You only have one chance to make a good first impression. We very quickly (in a matter of seconds!) access others in terms of trustworthiness, reliability and hostility. This thought can be very daunting when you’re meeting with possible partners or investors – the good news is that you have anywhere between 1 to 20 minutes to make the best first impression.
There are three areas where you should focus on – yourself, your business and your audience – to make a first and lasting good impression.
Put your best foot forward.
Investors are looking for talented individuals they can trust with their money, and they need to feel confident in your capabilities as well as your personality.
Social Expressivity – These are the expressions that we, as humans, will notice in each other’s facial expression, so try to smile to create empathy and not convey hostility, and look in your interlocutor’s eyes as it helps to establish trust between you.
Good posture – Bad posture might be construed as lack of confidence in yourself or the business, so make sure to straighten your spine and shoulders (in a relaxed way) and give them a firm handshake. You can also lean in towards your interlocutor to show that you are listening and your focus is on them.
Look the part – If you want to impress upon your audience that you’re an expert at something you should look like you are. We know that looks don’t mean much as competencies go, but in this occasion your audience will have a short amount of time to decide how they feel about you, so your look will play a role in it. If you’re in a very meticulous business, you don’t want a shirt stain to give the impression that you are not detail-oriented.
Clean communication – Practice your speech before you go and, if possible, test it with colleagues beforehand. Your discourse should be organised and clear, so your audience can follow it easily. Confusing sentences can make your investors go into a rabbit hole of questions that will stray you off the presentation of your ideas the way you wanted to convey them.
No one knows your business better than you.
Show that you know your product and business better than anyone else could.
Know your numbers – You should know your business inside and out as well as the market and competition. If possible, know your numbers by heart, as this will show how involved and knowledgeable you are. If not possible, then include them in the presentation in a impactful and meaningful way.
Show your reasoning – Don’t make bold statements without any backing up data. Always show your investors how did you came to that knowledge and help them be on the same page as you.
Have answers – Try to anticipate what will be their questions and have answers ready that can be tailored for specific questions. Sometimes, your business or market may be too innovative and you might not have all the answers yet. In that case never lie – experienced investors will see right through it. It’s better to be honest – admit that you don’t have all the answers and show them what your company is doing to correct that.
Show off your team – Let them know which problems did you encounter along the way and how did the team solve it, and show them that you are team with the right set of skills that works well together to solve problems.
Focus on your audience.
You want to impress your investors but the best way to do it is to make it all about them.
Know them and their role – In the day of google and social media, there’s no excuse to not recognize your interlocutors upon first meeting. Do a quick research to get to know them and the projects they usually invest on. If they’re corporate, understand their role in the company. If possible, find some of their interests or hobbies that you can bring into conversation to create a good rapport.
Build a conversation – Speak with them and not “at them”. If they direct the conversation towards a specific topic, make sure you show them that you listened and incorporate their concerns into your ideas.
Express your gratitude – Be polite and thank them. After all, they took the time to listen to your ideas.
Easy, right? It seems like a lot of tiny details, and some of these things you might already do naturally or they might be something your mum once told you (they are very good at these, moms). The important thing is that you feel prepared and confident that you’re on the right track for a great first impression.
Speaking of being in the right track, subscribe to our newsletter for more tips, news and event details.
The second edition of The Journey is in full throttle!
Brought to you by Turismo de Portugal and fully dedicated to the development of innovation in the Tourism Industry, The Journey is a 3-month program with a global reach. It aims to bring startups dedicated to solving problems in the industry to work alongside Turismo de Portugal and local industry players: Grupo Barraqueiro, Geostar, Pestana Hotel Group, SATA Azores Airlines and NOS.
This second edition is focusing on four big key points:
Personalizing the customer journey
Creating a seamless traveling experience
Improve customer care
Promote conscious travelling
As an important growing industry, tourism is perfectly positioned to create the right conditions for startups and innovation to thrive in Portugal, as pointed out by the president of Turismo de Portugal, Luís Araújo.
