Startup Advice with Gabriel Barcaru

The founder and one of the managing partners of BRIDCON , a strategy-based business and management consulting company, Gabriel Barcaru shares his insights with The Start-Up Club, revealing the significance of the people involved in startup journeys and the purpose of the startups. In this article, as a business mentor, strategic advisor and investor, Gabriel addresses the top traits that start-ups must have to attract investors. https://www.thestartupclub.net/post/startup-advice-with-gabriel-barcaru

What do you usually want to see in a startup before you decide to investigate it further?

My approach to startups is to measure people's metrics before assessing their idea or their business, as people are the main drivers in startup dynamics. Start-ups are journeys of knowledge and self-discovery that require individuals with solid infrastructures. The people we support and invest in have a positive attitude, are disciplined, analytical-minded, and can manage their emotions. The rest of the skills are trainable; we can build on them.

Based on your experience, what are some of the frequent mistakes that startups make in their first steps?

People are driven by desire when building startups; most of the time, their actions are a mix of things they know and believe they know. Jumping into action when starting a business provides validation of progress, and it feels like the right thing to do. However, without proper guidance and sometimes biased in judgment, founders often lose resources and get tangled in a lengthy growth journey. This is when anxiety kicks in, the primitive brain takes control of the decision-making process, and people lose the motivation to continue. So, venturing into uncharted territories with no experience must be done with proper advice.

Is there a trend that you have observed in recent years in terms of the direction the startups choose to take?

There is no specific direction that we advise startups to take. However, observing the trends, most startups focus on solving significant human and society-related problems, and they employ technology as a facilitator for their solutions. The ones contributing to the development of artificial intelligence and digital technology are highly investible and future-proof. Additionally, in the past decade, both B2B and B2C startup business models have evolved and increased in the complexity of their solutions to serve the market and consumer problems better.

Which industry do you find more successful to operate in based on the current landscape?

We are industry-agnostic – which means we can support any startup from any industry. But the ones that benefit more from our capabilities are the ones operating in the B2C arena. Compared to the B2B models, where most of the time there is a system or a process that makes decisions, in B2C business models, people are the ones that make purchase decisions. Here is where we add value by measuring human behavioural metrics, understanding why people do what they do, and helping startups transform growth from a costly trial-and-error exercise to a predictable and measurable journey.

What are the top traits that startups should have to be more appealing to investors?

Investors put their money in people and their ideas if the growth is realistic, measurable, and scalable. We meet founders from 20 years of age to 60 years of age. Honesty is one of the things we respect the most when we meet them. Being honest helps others to build trust. Another focus is on scalability - scalability is not about handling the present opportunities but also future opportunities; it is about analysing risk as well, without requiring significant rework of the entire business system.

Do you have any piece of advice for startups that are trying to navigate the current environment and introduce themselves to investors?

Startup businesses and their teams must have a scalable business model and a simple, functional strategy to be ready to meet their investors – they should master the pitching, and negotiation, have a well-structured deck, and understand their ideal investor profile. Founders should have answers for their legal compliance, business model, competition, market, marketing, sales, operations, and risk. When meeting their investors, founders should be ready to balance the need for capital and the offer and negotiate for a win-win situation.