For Startup Boston, 2019 is not an instance of the third time being the charm. Rather, the third edition of its signature series of events should further cement it as one of the key events in the Boston business community. With CIC Boston as the host, Friday of that week capped off a five-day stretch with 70 events, over twice as many speakers and numerous opportunities for attendees to connect with one another and the speakers.
The week of events is put together by a team of volunteers, and while speaking as much to the startup community as any part of the larger business community, it also speaks to the accessibility of founders, investors and other startup enthusiasts in being about more than just their own companies and lives. Not only do they contribute their time to helpful events, but they are very willing to engage attendees before, during and after the events.
I had the chance to check out a few events on that Friday, and all of them were very educational from the standpoint of what goes on in an investment firm. The world of venture capital and other investing can often seem like a mystery, especially as much of what makes the news from there is simply the investments made – the end result. What leads up to that is very much in the background and often stays there.
The day started with Beyond Tech: What Investors in Other Industries Want to See. It can be easy to simply think that the only startups are in technology, especially since those tend to get so much attention. However, industries like food and beverage or personal health/wellness are also a big deal, and there are others, and the three panelists along with moderator Stacy Garcia touched on that. It was an engaging group with a lot of industry-specific insights shared. Rob Go, a co-founder of NextView Ventures, talked about how with the food and beverage industry, we are in the midst of the “source” movement, where many care about where something comes from. Scott Caras of Brakaway said that industry is rapidly changing and still has a long way to go in its transformation. Madelin Keulin of Victress Capital mentioned that wellness is making its way into a lot of industries, not just health care, food & beverage or retail.
All three gave some insights about contacting investors and making pitches, including brief ones in e-mails. They also reiterated the tiny percentage of pitches that turn into deals; Caras said his firm hears about 700-800 pitches a year but only does two or three deals in that time frame.
After a break in the action, Before the Pitch: Finding and Building Relationships with the Right Investors was a very informative session. Sooah Cho of Underscore VC and Andre Rocha of Glasswing Ventures were joined by moderator Mike Brown of nDash for a session that gave attendees a real inside look at some of what happens in an investment firm. Cho, who just recently joined the firm, mentioned that her firm holds conversation events as well as a conference with founders of companies it invests in (Core Summit), the latter one of the ways they try to help their investments become successful. Since they are putting their money in, it only makes sense to do what they can to help these companies succeed.
An interesting point made along the way was that of competitors. When pitching to investors, competitors should never be ignored or swept under the rug; doing so looks like a lack of self-awareness. Instead, point out why your product or service will be better. This was a good insight, which also made me think of the advice a number of other entrepreneurs give those who have pause about doing something where there is competition – that it should not deter you because there is room for more than one of you.
Finally, the last event slot of the week was home to a similarly educational session, Seed Funding and Raising Capital: How to Fundraise Before Your Startup Has Traction. A lively panel of David Chang, Waikit Lau and Adrian Mendoza along with moderator Lindsay Nuon talked about some of what early fundraisers have to think about. This is a challenging time to try to raise money, with little to no revenue to show for your efforts and to tell investors about as evidence of the potential your business has. Mendoza had a lot to offer, noting among other things that as an investor, he looks for founders to be scrappy since he was that kind of founder – one who would be presented with an obstacle to getting something done and proceed to find a way to get by it. Among the tips they gave when presenting your idea is to talk about your endgame and where you are now, so as to show the goal and self-awareness of the present, along with giving a pitch focused on your vision and not the “operator pitch” that gets into too much detail inside the business.
When it was all over, there was a celebratory atmosphere at the closing party for the week. There, more great networking took place in a more loose environment. And right behind it is work starting on next year’s week of events, which one can only imagine will continue to build on this one.