“The idea for this project, once again organized by Beta-i, is to reinforce Portugal’s positioning as an entrepreneurship and experimentation platform for startups. At a moment when the digital world both consolidates and conditions the sector’s sustainability, Turismo de Portugal keeps focused on creating a friendly environment for innovation, through several initiatives to support entrepreneurship.”
The bootcamp, which took place last week, gathered 20 selected startups from around the world. Beta-i gave the startups the tools they needed to prepare a business case adapted to the needs of the partners and pilot case plan of action. The week included presentations, workshops and a round of speed-dating (one on one meetings with the corporate partners), motivational talks and sharing of alumni experiences.
The Finalists
These are the 14 startups that are conducting pilot-projects with The Journey’s partners.This exciting phase will develop over the next two months, with the final results being presented on november 20th, at Lisbon Tourism Summit.
Get to know them:
[accordion]
[item title=”aPieceof.me”]A platform to find unique souvenirs and sustain local commerce and trades
[item title=”Omikuji”] Omikuji is a Software as a Service company committed to democratize the use of Big Data and Advanced Analytics solutions within small, medium and big-size business based on cutting-edge cloud based technology and custom-made data science.
[item title=”Social CxN”]SocialCxN is an automated Influencer Marketing Platform that was designed and developed to make the influencer marketing industry more transparent, collaborative, and efficient for both Brands & Influencers.
[item title=”Timescenery”]Timescenery is a social trip planner and marketplace, making trip planning frictionless and social, especially for multi-leg itineraries, such as road trips, city hopping, business travel or any kinds of trips with busy schedule, including different places to visit and logistics.
[item title=”Venture With Impact”]Venture with Impact brings working professionals to cities abroad in groups of 20 or less. Venturers are provided with living accommodations, workspace, 24-hour support and culturally immersive activities for a period of one month. Venture with Impact participants are matched with an NGO or social business to work on a project that aligns with their professional skills, interests and remote work schedule.
[/item]
[item title=”Wall-i”]Wall-I.TV is the most advanced cloud-based Digital Signage OS, able to provide segmented content for the audience consuming the information and versatile enough to be adaptable to the presentation of contents within different context requirements.
We have been talking about SingularityU Portugal Summit Cascais for a long time now, but it is completely natural that there are still some doubts about it. To clear them out, here are some frequently asked questions about this one of a kind event.
What is SingularityU Portugal Summit Cascais?
SingularityU Portugal Summit Cascais is the first event about exponential technology taking place in Portugal. Exponential technology refers to technologies that double in power or processing speed every year.
The event will bring the world’s leading speakers and experts on exponentially accelerating technologies together with Portuguese leaders of today and tomorrow to give the knowledge and insight needed to compete and win in an exponentially changing world.
Where and when will it be happening?
As its name suggests, SingularityU Portugal Summit Cascais will happen in the sunny city of Cascais, in the newly inaugurated Nova SBE Campus. October 8th and 9th are the selected days to this summit organized by Câmara Municipal de Cascais, Beta-i and Nova SBE and supported by Galp Energia, Ageas, and Semapa. Write them on your planner.
What will be the main topics?
Over the course of two days, you’ll hear from world experts in exponential technologies, from Silicon Valley and beyond, and learn what the implications are for you. From governance to neuroscience, there will be space to discuss economics, the future of organizations, exponential energy, the human potential and the future of education and jobs.
Who is coming?
On stage there will be more than 20 speakers, including well known speakers, such as Esther Wojcicki, considered the most influential educator in contemporary times, David Roberts, one of the main specialists in the world in disruptive technology, Amin Toufani, a specialist in emergent economies and finance, Vivienne Ming, a neuroscientist, technologist and entrepreneur named one of Inc. Magazine’s 10 Women to Watch in Tech, amongst others.
Will I just listen to these world leading speakers?
Besides talks and debates, there will be one stage dedicated to workshops and showcases, a way of creating an engaging experience and not just a regular summit, where you listen and go home.
