On January 21, 2020 seven businesses successfully graduated the Founder Institute pre-seed accelerator program. Check out the aftermovie for an impression:

Special thanks to:

-Julian Philbert & Jochem Tames, who made this awesome video;
-UNLP, who let us host this evening in their beautiful location;
-JimmyJoy , Mana Kombucha and John Altman, for sharing Amsterdam’s finest healthy drinks & snacks with us;
-Everyone who volunteered!

Also thinking of starting a business? Check out fi.co!

Aftermovie: Graduation Night FI Amsterdam Fall 2019 chapter was originally published in Founder Institute Amsterdam on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

After 3.5 months of hard work, 7 new innovative businesses have sprouted from the latest Founder Institute program in Amsterdam.

The startup accelerator program is one of the toughest in the world. Out of 32 applicants that started, just 7 have made it through the courses, coaching and assignments, each one filled with the necessary building blocks to make a startup successful.

Daan Weddepohl, CEO of Peerby, has joined Founder Institute as a mentor after being a participant before: “Founder Institute enabled me to launch my company. It’s great to be able to pay it forward and offer this opportunity to the next generation of startup founders.”

Startups in various categories

From the 2019 fall edition, these seven new companies have launched during Graduation Day on January 21st, 2020 at UNLP in Amsterdam. A packed room full of mentors, investors and entrepreneurs alike witnessed their pitch presentations:

Scribe, an online multilingual writing tool, founded by Milber Ferreira & Sander Crombach.

vAIce, a voice transcription tool for sales teams, founded by Eric Burnik.

Thrivest, helping young professionals start investing, founded by Inge Beerlage.

AIvy, a modular medical home device, founded by Juul Koene.

Euroglot, a translation platform, founded by Nande Konst.

VesTTree, helping people invest in real estate crowdfunding projects, founded by Wilco Wijnbergen.

Throwback Tales, real life gaming experiences, founded by Jeroen van Hasselt.

The night was enriched by two keynotes delivered by Amsterdam experts and entrepreneurs Jacqueline van den Ende (Peak Capital) and Caroline Glasbergen (FitShe). They stressed the importance of diversity in the world of entrepreneurship and investing while sharing some of their growth challenges in their business journey.

Mentors

All founders were supported by 30+ local entrepreneurs and experts such as Daan Weddepohl (Peerby), Patrick van der Pijl (Business Model Inc), Sjoerd Mol (Benvalor), Stefan Fountain (pr.co), Cyndee Sugra (The Werck Group), Sacha Martina (Bureau Zwart Wit), Maarten Lens-FitzGerald (ex Layar), Sjoerd Boonstra (5Miles), Ewoud Goorts (Floraccess), Stefano Cutello (Pastbook), Paul Braam (VirtuaGym) & Robbert Verwaayen (Keen Venture Partners).

About the Founder Institute

The Founder Institute was founded in 2009 in Silicon Valley and is the world’s premier early-stage accelerator and startup launch program. For aspiring entrepreneurs and early-stage entrepreneurs up to the challenge, this comprehensive step-by-step program provides the structure, mentor support, and global network of entrepreneurs needed to start an enduring company.

In addition, the Founder Institute is the only program of its kind that focuses on people versus ideas, accepts founders with day jobs, and shares equity with all participants. Leaders of the world’s fastest-growing startups have used this program to transition from employee to entrepreneur, test their startup ideas, build a team, get their first customers, raise funding, and more. It has chapters across 180 cities and 65 countries. Since the start over 4,000 innovative businesses have successfully graduated the program.

Founder Institute Amsterdam launches 7 new startups was originally published in Founder Institute Amsterdam on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Amsterdam is full of entrepreneurial talent just itching to start. At TSH Collab City, 40 people gathered to either pitch themselves or watch other people pitch for an experienced jury of investors and marketeers. No opportunity was left unchecked, as 12 people took their chances to present on stage.

The jury:

Elisabeth Stevens — angel investor, former director Booking.com
Tamara Obradov — Tablomonto Ventures
Jesper Vieveen — marketing manager Symbid

Their top advice for this night’s pitches:

Pitch style tips

1. Please, don’t use ’Uber/Amazon/Airbnb for X’ ever again;
2. Never have the same text on slides as in your talk. Don’t ’read the slides’;
3. Be aware of investor bias in questions they ask. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to answer a promotional question positively. Or try to spin a preventive question into a promotional one;
4. Talk in a calm pace;
5. Make eye contact with your pitch audience;
6. A short personal story is always a good idea;
7. Find focus in your story — don’t have several sidetracks;
8. Don’t use video with sound in your presentation. It’s distracting and it always goes wrong.

