mei 15

Tips for VC remote pitching in the time of the Coronavirus

By Diana | News

Despite the consequences of the coronavirus on the business worldwide, startup founders keep actively look for fundraising and support of their innovative ideas. Canceling or pushing conversations with potential investors cannot be an option for them. Although the online environment can seem uncomfortable, remote pitching doesn’t have to be awkward. In this article, we will give you some tips about the successful organization of the VC pitch.

Step 1: Setup for your pitch (Right after a meeting with investor is scheduled)

Choose a good video conferencing tool

Your preference should fall on stable online platform with small probability of collapsing. Our suggestion is to use Google Hangouts because it does not require downloads and provide an option of joining the conference from different devices.

Make your device deck pitch-friendly

Make sure to remove everything unnecessary from your desktop. Besides, set your tables, charts and graphs in a fast and accessible manner.

Pick your performing team

The performance of maximum two team members is better for online pitches. Otherwise, the presentation can become confusing.

Eliminate all possible issues of your hardware

High quality tools like webcam or conference system can help to prevent any technical issues form your side.

Choose a suitable location

A perfect location should possess such features as stable internet connection, neutral background and lack of distractive noises.

Prepare your demo for remote presentation

Does not matter if your demo can be demonstrated through the screen share or device emulator. Make sure it works and can be clearly demonstrated.

Practice a lot

Simulate the remote pitch setup and practice with your teammates. It is also a good tip to record yourself and evaluate your performance from the viewer’s perspective.

Double-check everything

Step 2: Pre-Pitch (right before the start of the meeting)

Send all the materials in advance

This will allow your audience to follow your pith in case of technical difficulties.

Test your connection

Make sure that your internet connection is stable and conference platform works with no visible lags.

Plug in your device or charge it

It is surprising sometimes how many device batteries go dead during the important meetings…

Keep your tech support ready

Keep your team members ready to take the pitch over you in case of unpredictable issues.

Step 3: Pitch time!

Make an introduction

Introduce yourself and let others do the same. Reintroduction will not be extra.

Run your video

Turn on your video and make sure that all the participants do the same. This follows the Internet conference etiquette.

Show your energy

Try to transform your pitch into the conversation form. Let your enthusiasm come out and keep the audience engaged. An ability to hold this kind of casual conversation is a great way to perform successfully in future interviews independently from the circumstances and environment.

Make it clear

Keep your speech structured and thoughts clear.

Do not fear the long pause

Remote pitching can have its awkward moments. Do not worry about them. Just breathe and execute your plan.

Leave extra time for questions

Let your interlocutors to think about and ask everything they wonder about.

Step 4: After Pitch (immediately after your remote meeting)

Use your follow up ‍ opportunity

Create a better feeling of connection and engagement by providing your contact details. Encourage investors to address to you with further questions or any other suggestions.

Run the pitch evaluation

Write down the highlights and drawbacks of your pitch and incorporate changes you’re your future pitches.

‍

mrt 31

4

Pros and Cons of Business Grants

By Diana | Finance

The realisation of a fresh business idea or an impressive development plan always comes along with financial and planning difficulties. However, as a real entrepreneur, you know about the support that the government provides to young and developing businesses. Subsidies and grants are considered as one of the best ways of funding. It might be a case that you are still deciding about your willingness to apply for the governmental grant. We would love to help you and provide some pros and cons of the business grants.

Advantages of grants:

Complimentary money

Grants are attractive for businesses because they do not have to be repaid. Not only that, but some grants offer a large amount of money, depending on the company’s idea or purposes of investment.

Available information

Description and information about the subsidies conditions or deadlines is freely available to everyone. It can be found on official government sources or related blog posts. This aspect is essential for entrepreneurs as it is crucial to make qualitative research and find the grant suitable for you.

Waterfall effect

Once you have been awarded the grant, you become a reliable candidate. Therefore, you have better chances to receive other governmental subsidies or grants from other organisations.

Increased visibility

Winning one of the acclaimed grants shows that your work is of notice. Thus, it can perform as a way of promotion. It helps you to gain credibility not only from organisations and investors but also from potential leads or clients.

Disadvantages of grants:

Time-consuming

You have to do a lot of research and paperwork if you decide to apply for a grant. Once you have found a grant that suits you the best, you have to write a good proposal. The proposal is the most important step in the application process. A creative idea cannot receive a grant without a convincing proposal. However, the companies that specialise on subsidies can help you with the proposal and all the application steps. For example, the WBSO Software Specialist has been active in the market for 12 years and is experienced in obtaining software subsidies. Their advisors have handled and successfully submitted thousands of applications. Therefore, they can help you to write a successful proposal.

