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 [email protected]@startupbootcamp.org