Startup Nights Takeaways

Last week, I joined the Startup Nights event in Winterthur to get inspired, collect knowledge and network for an upcoming project (stay tuned)! ??

Here are a few of my takeaways and notes I wrote to myself while listening to some of the talks and workshops ??

Most of it is things I already knew, but it is always so valuable to listen to it again, and sometimes coming from different perspectives gives you new ideas. Thus, I herewith share them with you:

Female Founders in the Spotlight - a Panel discussion with Sandra V?ller , Catherine Meuter and Sandra-Stella Triebl :

• Normalise, and it will be normalised
• "Just be yourself" - a tricky statement that is not always straightforward

Inspiring talk by natascha badmann : From Adversity to Triumph: An Unconventional Journey to Ironman Legend

• Sometimes, joy can be found not only in obvious places.
• The power of visualisation to achieve a state of freedom and create your reality
• Perspective shift: retrieve the focus of the pain and focus on the positive things that surround you instead and see the beauty around??
• It's your choice; which voice inside will you listen to? (Reminded me of the tale of the two wolves)
• The importance of discipline
• What was good today, and what can I do better tomorrow?
• It takes a team to achieve your dreams. Build a support system.?

"The Reality of the Entrepreneurship Rollercoaster: Managing the Highs and Lows"?with Aike Festini , Tobias Gunzenhauser and Mershad Javan

• The importance of failure
• In Switzerland, there is still a culture that "it is not ok to fail". There is fear, judgement and negative comments coming when failing. Different from the culture existing in the US, where failure is actually celebrated, it shows resilience and the power of persistence.?
• Here again, the importance of building a tribe, a support system that will aid you in hard times

GoBigname workshops on branding with the talented and inspiring Michal Pastier & Tomá? Petrek:

• Make from obvious things the extraordinary?
• Bring in unexpected, "wow effect" aspects to your business and service
• Branding is more than just a logo
• Think outside the box. What is the competition NOT doing? - address the market gap
• Consistency is key (e.g. TEDTalks branding recognisable from far)
• Brand your brand
• Shapes
• Make it cool, make it fun
• Eyes see eyes
• Who will love you? Find your tribe
• One-ness - keyword repetitions
• Unique in the message and the usage of it, execution
• "Don't celebrate the change" - what is the actual value, not the rebranding, new logo, etc?

Presentation by ZHAW School of Management and Law , Dr. Linard Dario Barth on the benefits of collaborating with universities:

• Various opportunities to work with universities
• There are alternative ways to raise money for projects/companies.

Mental Health & Entrepreneurship with Blazy Flash

• Genius take on implementing the concept of the alter ego and multiple personalities in a business environment.
• "Don't do it only for the business; do it for yourself."
• About the alter-ego: who do you want to become? Find the environment where you can be that person.?
• We all consist of multiple personalities. Who are you when? Embrace all parts of yourself.
• You are the average of the five people closest to you - think about the environments you navigate, personally and professionally.

How to Make a Compelling Pitch with Stefan Huber and Philippe Ganz

• Focus on the value your product will give, not "how great it is."
• Which problem are you solving?
• Will someone pay for it?
• Know the audience you're pitching to and adjust the pitch accordingly (e.g. facts (and which facts exactly) vs. emotion)
• In CH, be modest; in the US, shoot for the moon.
• Find facts - set the framework to impress and show why your value is important.
• Zoom out: set the framework / Zoom in: add emotion to it (e.g. personal stories)
• In the slides, when pitching, less is more, focus on emotions, and keep it simple.
• When presenting - fast but slow, the audience needs to think and process the info.
• Be authentic, grab attention, free speech, break the rule
• Different presentations between 60 seconds, 3 minutes and 8 minutes.?
• Add a final phrase at the end of the presentation - call to action, make them feel part of it.

How to customer-test if your product idea is HOT or NOT…? | ZHAW School of Management and Law by Jens Haarmann, PhD

• Market fit or not?

• In a terrible market, you're going to fail.
• Price segment?
• Who are you interviewing for what topic?
• Feedback without commitment- how to get commitment? Ask for some effort - paying, flow-up for a second interview? Trial or voucher? Check if they are willing to commit. When are people ready or not willing to give their info? That will show you if the interest is genuine or if they're just being nice.?

The Art of the Pitch: How to Attract Investors to Your Startup - a panel discussion with Andreas Goeldi , Maruscha Heyner and Georg Schumacher :

• What is the use case?
• What do you do better than the competition?
• Who can you talk to in the company?
• Return that you can get? Good fit for the investment strategy of the investors, ambition level - next unicorn - show the ambition, but reasonable about the market situation.
• Understand who you're pitching to and which value they will get.
• Did the startups do their homework? Why is their solution attractive to investors?
• Understand how VCs tick - particular focus - do the homework
• Patterns of the VCs - where have they invested previously

These points may ignite some ideas, refresh knowledge or spark some food for thought as it has for me. I was positively surprised by the organisation of the event. It was great to participate, not only for the information absorbed but also to network and see again some familiar faces.?

If you were there too, what were your highlights?

Thank you, Startup Nights and all speakers and attendees, for two inspiring afternoons /evenings ??

"If you can dream it, you can do it."

(below a few impressions of the event taken with the phone)