After 2 intensive days of speed pitching, product demonstrations and meeting some of the finest minds in the country, Twoodo came out as a winner in the finals of Startupbootcamp Amsterdam 2013.
Twoodo was chosen in the top 9 of a total of 550 applicants to join Europe’s largest startup accelerator. You can check out all the pictures, tag lines and information about the program here. We are really excited to have joined the program. It will take Twoodo to the next level of development. It wasn’t enough to have an awesome concept and an MVP, we then needed some serious guidance on agile, lean methodologies and how to market our idea.
After intensive sessions of “speed pitching”, here is a top 10 list of the things we learned during the selection process of the accelerator and especially the last 2 days of the “finals”.
1. It’s all about the team
During the selection process this was repeated to us over and over again. “It’s not so much about the product, it’s all about the team”. It’s always possible to steer away from a bad idea or concept if you’re working with the right people. It’s more important to have a minimum viable team than a mimimum viable product. Make sure your team is tightly knit and has complementary skills. The people gauging you will want to make sure your team can execute your ideas effectively and with lightning speed.
2. Why are you doing this?
This is an idea that is inspiringly explained by Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle. One of our mentors and a great story teller, Jonathan Marks, also told me this the first time I met him. It’s stuck with us ever since. Before you explain how your concept is revolutionary or what it does, explain WHY you are doing it? We’re creating Twoodo to revolutionize the way people collaborate online. Why are you launching your idea or concept? In essence you should explain your vision and beliefs as an entrepreneur before explaining what your product or service does.
3. Always be pitching
Whether it’s in the hallway, in the elevator, at the snack bar or between 2 presentations you should always be ready to pitch your idea. For Startupbootcamp Amsterdam we spent 2 days surrounded by around 100 influential and well-connected people. It was networking heaven. Always have a one-minute pitch ready. The person you’re talking to could be your next client or investor. Here’s what we used for Twoodo : “We’re here to revolutionize the way people collaborate online. We are developing a productivity platform that let’s you use natural language to share tasks, manage projects and get things done. What do we mean by natural language? We mean that instead of opening a project page, clicking in boxes and opening menus you simply type what you’re thinking in the same manner that you would talk to someone or chat with someone online. And Twoodo does the rest. It knows who you’re talking to, it recognizes the project, the date and the importance level. It adds it seamlessly into your team’s workflow. It’s fast, it’s painless and those of us who have used it are never going back to our old methods.“
Bare in mind, the one place you don’t want to do this is probably the toilet. But for the rest, ABP! ABP! Always Be Pitching.
4. Everyone in your team should be ready to pitch
It’s great that you have an awesome public speaker in your team. In fact it’s vital to get the passion and vision of your concept across. But he can’t be everywhere at all times. Make sure that your whole team has at least learned your one minute pitch by heart. They also represent the face of the company and should be ready to deliver your message during these events.
5. What is the pain your are solving?
The most important thing when pitching an idea or presenting it to an audience is to get those heads nodding. Right away, your audience has to relate to what you’re talking about. Engage him in a way that he can relate to what you’re saying. Clearly and concisely explain what pain or problem you are solving using examples everyone can understand. If you can’t get that through, no-one will listen to your solution. But if you succeed, you will have their attention. Only then can you start explaining how your team is going to be the next Twitter or Facebook.
6. Have a demo ready
If you have a demo or prototype of your product ready it will help you gain precious time. There’s only so much you can describe with words. Having a short video, a ready demonstration or even pics or images of what you’re building will enable people understand it effectively.
7. Be ready to pivot, change your presentation
Some mentor sessions can be filled with constructive criticism to say the least. If someone confronts you and gives you good and challenging input, use it! Having said that, it’s not because one person said something that you should pivot. Always follow your gut feeling. Take in the information, analyse it, get more validators on the idea (i.e. talk to more people about it) and then pivot, adapt, change… So don’t hesitate to change your pitch or presentation a bit. Or sometimes a lot! It’ll show you can take criticism, understand it and employ it to your advantage. But whatever the case, stay motivated.
8. Don’t take things personally
Nothing is personal during these things, it s all business. If someone hates your idea or doesn’t understand it, don’t take things personally.
9. Be lean, launch now!
Walking into the selection we thought we had a lean strategy. Our website and features had been designed and developed based on a massive amount of user testing. The problem is we hadn’t launched yet. If fact we weren’t lean at all. Bluntly put being “lean” means launching a totally imperfect, ugly, barely-working product. You then build it based only on customer feedback (online chat, skype calls, face to face meetings etc.) and metrics (conversion rates, funnel analysis etc.). Forget your assumptions. Stop building based on them. Start testing your product live now!
10. If someone from your team is missing, prove they really exist
During the final selection days one of our main developers (and great minds behind Twoodo) was absent. As usual he was too busy coding. But since it’s all about the team, during presentations and pitching sessions we decided to carry around an iPad with a picture of his beautiful face. This made it much more convincing that our team was a trio and not a duo. If you have a team of 10 developers behind you that can’t make it, it might be a good idea to carry around a group photo. It makes you look stronger and more united. It’s also good to be able to put a face on a name.
(Bonus point) Smile and be happy
This one is kind of short and easy to grasp. If you go around looking happy to be there and confident about your ideas you’ll get much better energy from the people you talk to. Even if your last pitch went terribly wrong, suck it up and hide it deep down.
There you have it. Of course this list is not exhaustive. If you’ve been through the same process or have any questions don’t hesitate to post in the comments.