The Art and Science of Communication

For the past two years, I have worked with tech start-ups. I learnt a lot, and I observed a lot.

Before I joined the start-up world, I worked in highly prescriptive and complex corporate environments, where everything had a place, a time, a way of getting things done - though I always managed to find ways around the "this is how we have always done it".

So, when the opportunity arose to take on a new challenge, and a challenge to myself more than anything else, I did so. So, my first encounter with the start-up world was close to a culture shock to be honest. Everything, or almost everything, was a "let's see how it goes". And to someone who, for exactly 20 years, has been deeply engrossed in issues and crisis management, "let's see how it goes" is the equivalent of chaos!

But, somehow, that chaos made and makes a lot of sense because it is not chaos; it is an uncanny ability of the 21st century start-up founders to adapt and think on their feet; to push back or start all over again and do it better or faster; to break the conventional barriers - human and psychological - that have brought many businesses over the past years to their knees.

I was truly privileged to meet some incredible start-ups and their outstanding founders, and have learnt a great deal from them: how to show true grit, how to "bootstrap" and "jump on a call", and even what the difference is between "native integration" and "plug in" (and what "SaaS" is, too) ??.

Today, however, the tech start-up world has become "home", and technological innovation and impact are inherent to what I do: looking at mergers and acquisitions beyond the PowerPoint slides, assessing the medium to long term risks (reputational, political and environmental) related of investments into start-ups and so much more, guiding start-up founders through the complexity of juggling execution with vision and operations, and so much more.

Most importantly, and truly humbling for me, was the realisation that despite all the gloom and doom we hear all around us every day, we still have individuals in this world who are very likely to make a significant difference to what we do as consumers, as inhabitants of this planet, as users of services and as consumers of products. They just need to be heard and given a chance to succeed, that's all.

I would just like to share with you all some of these founders (apologies to all those who are not mentioned here, I've worked with too many to give proper credit to all of you ??):

Maria Jo?o Gon?alves Maia has found a way to create luxury leather in a laboratory, without any need to kill millions of exotic animals for our Hermes and Prada accessories. Matan Yatom can imprint information on tree leaves, and decode it, too (it is not science fiction, although it certainly sounds like it!). Eric Weaver left his high-flying corporate job to fight the food waste issues in the USA, being one of the very first business founders to use RFID technology for food traceability across the supply chain. André Vanyi-Robin founded the world's first plastic trading platform underpinned by blockchain technology and driven by NFTs. Peter N. Kironji set up East Africa's most successful online trading marketplace for micro, small and medium enterprises, where the entire marketing model is turned on its head. Hassan Khadra MBA MSc set up Europe's (and not only) first staff sharing platform as a way to fight staff redundancies and layoffs, increase employee retention and create operational efficiencies.

Their names and their ideas will stay with me forever. They, and many others like them, can make our future better. We just need to get out of their way and allow them to make an impact faster.

And this brings me to what I have observed in almost all the start-ups I worked with over the past two years: they put much more emphasis on their pitch style over their pitch substance. Investors need to hear one thing first:

How do you make money?

And another thing second:

How will you make us money if we invest in your start-up?

To be able to answer these questions, every start-up founder needs to brush up fast and quick on their financial skills, not on their PR skills. To think that one could successfully pitch before any investor (angel or VC) just by telling them a beautiful story accompanied by a very well-designed presentation, is utter madness.

There is a whole raft of practical advice made available by Circklo, in the form of a tool-kit for start-ups, and I cannot recommend it enough:

While, indeed, it is crucial to be able to communicate as a founder, what you say is much more important than how you say it. Pragmatism - which is the opposite of storytelling - is your best friend. Realism, which is the opposite of "jam tomorrow", is what will make you interesting to investors. And a strong use case, let alone a minimum viable product or pilot project, are very likely to secure that investment for you.

If you understand the financial prerequisites for any business to survive and thrive, if you can present those in a compelling narrative that is tailored to your own delivery style, if you believe in what you are doing - and that comes clearly across during your pitch, you are very likely to succeed.

As a start-up founder, irrespective of what type of start-up you have, you must understand the science and the art of communication.

The science of communication encompasses using all the information that your potential investor wants to hear:

• What your background is (as in expertise in that area);
• Who your team members are (as in what is their contribution, and can they take the business forward in case something happens to you);
• Why your solution/product/service is unique, and what problem it aims to solve or what gap it aims to close or what process it aims to simplify;
• Who your target customers are, and who your competitors are;
• What makes you better than your competitors, and how you will ensure a continuous competitive advantage (spending most of your budget on marketing is not IT, but spending most of it on product development definitely is IT);
• How much money you are seeking to raise, and how much equity in your business you are you willing to offer in return;
• What your road map is, and what your financial projections are (and if you generate revenue already, they want to see a growth curve - be it monthly or yearly), in other words your MRR or ARR;
• What the market for your product looks like: total and addressable.

The art of communication refers to relaying all the information above in such a way that grabs your potential investor's attention:

• The way you sit/stand and engage them with your body language
• The way you are dressed and the way you address them (never underestimate the power of being polite and courteous)
• The way you speak, how clearly you speak, and how you modulate your voice/tone to keep them constantly engage
• Your ability to insert the odd joke or to use self-deprecating humour
• Your ability to take them on a journey with you, and see the merit of their investing in you
• The way you make them want to hear from you again, or actually understand that you are really someone they want to work with and invest in

And, perhaps the most important aspect of the art of communication is for you to believe in what you say because, if you don't - unless you're a perfect poker player or actor - no investor will believe it either.

My journey in the start-up world has been incredible and, while I don't know where my next challenge will take me, nor do I know what that is yet, I shall make sure that my insights and knowledge are put to best use, and that CEOs of both side of the business spectrum are supported in their transition to digitalisation and embracing innovation.

However, what I do know is that it was a journey totally worth making, and for that I shall always be grateful to you, Maria C. Morais !