In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to meet all the speakers as well as the chance for networking in a high-level environment, trying all kinds of tech demos and trying out the delicious catering option, an important factor at any summit.
I want to go. How can I confirm my presence?
There are still some tickets available, but if you really want to go you must confirm your presence ASAP. You can get your tickets to these extraordinary two days here.
Carlos, Paulo, and Federico met at MIT. They collaborated on a project and were eager to continue working together in one way or another. However, they needed an idea.
The idea was to create an interface where the user simply inserts the input into a prespecified table without the need for coding. It didn’t win, but the idea remained, and later resurfaced during a brainstorming session between the three founders.
Two weeks later, they had a working prototype. They decided to commit themselves fully to the project to see if it could be something. Lisbon Challenge was the opportunity to take the leap of faith. An opportunity to validate the idea with a community of investors, mentors and potential customers. Before entering Lisbon Challenge, they had agreed that if no one showed interest they would quit the project.
During the program, they polished their presentation skills. This proved to be a useful skill, as a founder you are always pitching. To customers, investors, business partners, and employees. Yet, the most important aspect of the program was the community and network that came along with it. Techstars followed (after they worked their a**es off).
What’s their proudest accomplishment so far? The team.
Food has never been more trendy and business around it is exploding. Food is on prime-time tv, online influencers have made their careers around it, chefs are the new rockstars and suddenly everyone is calling themselves a ‘foodie’. The plethora of opportunities arising as a result of this did not go unnoticed by the founders of EatTasty, Rui and Orlando.
When Amalie Naustdal, our former Communications Manager, spoke with them, they told her that they applied to Lisbon Challenge as a means for early-stage testing their product and service, as well as to connect with people who had experience in doing what they were trying to do. Four weeks into the accelerator, they started selling their product. They did not have a website up and running, but managed to sell to four different companies using WhatsApp and Typeform, publishing the daily menu in the WhatsApp group from each company.
The acceleration program also provided them with access to a large network of investors. They also developed a network with big companies in Lisbon to offer their services to. Winning Lisbon Challenge meant an investment from Caixa Capital, as well as Bright Pixel investing in them during the program.
In the early development stages, they focused on the supply side of the service, getting partners throughout the supply chain and building the product with high-profile chefs. They have tried to remain focused on the main challenges to not get ahead of themselves. Taking it one step at a time. During Lisbon Challenge, they were careful on deciding which workshops to attend, which mentors to meet and which investors to pursue, not to waste any time and only focus on what was relevant to them.
The current goal is to double sales within Lisbon. With 3,000 registered users, they believe the key is to grow the customer base within their existing areas of Lisbon. Afterwards, they plan on expanding to new neighbourhoods, before expanding across borders.
Impraise landed a Series A Investment of $10.6 Million last month (July, 2018). Impraise helps companies retain and engage key talent by empowering individuals to take ownership of their performance and development.
Impraise decided to join Lisbon Challenge after a Portuguese friend told them about the program. They landed in Lisbon without a technical co-founder so they created ‘startups meet developers’ and organized a meet up on the day they arrived, one day before Lisbon Challenge started. The night was a success, they met their co-founder Filipe, who quit his job to join the team two weeks after the meet up.
Lisbon Challenge ended up helping them understand what it meant to build a product, a company, and a team. They made it to the top 10 startups, chosen for an international Roadshow to London, New York, and Sao Paulo. After the Roadshow, they went back to Berlin to continue building Impraise with new experiences and learnings to guide them on their path.
After going back to Berlin, guess who called them? Yes, that’s right: Y Combinator. The interview was successful and they ended up joining the next batch of the accelerator. Amsterdam followed and even an office in New York.
Regarding their product it has been a continuous journey with big ideas on how to transform from an HR process to a coaching and communication tool – all that while struggling to maintain focus, their biggest challenge so far
Impraise is after now after expansion and getting new clients. They also have an advice for startups – future Lisbon Challenge startups included – ‘stay open and curious about the opinions of your team members and to challenge things.’
