Lisbon Challenge.
by maria | Mar 7, 2016 | Uncategorized
Bureaucracy is just one of those words everyone hates, especially when it comes to the public sector…
How many times have you actually taken the day to dive into bureaucratic paperwork and found yourself screaming in the waiting room because you can’t keep up with the complexity of things?
Pretty much like Kendrick Lamar screaming in that hotel room, you don’t want to get the evils of bureaucracy all around you… so, you need to go running for answers.
And that’s where Startup Simplex comes in. With this program, the Portuguese government wants to turn these complex nightmares into spontaneous day-dreams, with your help.
In other words, if you have a product, idea or service that might improve the relationship between the public sector and the average citizen, go ahead and apply for Startup Simplex and make it happen.
It’s all about keeping it simple.
Check out all the details of this program here and apply by the 20th of April.
The post Startup Simplex: Keeping it Simple and Fighting Bureaucracy appeared first on Lisbon Challenge.
