As Hugo Amsellem pointed this out in simple words, we’re also trying to better connect with our Community (free advertising for you Hugo 😉)

We’ve not chosen to move to ghost.org /although one day we may consider it/ but to relocate to SUBSTACK.com and experiment it for a little while.

Follow us now on Substack 👉 https://upcomingvc.substack.com

Speak soon.

Raph, Founder UPCOMINGVC®

We thought we’d like to share with our followers on Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter / Medium what these startups have been up to since they attended the Challenges.

We call this new Series: #Runway.

Follow up with all the inspiring entrepreneurs who participated to our Venture Capital Investment Challenges, along their startups’ journey. They are deeply mission-driven.

https://www.upcoming.vc/runway/

The format is a quick “interview” with 3 questions:

1- What has been a key, critical milestone reached since the challenge.
2- Where the startup is heading to in the next 6 to 12 months.
3- A quick take/insight on the target market, which will show their expertise.

You are a Startup and participated to our Venture Capital Investment Challenges? Fill in your own #Runway Series here >>

About the Events.

Edition 2: November 16–17, 2017 @ STATION F, Paris, France
Edition 1: April 27–18, 2017 @ FUSION, Geneva, Switzerland

8’000+ minutes of simulated due diligence meetings
330 due diligence workshops
360 minutes of Challenger’s Demo Day
53 Challenger Pitches
90 minutes of fireside chats from thought leaders and partners
3 keynotes: blockchain, near space industry, quantum AI risk prediction

About the Startups.

33 startups on 100+ applications
Joining from 5 different countries
9 different verticals
53% were fundraising an average round size of €560k
53% had already raised an average round size of €150k

About the Challengers.

53 challengers on 170+ applications
Joining from 9 different countries and 10 different nationalities
24 median age
25 different schools / universities
50%+ still students and with a job already

About the VCs.

19 Venture Capital firms & 1 M&A boutique: Alven Capital, AngelSquare, Astorya.vc, CapHorn, daphni, EarlyBird VC, Elaïa, GFC, Indiana Capital, investiere, ISAI, Kima ventures, Kreaxi, Otium, Partech, Polytech Ecosystem Ventures, Seedstars, UnternehmerTUM VC, Ventech, eCap Partner
3 different countries
More than 1’500 investments, in 1’200+ startups
210+ startup exits

Interested in participating to our Next Venture Capital Challenge?

➡ Startup Applications are OPEN // Apply now >>
➡ Challengers “Wannabe VCs” Applications are OPEN // Apply now >>

🗓 When? January 28, 2019
🗼 Where? Station F, Paris
🚀 What? If you’re a SaaS / Consumer Goods Startup, that’s for you. Seed (with revenue traction) and Series A to B.
📣 Who? In partnership with Schoolab, Les Pépites Tech (the official French Tech comprehensive startup directory), Eldorado.co, Estimeo… and more to be announced soon.
🎥 Want a refresher on our two previous events? Watch the aftermovies of edition 1 at Fusion (Geneva) and edition 2 at Station F (Paris).
🔥 The VCs who’ve already confirmed their participation: Alven — IDInvest — ISAI — Serena — CapHorn — Global Founders Capital (GFC) — Point Nine Capital (Berlin) — EQT Ventures (Stockholm)

What is UPComingVC?

• Entrepreneurs need to better know how to talk to VCs to better target them when they fundraise and know how to introduce things to VCs
• It is impossible for student or young professionals to join the VC world as investors, because there’s no job offer.
• VCs have a lot to share to the ecosystem yet have few opportunities to do so. Also, finding alternative ways to identify entrepreneurs & potential hirees is key to stay ahead of the curve
• UPComingVC is not a regular pitch contest, it is an immersive Venture Capital Investment Challenge where all the participants play the serious game of a fundraising round between Startups and VCs in an innovative format. In parallel to ad-hoc events, we’re also building ambassadors’ programs and partnering with schools/accelerators to build a proper continuing Venture Capital Education.

Two Testimonials from VCs about the events

• “The ecosystem needs to understand how to introduce things to VCs, and why we take this or this decision […]. It is a good opportunity for us to explain to everyone what our methods are, what we expect as information.” Raffi Partner @ Alven
• “It is very rare to meet students who want to join the small and weird VC world, so it is nice to be able to give them feedback [..] It also raises us questions what we do or we should do better. It is a super good event and I hope there will be many editions.” Willy Partner @ daphni

We have been quite busy over the past few months, analyzing valuable feedback from former participants and meeting with other stakeholders (VCs / Startups / Accelerators) across Europe, in order to sharpen the concept and make it more engaging after our Venture Capital events terminate.

