At it the organisers, Axel and Marita, talked about their view of the startup scene in Munich.
In particular, they repeated their view that there is no need to go to America for funding.
A lot of what they said they have said - and I have blogged - before but here are some takeaways:
Here are the four big things you need to get investment:
- communication skills - including being able to articulate your vision (which goes beyond having so money customers or making so much money)
- extraordinary people in your team - and you need to be able to find them. Our business has two co-founders but we definitely need more and are struggling to find
- have an MVP - reduce it to the absolute minimum, even ignore differential features unless it is core to the product and get it out there. Hint: don't wait for bugs to be fixed but add them to a known issues list on your blog
- valuation - in Silicon Valley it's about 10x forward looking revenue. Remember that valuation is basically just a guess and there is no reason why European startups shouldn't receive US levels. If investors disagree challenge them.
Some other advice:
- co-founders need an equal share and big staken in ensuring that the business survives and thrives
- find a mentor - often they want nothing in return or maybe say around 0.5% equity ... something small
- add to the Munich startup ecosystem, offer to help without expectation of reciprocation
Oh, and I just remembered, I also met an investor at the event. Will chase him up today.
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