The Frankenstein Startup Model

Did you know that the Frankenstein novel came out of something similar to a startup weekend? The novel came about after Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and her husband Percy decided on having a competition; to see who could write the best horror story. After thinking for days, Shelley dreamt about a scientist who created life from dismantled body parts sewed together, and then with thunder and lightening the scientist blows life into Frankenstein. T

Of course Mary might have taken her novel’s inspiration from the people she had met and the places she had visited. One person in particular was Johann Conrad Dippel whom was said to have carried out such experiments as connecting dismantled body parties and attempting to bring them back to life.

While Mary Shelley’s novel was a work fiction and Johann Dippel’s account a myth, throughout history, from fairies to witches and wizards, pharaohs, biologists, and scientists around the world have been trying tirelessly at putting all the right ingredients into a pot and blowing life into it. Regardless of whether the experiment has been at the cellular level or with human body parts to date nobody has succeeded with this one experiment. No one to date has yet been able to bring the right ingredients, setting up the optimal environment and blow life into anything. (I discard cloning, which always relies on a living cell).

While the biologists have failed, it seems that the Tech sector has won the race. There are some startup incubators/accelerators that have set out to achieve the equivalent of a Frankstein Startup with plausible success.

The Frankenstein startup model consists of:

1. Selecting the best ingredients: Finding entrepreneurs that otherwise are not working together and do not know each other.
2. Creating the right environment: Throwing a big party as startup weekend and as such allow these individuals to brew their own ideas together.
3. Blowing life into the startup: Once you have the team and the right idea, all you need is some gas for the fire (cash) and good mentors (the cooks), give it time to brew, and voila; your startup is alive and kicking.

I have had the pleasure of working as a mentor for one of these incubators, #Demium, and it is a pleasure to see these startups blossom in such a short time.

If you are a startup looking for fundraising, why don't you join me on the 26th of May in my upcoming webinar "Pitch to Win". Reserve your place now. https://www.eventbrite.es/e/entradas-pitch-to-win-the-secret-of-fund-raising-for-your-startup-106098916716?aff=Ponente.

If you missed the last episode of Sex in the city, maybe you might want to read my article on  What have Sex, Covid19 and startups got in common?