AbilityMatrix Newsletter #29

Hello innovators and creative minds!

Dealroom published a very interesting chart about how August vacations impact VC activity in Europe - well, sorry, we called that phenomenon “lazy” in this newsletter, though everyone deserves a vacation, and it is natural to have downtime.

When supporting the go-to-market efforts of our partners, we often mention that the value of summer (i.e., July + August) tends to be only half of the regular performance, BUT which weeks are dead depends on just too many factors to know in advance. Industry, weather, exact region, sports events, invisible hands. You have to test the waters and see yourself.

It seems this year (most of) August has gone out of business. One can feel the pre-packaged content on LinkedIn - call them evergreen, or just bleh. Many of our innovation partners extended application deadlines (well into September to get to the right scale).

As a relief, even our inbound spam folder got lighter - until last week, actually ?? And, to be fair, we also generated and shared less content amongst ourselves - which is usually the base for the newsletter.

But now, suddenly everyone is “back to school”, though summer seems never-ending in a few regions. So, looking forward to seeing how the final sprint of the year compares to the first half of 2024!

All the best, your editors (Anna, Em?ke, Laci)

AbilityMatrix zoom in

• B2B communication trick: How can webinars generate leads even if no one attends? (by Laci)
• How to look in your startup audience - especially early-stage. Our 4-stage model is at your service (a concise summary of Laci's article)
• Apropos of the long-weekend: How to handle holidays in an international remote team (HUN by Laci)

Product Management

• How to manage product managers and avoid pitfalls?

Austria Updates

• Bold marketing moves in a crisis: Taylor Swift cancellations (HUN by Laci)

Collection of Recommended Reads

Founders perspective //startup stories

• Great post about early founder struggles from a founder Nico F.
• How Venture Capitalists Can Help Startups Expand Internationally - in an ideal world
• No more use- based upselling (sell value instead)
• A bit abstract, but very interesting take on how AI agents rewire the organisation
• Most VC Hate Cold Emails From Entrepreneurs…Avoid These Mistakes

Investing in innovation

• Lazy August: VC investment seasonality based on Dealroom's data
• Last Money In - Newsletter on Venture Capital Syndicates
• Unlocking Universities’ Entrepreneurship Potential

Brainy Business

• We’ve been relaxing all wrong: An interesting post about the role of dopamine in relaxing by Ion Valaskakis
• Think twice: a practical guide on making business decisions based on Kahnemann's eight questions

Tips & Tricks

• A new LinkedIn automation - AI and human hybrid
• BriefLink - a tool to share your fundraising deck

Mixed inspirative salad

• DeepFakes, Can You Spot Them?
• Swedish (business) culture and personal experiences - Laci visited Sweden
• Let's discuss why Olympic Athletes and Entrepreneurs are NOT the same breed. (by Laci)

Innovati-OFF.