UCL Talk/ Startupbootcamp Office Hours

1. Overview- Startupbootcamp By the Numbers

2. What Do Accelerators Offer?

3. What Accelerators Don't Do for Your Startup

4. How Do Startups Stand Out?

5. Creating Barriers to Entry

6. Raising Money

What Are We Covering?

Overview

1000+ Mentors, Partners,

Experts and Investors

71% Funding Success

Rate

250Alumni

80% Alumni Still Active

11+Accelerators All Over the World

€582,438Average Funding

Raised

FastTrack days around the world

We'll reach 100+ cities this year

BeijingShanghai

New YorkBoston

CopenhagenFrankfurtLondonStockholm

AmsterdamEindhoven

Berlin

Moscow

GoaBangalore

Mumbai

Hong Kong

ParisCairoRomePrague

IstanbulMunichOslo

MadridBarcelona

AthensLisbon

Cologne

SingaporeKuala Lumpur

St Petersburg

Stockholm

San Francisco

DubaiTel Aviv

Jakarta

Tokyo

Bangkok

We'll reach 200+ cities this year

What Do Accelerators Offer?

What's in it for You?● Tools for Rapid Growth

● Shared Experience

● Pilot Customers

● Company and Brand Validation

● Constant Feedback

AND…

NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK!

What Accelerators Won't Do for Your Startup

What an Accelerator Won't Do

● Guarantee Seed or Additional Funding Rounds

● Hand You Investors

● Create a One-Size-Fits-All Programme

● Do the Hard Work for You

Popular Accelerators in London

Choosing an Accelerator is a lot like Choosing a University

What Makes Startups Stand Out from the Crowd?

What Makes Startups Stand Out?● Team Strength

● Timing

● Business Plan/ Market Fit

● Revenue/ Funding?

BUT.. Don't Forget● Passion● Energy● Vision

Inside Look- The Social Coin● Before applying, The Social Coin had successfully

raised €12K through crowdfunding.

● Their CEO and Co-Founder had started a company before and had worked with his team for some time. His co-Founder had a long track record working in a major company.

● They had a strong, physical Prototype at the time of selection.

Inside Look- Funifi● Funifi's core team was already growing in Cyprus

and had been bootstrapping their app for almost 6 months.

● At the time of their application, educational apps were becoming trendy and gamification was popular among children.

● CoFounders had worked together for 2 years prior to stating Funifi.

Creating Barriers to Entry for Startups

Barrier to Entry Myth: Fast GTMSome Startups claim that since they are early to market, they will get users so quickly that they don't need to think about market barriers.

This is a short term strategy that can have long term implications.

For examples see Zynga or Foursquare

Creating Barriers to Entry● Pinpoint and Cultivate User Habits and

Emotional/Time Investment

● Immerse yourselves in the Market and your Customers

● Find Cost Advantages that will be difficult for competitors to match

● Identify and Develop Intangible Assets

Unpacking Venture Capital for Startups

To VC or not to VC...There is little doubt that raising VC money can help your startup grow rapidly but it's important to consider a few things:

● VC money can distract from things that matter: product, team, culture, taking care of customers etc..

● Your product might not be ready to scale● It can narrow your options● VC investment makes things very black and white

Fundraising Matrix

(courtesy of @mpd)

Questions?

Contact Information:

Alexander Guy, Startupbootcamp Global Marketing Manager@alexanderguy19alex.guy@startupbootcamp.org