Want a refresher 🎥 on our two previous events? Watch the aftermovies of edition 1 at Fusion (Geneva) & edition 2 at Station F (Paris).

The ecosystem needs to understand how to introduce things to VCs, and why we take this or this decision […].
It is a good opportunity for us to explain to everyone what our methods are, what we expect as information.” Raffi, VC @ Alven, member of the Jury

It is very rare to meet students who want to join the small and weird VC world, so it is nice to be able to give them feedback [..] It also raises us questions what we do or we should do better. It is a super good event and I hope there will be many editions.” Willy, VC @ daphni, member of the Jury.

We never had an event that was that closely related to VCs, a workshop between VCs, startups and students. […] It comes at the right moment as we are fund raising right now, so having the whole due diligence and VC-type question process before, falls a the right time. Everyone has been very into the event and pumped up about it. […] The feeling is very much positive.” Alexei, CEO & Cofounder @ TasteHit.

Thank you all the team for this great event. Worked hard and played hard. Well done! […] It was absolutely amazing because we had so many different companies and we have the chance to interact with all of them […] and learn about the role of a VC, understand what they do, how they make a valuation, have a real-life test.” Dominique, Challenger member of the winning team.

As we’re stil in the very early stage of designing the first-of-a-kind “Startup & Venture Capital Education Platform” that goes beyond the venture capital investment challenges you’ve experienced (yet we don’t do Sales / Hiring / Product), we need time and your support!

But here we are.

We’re excited to announce the 3rd Edition of “UPComingVC: a Venture Capital Investment Challenge”.

🗓 When? January 28, 2019
🗼 Where? Station F, Paris
🚀 What? Focused on SaaS and Consumer Goods
📣 Who? In partnership with Schoolab, Les Pépites Tech (the official comprehensive startup directory from La French Tech), Eldorado.co, Estimeo… and more to be announced soon.

Apply now to participate upcoming.vc/#participate

An event designed for

Startups: Train to raise funds. Connect with VCs for your next round.

Aspiring VCs: Train to become VCs. Connect with VCs for a potential job.

VCs: Share your methods. Spot young, skilled, aspiring VCs and meet entrepreneurs.

“BONUS ANNOUNCEMENT”.

Launching the UPComingVC “Community Platform”

We’ve listened very carefully to Reid Hoffman (@PayPal, @LinkedIn, @Greylock):

“If You’re Not Embarrassed By The First Version Of Your Product, You’ve Launched Too Late”,

so we decided to launch our own Community Platform, with restricted access to former participants. Even if this tool works smoothly, things & features will be fixed as we go. This Community Platform helps former participants to:

1⃣ connect again with each other; 2⃣ engage with each other by (un)friending & (un)following, messaging each other; 3⃣ post news / comments on your timeline; 4⃣ create / join groups (IoT, InsurTech, Blockchain, AI…) focusing on thematics you care about to share thoughts & ideas; 5⃣ meet the new participants to the upcoming editions

IF YOU’RE A FORMER PARTICIPANTS, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT ON THE COMMUNITY PLATFORM.

See you on Jan. 28, 2019 @ Station F!

TEAM @ UPComingVC

• STARTUPS: train to the fundraising exercise with prominent VCs giving you their insights to Raise Better.

Apply here 👉 https://www.upcoming.vc/startup-application-form/

• CHALLENGERS: be the “VCs for a day” and train to analyse real startups with prominent VCs giving you their insights to Invest Better.

Apply here 👉 https://www.upcoming.vc/challenger-application-form/

• VCs: meet promising entrepreneurs to add to your dealflow and identify skilled & connected young people to onboard in your investment teams as interns, analysts or associates.

Apply here 👉 https://www.upcoming.vc/vc-application-form/

Why a “Venture Capital Investment Challenge” ?

“You will never make it. There are too many events out there and you’re not from this industry.” - Too many people, January 2017.

If one had to stick to one rule, that would be this one. Listen to people but trust in your belief, self-confidence is key to move forward towards your mission. Be it fool, a vision from your very inside, most of time not really based on a thorough analysis of the market/competition, rather on a sentiment.

In the wake of the 1st edition, we decided to publish our manifesto.

UPComingVC was born with a cornerstone ambition. “Invest Better. Raise Better”.

And we made it, to connect in an innovative way Startups, Students & Young Professionals and VCs.

“It is a really great event, […] it gives you the opportunity to really get to know the companies much more in details than other events, because you spend so much time with them. […] You get to know the people better than usual.” - Ravi, VC @ Early Bird.

