What happened at build3 in December 2023 (plus other learnings ;)
What does it take to make an impact startup accelerator successful?
The ideate stage of our accelerator has come to an end. It's been a fantastic journey, and quite frankly, the results of cohort 1 have gone way beyond our expectations. Cohort 1 comprised 36 founders and resulted in the formation of 19 startups.
The emotional bond we have formed with each founder who trusted us and took a leap of faith to attend our first cohort is priceless.
While we will continue to support each startup to the best of our abilities, five startups have moved forward to the next stage of the accelerator, the create stage. Startups in this stage will receive Rs 25 lakhs to build an MVP that can scale. To learn more about the selected startups, please follow the link below.
Abhimanyu Rathi is the mastermind behind our accelerator program. When I asked him what the most significant learning has been while designing and executing the accelerator program, he talked about the power of empathy.
Spending quality time with founders and truly being sherpas in their journey leads to excellent results. Our emphasis at build3 is to always be the best goddamn Robin to Batman (impact founder)
As operators and venture builders, the onus of spending time with founders, making them comfortable with us and helping them realise and articulate their problems is on us. By spending time, we understand the founders deeper and create a bridge of trust.
And that's really what the journey is. When we choose an accelerator participant, we look for a self-motivated individual who is smart but, most importantly, has the grit and determination to make an idea succeed. Come what may, the individual will go through hell and back to bring their vision to life.
Applications for cohort 2 are now live!
If you wish to apply or know someone who fits the bill, please click on the following link: https://www.build3.org/accelerator
Do you wish to surf the wave of impact with us?
Considering the number of founders we work with via our accelerator program and cohub, we would love to co-build or partner with existing agencies in technology, legal counsel, marketing and growth, accounting, and hiring.
Please get in touch with us if you love working with startups, especially in the early stages! Please email us at [email protected] with the subject agency partnerships; we will get back to you promptly :)
Learnings from sales calls that convert
Over the past eight months, we have made at least 1000 sales calls to people who have demonstrated some interest in staying at Cohub. With our revenue increasing month on month, here are some best practices that we follow while making sales calls; we would love to know yours as well ??
Prioritise Leads: Focus first on leads most likely to convert. Assess this by reviewing their interaction with your materials, like response quality in forms or engagement with introductory emails. For cohub, this looks like if a customer is keen on coming immediately or provides a detailed and nuanced answer to the lead form.
Customise Your Approach: Tailor your pitch based on the lead's specific interests or needs. For instance, if they desire networking, highlight relevant aspects of your offering that cater to this need. For example, for chub, some people may say that their reason for coming to Cohub is to network; we then begin our pitch by talking about the curation of the community and the type of people they will meet.
Understand and Articulate Your Value Proposition: Communicate how your offering meets the customer's requirements. Emphasise unique features or benefits, such as exclusive events, curated communities, or special facilities.
Empathy and Adaptability: Be empathetic and adaptable in your approach. Understand that making sales calls is an art that improves with practice and requires a balance of assertiveness and empathy. If you are too pushy, you risk putting off customers. But if you are a pushover, customers tend to be complacent about choosing your offering.
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Set Clear Expectations: It might be alluring to raise your customers' expectations on sales calls to convert them. In the short term, you might get results but lose trust, and your business tan in the long term.
Be Prepared with Information: Have details at your fingertips. This shows preparedness and professionalism, and it bolsters trust in your offering. At cohub, this usually revolves around the type of people they will meet, the living arrangements of customers, the knowledge they can gain, etc.
Effective Closing Techniques: Conclude the call with a compelling call-to-action, focusing on the tangible benefits the customer will receive from your service. Ensure this is catchy and relevant to your customer's needs. During cohub sales calls, we say, "If you stay with us for a week, we guarantee at least two insights that will be useful for your business and one connection that will help you build your business."
Manage Call Duration and Focus: Keep the call within a reasonable time frame and steer the conversation back to the main objectives if it deviates.
Avoid Irrelevant Topics: Refrain from initiating or prolonging discussions unrelated to the call's primary purpose. If the conversation shifts to other offerings, gently guide it to the primary topic.
Direct Approach: Begin the call without asking if the lead is free to talk, which can lead to unnecessary postponements.
If you are interested in taking a workation with founders and creators at a beach villa in Goa, please click the following link.
Want to live in a startup eco-village/startup ashram?
We have recently purchased 6.5 acres of land (more on the way :) in the Sindhudurg region of Maharashtra. You may ask why we are planning on building a startup eco-village!
Imagine a village dedicated to founders and creators, where the resources to build an impactful idea are readily available. What's more, you have access to a community that understands what it's like to build startups; they are ready to cheer you on when you succeed and will offer solace and comfort in case things don't work out.
Additionally, residents in the village will live in spaces steeped in nature and allow for a holistic lifestyle.
To know more about the ethos and what it would be like to live in the village, please follow the link below ??
Whatchu reading builders?
I am currently reading Poor Economics by Abhijeet Banerjee and Esther Duffalo. Moving away from implementing "Silver Bullet" solutions aimed at eliminating poverty, the authors focus on the efficacy of providing context-specific solutions backed by Randomised Control Trials that firmly establish the cause-effect relationship of a developmental intervention. For example, if you genuinely want to see if giving mosquito nets helps increase the net income of a family in poverty (reduces visits to the doctor, more working hours, etc.), it's helpful to measure it against a "control" group that does not get the intervention and that shares the characteristics of the "test" group. The delta in a specific predetermined measurable outcome (such as net income) can be attributed to the particular developmental intervention introduced. This book is an excellent read for people who want to work in the development sector and want to approach solutions thinking in a rigorous yet humane manner ??
We also want to know some of your book recommendations; let us know in the comments!
Ruby's coffee is expanding (it's about damn time, lol)
Enough cannot be said about the amount of passion and precision with which Ruby's barista makes your daily cup of Joe. A Ruby's barista making your favourite cup of coffee is poetry in motion. And that passion, after three long years, has begun to pay off!
Ruby's is currently in 4 locations. They have a coffee lab in Candolim, a cafe in Anjuna, and a coffee bar at Marai in Arpora and Tertulia in Panjim. They are on track to open more locations soon; stay tuned!
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1 年Disha Nagda