Big competition

Many of the businesses with bright and creative ideas hope to receive governmental support. Thus, the competition for one grant is high. Be prepared for the difficulties but do not let them inhibit you. From statistics, 99% of the WBSO Software Specialist applicants are approved for grants. Thus, in case they find your project suitable, the chance that the subsidy provider will also find it suitable is 99%.

Conditions and restrictions

Although grants are complementary money, they come with restrictions. When applying for a grant you have to be very specific about the ways you are planning to spend this money. After receiving the grant, you have to stick to the plan.

Overall, the pros of the decision to apply for a grant outweigh the cons. The advantages and disadvantages of governmental grants still point to the idea of complimentary money for the development of your business. In the end, the most important thing is your own belief in the future of the idea and willingness to risk.

feb 26

1

What is WBSO Subsidy and who can get it?

By Diana | Finance

WBSO: Save money on hiring developers with government support

Creation of a valuable business requires a lot of effort and money. Especially, if you are interested in team of professionals in the fields of technology or engineering. However, it is nice to remember that the Dutch government actively supports local enterprises with grants like the WBSO subsidy.

What exactly is the WBSO subsidy?

The WBSO stands for the “Research and Development tax credit”. This subsidy helps companies to reduce wage tax, national insurance contributions and other costs of the innovation projects. The grant is provided by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy to entrepreneurs who plan to invest in research and development.

For whom is the WBSO?

The WBSO subsidy is intended for the companies registered at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce and who hire researchers for R&D projects. To be able to apply for the WBSO a company should meet several requirements:

It should experience new technological development accompanied by technological problems
the R&D activities should not be started yet
the R&D activities should be organized inside the company

More information about the official conditions of eligibility can be found on the website of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. However, it is also possible to scan your profile on the WBSO Software Specialist website and get an immediate advice from the specialists.

Why do you need the WBSO subsidy?

The WBSO grant can help entrepreneurs with the technical aspects of production and development. A company can apply for the WBSO if it manages the majority of the technical solutions itself or it wants to test the prototype. Therefore, the WBSO subsidy is suitable for every type of company. However, it is most widely used among enterprises in the IT sector or manufacturing industry. The subsidy gives benefits of reduced wage taxes or other R&D expenditures (including costs incurred for machine hours or prototypes). The grant is especially valuable for startups.

What is happening after the grant is received?

In addition to maintaining an hour administration, you should be able to provide information about the WBSO costs incurred. You have to report once a year how many hours and costs you have incurred in total and which employees have worked on the projects.

The WBSO subsidy gives you a good opportunity to grow your business. Although, if you are not sure about the necessary application steps and need help you can check more information on the WBSO Software Specialist website. These guys can help you with all important questions and guide you through the whole process. Get in touch with them and receive an advice from the specialist.

feb 20

0

Introduction to Growth Hacking

By Diana | Geen categorie, News

Introduction to Growth Hacking

Growth hacking nowadays is actively used by startups and businesses as an alternative way of marketing with the main focus on growth and profitability. The goal of a real growth hacker is to expand a customer base of a business with the use of modest, analytical, creative, and innovative methods.

Here we want to give you some useful brief tips that Growth Tribe (growth hacking gurus for talents in Amsterdam) shared with and that can be used in your growth strategy right now:

Experiments is everything

It is often hard to be right if you are working online. Gut feelings of the marketers usually appear to be wrong, so only data and numbers can help to prove the assumptions. Thus, it is wise for companies to spend time and resources on experiments’ conduction. In a controlling experiment setting, it is their main and the only target to study consumer behavior and find the best method of revenue maximization through the acquirement of new customers.

Tracking is important.

Tracking is crucial for business growth. However, it is important to track metrics that can actually help with new partners or customers generation (as engagement rate of social media posts, the website bounce rate, conversion rate) instead of visual performance indicators (as to reach or impressions)

Use tools

Growth hacking is based on the usage of handy and modern tools that can help you test all the assumptions in swift time. Surf the Internet to uncover which ones you can use for website creation, automation, social media planning or even persona revealing of the potential leads or customers on LinkedIn.

Make it look like human

Automation is a very important part of scaling business, however, people still appreciate human factor and trust business more if they feel a human interaction. Thus, do not be scared to make a mistake or actually aim at making mistakes in your automated messages and emails to create a feeling of human synergy.

Catch them in 5

You have only 5 seconds to impress your potential customer on your website or social pages. So make a message about your product vivid and clear. The image and design are not everything, copywriting is extremely important in this catching business. Each copy or caption work towards selling the unique point of your business.

Psychographics personas

A buyer persona is a profile of your ideal customer based on real data. However, you cannot get a full understand of your customers with only information about their demographics. It is important to understand things like emotions, values, interests, desires, goals, hobbies, habits and other relevant aspects of their psychological characteristics to understand what and how they want it.

Diana