“A great event to train and to learn how to talk with a Venture Capitalist and understand what type of questions they are asking, and to understand exactly what they want to understand about my company. […] I am here mostly to train to become a better candidate for VCs.” - Edouard, CEO & Cofounder @ Navily.

“We never had an event that was that closely related to VCs, a workshop between VCs, startups and students. […] It comes at the right moment as we are fundraising right now, so having the whole due diligence and VC-type question process before, falls a the right time. […] Everyone has been very into the event and pumped up about it. […] The feeling is very much positive.” - Alexei, CEO & Cofounder @ TasteHit.

“Thank you all the team for this great event. Worked hard and played hard. Well done! […] It was absolutely amazing because we had so many different companies and we have the chance to interact with all of them […] and learn about the role of a VC, understand what they do, how they make a valuation, have a real-life test.” - Dominique, Challenger, member of the winning team.

That’s is why we are back for the 2nd edition that will take place at STATION F, the world’s biggest startup campus, according to TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Forbes, Wired…

We would like to thank all the first-timers and early-birds who got along with our mission and took part to the 1st edition in Geneva:

1. Fintech Fusion, the most prominent Global accelerator from Swiss origins, supporting international FinTech, PropTech and LifeTech startups who brought the venue
2. Our Media partners: Alp ICT, FrenchWeb, Maddyness, Léman Bleu and our Innovation partners: CREA School of Digital, who helped us relay the event in France and in Suisse Romande (French-speaking part of CH).
3. All the 8 VCs and Jury members, coming from France (Ventech, GFC, eCap Partner), Germany (EarlyBird VC, UnternehmerTUM) and Switzerland (Seedstars, investiere.ch, Polytech Ecosystem Ventures) who got really engaged and committed to giving the best insights to the Startups and Challengers.
4. All the 14 Startups coming from France (VinoTeam, Hionos, Whympr, Monaize, Navily, Freshr, PreppySport), Switzerland (Hinster, Olympe, Thyme, DigitArena, TasteHit, Skypull) and South Africa (Shelftenders).
5. All the 15 Challengers from Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Slovaquia, UK.

Quick facts from the 1st edition

Stay connected.

The idea here is not to shed light on bad habits that have never been addressed so far.

Rather to stress again the importance to abide by commonly accepted rules and attitudes to adopt in particular social transactions: for example sending a pitchdeck to VCs, asking for an intro etc.

It is a matter of education. Educating people is a loop. Again and again. And again.

The more the Baker kneads his dough, the tastier, the less flawed the bread and the more customers will be returning.

By the way, one objective here is to publish some of your experience of displaced, unwarranted or uncalled-for behaviors, either from VCs or from Entrepreneurs.

Send us an email to hello at upcoming dot vc to share some crispy cases and crunchy episodes you've been into and once a month we will publish them here.

Before we start compiling your own stories, let's kick-off with these recommendations, Although we all know about'em, don't forget the Baker's axiom....

1) An NDA thou shalt not ask VCs to sign

You have that sublime product that almost brought you to a burnout because of no-sleep.

You've spent your last 18 months stroking your keyboard and not your partner-in-life (edit: you may not have one anymore..).

You're almost broke. You're eating softened tacos - those you've forgotten in your cupboard 3 years ago. But it doesn't matter because you have no time to run errands.

Legitimally you do not want that big company, easily running a 2w agile sprint coding session, to "copy" you after an alleged leakage of your tech. You think the NDA will protect you.

VCs are literally dying under piles of decks. They have no time for NDAs. Their objectives is to invest in promising entrepreneurs, solid tech, growing TAM, market leaders, fast-learning team. Although you all heard about potentially conflicting interest they may have with potential competitors, they have no time to devise "copycat schemes". Not to say that's not their job.

Unless you have a patent pending for a disruptive oncology drug (I am on purpose exaggerating), THAT is a major DON'TS.

2) Double opt-in intros thou shalt at any time respect

Inbox zero, swipe left and right, smart folders, keywords identification and own email management methodology STILL allow for discovery. People, Products, you name it.

What we mean here is that we appreciate meeting new people and detect new tech. We actually live for it. That is bottomline called "dealflow". Investment opportunity. 3X 5X 10X return objective.

But although we have to some degree developed assertiveness (we've learned to boldly say no or yes), we do not like to be corned.

That is a feeling we have when our friend/acquaintance John drops us that email with Mike (who the heck is Mike) in CC.

"Hi mate, 
You should meet Mike (here CC), this guy is fantastic and his product XYZ is awesome.
Guys, up to you!
Cheers, John"

But whatever the reason (not your investment thesis, conflicting portfolio companies, team...) you may want to pass, upfront. No call, no meeting.

