The life of a startup, when losing is winning…

I had the privilege of participating in the international Startup of the Year Competition held in Boston last week by InnovateCelebrate. Over 1000 startups from all over the world applied, 100 semi-finalists were selected, and although Lifeina did not win, it placed honorably in the top 15 startups in the world.

The experience was humbling and exhilarating at the same time. The level of the startups was extraordinary. Certainly miles above any other startup competition I have seen. And congratulations to @Aperiomics, pitched by the wonderful Dr. Crystal Icenhour, for winning the 1st prize as best startup of the year. I am proud to know you…

Giving a pitch is an intensely personal experience, where you have to bare your soul...

Even if Lifeina did not win, I had a wonderful experience showing me that we were working in the right direction. Giving a pitch is an intensely personal experience, especially for me, who rarely gets out of my cage and am an intensely private person. Basically, in three minutes you have to bare your soul, present your mission and your vision, discuss the reason why you get up in the morning, and at the same time present your project and show the future financial and venal implications of your project (which again I am not used to doing, because all I want to do is to make the world a better place). So it is a very stressful experience.

I did it, hardly slept the night before, and was pacing in my hotel room that morning from 4:00 am, mumbling to myself, repeating and timing my pitch, making sure at the same time that it wouldn’t sound too calculated and venal, just trying to get the right balance… Very stressful for me… And it seems so easy for everyone else!!!

Anyway, after the Pitch I was in two minds about my performance. I did it in 2 minutes and 50 seconds, perfect timing, but it's always difficult to judge how effective you have been in presenting to people who might not be directly concerned with whatever you are presenting.

So I needed a break, and went for a walk in the Boston Commons. Beautiful park…. While I was walking, smoking a single stress-driven cigarette, I remembered that my wonderful wife has asked me to draw some US dollars for her, so that she would have a bit of taxi-cash next time she came to the USA. So I popped into a local bank, where I was welcomed by a very nice man wearing a lime green suit who obviously worked at the bank. I told him that I needed to draw a bit of cash so he promptly brought me to a cash-machine in the bank.

While I was drawing some money, he was standing next to me, very professional, and chatting to me. “So is this your first time in Boston? Do you like it? How are you finding it? Why are you here?"

Please bear in mind that I live in Paris, a town where people do not talk to one another, and if a similar person was talking to you at a bank, it would certainly make you a bit nervous.

Anyway, he just kept on babbling… “So why are you here? Oh!!! For Startup of the Year, My, that is so interesting, are you here as a judge or as a startup? A startup!!! oh wow, that is so interesting? So what does your startup do?"

At this point I answered with a perfect 30-seconds sound bite elevator-pitch : “A couple of years ago my brother nearly died because a hotel froze his insulin by accident; So I developed a portable fridge with a 36 hour battery to help him to travel with his medication”.

I swear, the young man then turned directly towards me and said: “I’ll take it!!!, I absolutely want it, can I buy one now?”. It turned out that his mother suffered from multiple sclerosis, and was using Avonex, and had the constant problem of traveling with her Avonex, which was also heat-sensitive.

What is interesting is that he did not ask how much it cost, just where and when could he buy it. The universe sometimes has a subtle way of encouraging you and telling you that you’re on the right path. This meeting was for me one of the highlights of the Boston trip, because even if I didn’t win the competition, I now know that I am doing the right thing.

And a young man in Boston is about to receive a free LifeinaBox for his mother…

Come and discover LifeinaBox at its international launch at CES Las Vegas in January. It's gonna be lit!!!

#CES #Lifeina #lasvegas #FrenchIoT #StartupofYear #InnovateCelebrate

www.lifeina.com

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