But John, your friend (a bit less now after this email...), is on a fiduciary mission relative to Mike.

When trying to connect to people, first discuss the matter on each individual side, separately. Ask side 1, looking to be intro’ed, to send you a short summary (one liner, max two ideas) that YOU, in the first place, will send to side 2. Ask if side 2 is interested. If yes, do that email above. Simple as that. Manage expectations. Manage people’s time. Manage your network.

3) Feedback thou shalt give

Magnificent. The intro was made, you've called/met that VC (or anyone else - the point is valid for any type of intro/sector/objective).

Whatever the outcome of that initial contact (planned follow-up, in-person meeting, or deadend), GIVE FEEDBACK to that person who made the intro. Don’t wait for her to ask how it went (by the way, she may never ask because she’s more polite than you are, but she may punitively rule out any other intro you’d ask).

Beyond empathy, manage your network.

Send us an email to hello at upcoming dot vc to share some crispy cases and crunchy episodes you've been into and once a month we will publish them here.

Common tech-related events usually are mostly geared towards the benefits for startups themselves. One-sided.

Yet, as useful and essential as these conventional formats might be, they do not address one particular set of interests: how to become a VC?

Tech, startup events in current formats are essential but becoming too conventional.

There is no event that actively focuses on the investment side, those face-to-face meetings (startup-VCs) that are peculiar to any fundraising round.

On that score, this situation changed on April 27–28, 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland.

UPComingVC was born with a cornerstone ambition. Invest Better. Raise Better.

The concept genuinely relies on three observations:

1. Startups and (first-time) entrepreneurs are not trained to enduring the one-on-one meetings with VCs, especially those occurring during the due diligence phase. Even seasoned entrepreneurs always dread answering the VCs. How to throw relevant yet concise responses, what are the KPIs that accurately illustrate the pertinence of any value proposition etc.
2. Forget about becoming a VC if you’re not already connected to that sphere. Venture Capital is (utterly) a matter of connections between people. If you are contemplating a career path in VC, then if 1) you’re not yourself a former entrepreneur, or/and 2) you do not know a Partner to a VC fund, or/and 3) you’ve not graduated from a top-notch school/university -all that naive this may sound-, you will not step into that league. No matter if you (think you) have the skills or at least pretension. No open job offer.
3. VCs will tend to hire too conventionally, and miss out on true talents, because of above point 2. Many promising “aspiring VCs” out there, not complying with point 2. don’t get the chance to showcase their aptitude, worship or at least inclination to start-up investing.

UPComingVC is an event that helps startups Raise Better, and VCs Invest Better. And we’re unpretentious.

50+ participants gathered over two highly-paced days in order to conduct more than 90 simulated due diligence meetings (over 2'250 minutes in total, ie over 350 minutes per team in 12 hours) as part of hypothetical, life-size fundraising rounds, in order to iterate about Venture Capital, Vision, Team, Mission, Problem, Execution, Product, Technology, PMF, TAM, Timeline, Beta, Traction, Users Feedback, KPIs, Cohort, Churn, Run Rate, Pivot, Hiring, Fundraising, Valuation, Pre(post)-Money, Option Pool, Dilution, Board Seats, Control…

14 Startups. 14 Aspiring VCs. 8 Jury Members (7 established VCs and 1 prominent M&A boutique).

Challengers (aspiring VCs), gathered in teams, met each Startup (like a dealflow) in a one-on-one meeting, throughout day 1 and day 2 am.

Eventually, Challengers were asked to deliver their investment recommendations, ie the startups they would select to “invest” and submit to the “investment committee”, ie the Jury Members composed of international, seasoned VCs and genuine fundraising professionals, during the Challengers DEMO DAY at the end of day 2 pm.

Each team would come on stage to submit their recos and rationale as well as to answer the harsh, merciless questions from the Jury. The Team of Challengers having produced the most persuasive, close-to-life, relevant and likely recos would be elected by the Jury.

“Thank you all the team for this great event. Worked hard and played hard. Well done! […] It was absolutely amazing because we had so many different companies and we have the chance to interact with all of them […] and learn about the role of a VC, understand what they do, how they make a valuation, have a real-life test.” Dominique, Challenger member of the winning team.

“We never had an event that was that closely related to VCs, a workshop between VCs, startups and students. […] It comes at the right moment as we are fund raising right now, so having the whole due diligence and VC-type question process before, falls a the right time. […] Everyone has been very into the event and pumped up about it. […] The feeling is very much positive.” Alexei, Startuper.

“A unique event concept. […] Three years ago, I was in the same shoes as the Challengers, looking for a VC role. I really wanted to help them and show how it is to work as a VC.” Moritz, VC, member of the Jury.

“It is a very interesting event as the format is not formal and very different from any other event.” Stéphane, Challenger.

“You test your skills very well, you get insights from real VCs.” Tom, Challenger.”

“You can be in the mind of VCs for two days, discover how to set up an investment agreement in the big lines. […] There is a lot of discussion and sharing of ideas going on here. Very great initiative with a lot of actors of the ecosystem.” Lucas, Challenger.

“A great event to train and to learn how to talk with a Venture Capitalist and understand what type of questions they are asking, and to understand exactly what they want to understand about my company. […] I am here mostly to train to become a better candidate for VCs.” Edouard, Startuper.

“It is a really great event, […] it gives you the opportunity to really get to know the companies much more in details than other events, because you spend so much time with them. […] You get to know the people better than usual.” Ravi, VC, member of the Jury.

“Great opportunity to put a foot on this startup ecosystem, to challenge my skills, and of course extend my network.” Xevi, Challenger.

“UPComingVC is a well organized event. As a fund, we get to know quickly the startups in very concise event format. […] Free spaces help you network with other investors and meet potential analysts” Moritz, VC, member of the Jury.

“I met a lot of upcoming VCs, […] it is interesting to see how they approach your project, they have different questions than the regular VCs, […] they tackle different topics and we have very interesting conversation.” Edouard, Startuper.

More about…

the Startups that participated

• 60+ applications
• 14 startups from 3 different countries
• 8 sectors (fintech, community, market-place, SaaS, ad-tech, drone, bot/machine learning, cleantech)
• median size of the co-founding team: 2
• 53% were raising fund, > € 18 mio collectively.
• median round size: € 560 K
• 53% having already raised funds, on average € 100 k

the Jury Members that participated

• 7 VCs and 1 M&A boutique, all coming from 3 different countries, collectively:
• 400+ investments made in
• 300+ startups with
• 60+ exits (Wunderlist, Trivago, Withings, LinkedIn, Carpooling.com, DailyDeal…)

the Challengers that participated

• 100+ applications
• 14 challengers, of 7 different nationalies
• from 5 different countries
• median age: 24
• graduated(ing) mostly with MSc and MBA from 14 different universities and schools (University of London, Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, ESADE, ESCP Europe, GEM, HEC Lausanne, ISM Köln, ISEG, Sorbonne Paris-Dauphine, Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg, UNIGE, Skt Gallen Univ…)
• 61% being students (over 50% of these students having also a job)

To stay tuned for UPComingVC second edition, follow on Twitter YouTube Facebook LinkedIn and on our Website.

THANKING OUR HOST

UPComingVC “first edition” was kindly hosted by Fintech Fusion, being Switzerland’s largest Fintech Accelerator and expanding into PropTech, LifeTech and Social Enterprises.

THANKING OUR MEDIA & INNOVATION PARTNERS

Alp ICT was initiated in 2008 by the cantons of Bern, Fribourg, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Geneva and Jura, and is supported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO, to boost digital innovation in Western Switzerland. Alp ICT serves as liaison on a regional, national and international level between companies, R&D, institutional and financial players, in order to create economic value and to promote the excellence of Swiss digital players.

Bilan.ch is a fortnightly business and financial magazine in French. It gives information on conjuncture, a profile on a Swiss or worldwide leader, and gives advice and analyse on money. Channels: Economy, Finance, Business, Technology, Luxury, Opinions, Stock Exchange, 300 richest, Ratings.

FrenchWeb.fr is the news magazine for professionals of new technologies and innovation. Its mission: to present the initiatives from French Internet actors. It gathers a community of more than 48’000 professionals, and proposes a continuous flow of specific contents: articles, files, studies, interviews and video reports on Frenchweb.TV, …

Maddyness has become in four years the reference magazine for startups in France, a must for financial, media, new technologies and innovation players in France. Each month, more than 450’000 readers come to seek inspiration and advice, to drink news and to discover the nuggets unearthed by the editorial staff. Its mission ? To provide its readers with an overview of the future of business, culture, innovation, technology and science.

CREA, the school of reference in the field of Marketing, Communication, Digital and Artistic Direction. Each year, more than 450 students are trained in our institution by the best Swiss and international players. CREA currently offers Bachelors, Masters, executive or full time, as well as short continuing education in the form of Certifying Cycles. CREA guides its development along the lines of excellence: Creation, Digital & Innovation, Luxury and Sport.