Pitch contents tips

1. Don’t cut yourself out from the slides. Investors want to believe in you. You got to convince people YOU can do this;
2. Stay close to your customers with the right business model, or even the right design or tone of voice;
3. In the early days of your startup: stick to the one market you know well;
4. Have a complementary team — names and photos are not enough. What did they achieve?;
5. Your own experience matters a lot.;
6. Show some vision. Why are you doing this?;
7. Show your ambition. What’s your BHAG?;
8. Make sure to mention what makes your business special.

This event was hosted by The Founder Institute. In this pre-seed accelerator program entrepreneurs will learn everything they need to successfully launch a business. From validation to funding and from pitching to product-market fit. Join Founder Institute Amsterdam now!

15+ startup pitch tips from investors & marketeers was originally published in Founder Institute Amsterdam on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Eating glass, building a plane while flying… I’m sure you’ve heard some of these analogies for running a startup. However, the main startup mantra is still that of unlimited positivity and success. Well, it’s a public secret that the road to that success isn’t always that bright. It can be far from it, actually.

That’s why the Founder Institute was lucky to hear the story of pr.co CEO and Founder Institute mentor Stefan Fountain, during the How to start a global startup in Amsterdam event at A Lab.

By opening up and be vulnerable, we learned a lot of valuable lessons from his experiences.

First, Stefan founded Soocial in 2008. It was fun. Life was fun. His business was fun. He used David Hasselhoff’s image in its promotion, had lots of parties involving lots of beer, and things just went pretty well.

But nothing lasts forever! It went downhill with the company in 2009 when investors defaulted on their payments. That’s when Stefan found out — when you look past all the fun — he was just running, running and running. It ended up with him being in the hospital. Stress got him physically ill in the stomach. Fortunately, all went well.

Directing, not acting

That experience in the hospital had opened his eyes. “My number 1 life and startup lesson: take care of yourself.”

Because when you don’t, you can’t deliver on what’s necessary to run a business: “Building something, not just a business, but just about anything — is hard. You have to be at your best all the time. You’ll need good days — consistently”, he adds.

“I used to think that being busy all the time and struggling is part of running a business, and is in fact needed. But now I’m not so sure anymore.”

Stefan also learned that you need to be the director of your own life, instead of the actor in your own life. Only then you’ll have full control. He recalls: “First, I was in a band and acted like that. I like pirates so I acted like that as well. But don’t try to be a Kanye. Or me. Just be you.”

Abundant thinking

What helped him dealing with that? In short: the Six Habits of Abundance by Katia Verresen: “Live by these and pass it forward”.

He took control over his life again and sold Soocial. It didn’t get him much, but it was enough for him to conclude his first journey.

Yes, journey, because he wasn’t ready with entrepreneurship yet. That’s because he didn’t feel he made an impact with that business. He wanted something else.

The timing of your business

Enter pr.co, a company he became CEO of a few years after the launch in 2013. This startup makes custom newsrooms for businesses. With his experience, he knew what was necessary to build it. But still, you can’t do it right immediately. In 2016, the company got a 400,000 euro funding, “but we almost immediately sank.” What went wrong?

The issue was timing. “We focused on a part of the business where we weren’t yet. Turns out we need to get in some sales first, to reach that point. You can’t reach the top of the Mount Everest without visiting some basecamps first.”

A change of perspective is all it takes according to Stefan: “Know where you are exactly with your business.”

Lessons from the panel

Stefan had some refreshing tips as well during the Q&A panel session:

On the Amsterdam startup scene:
“Something that stands out from other cities around the world is that founders here are more willing to share. Just ask other founders!”

On investments:
“If you need money from investors, ask for advice first. It helps to phrase it like that. Eventually it comes to money.”

And: “Both investors and founders focus on ‘10x’ startups too much. There’s nothing wrong with running a solid, under the radar business. You don’t have to be techy or have to fit that typical Silicon Valley lifestyle.”

Stefan Fountain is a mentor in the Founder Institute Amsterdam pre-seed accelerator programme for startups and entrepreneurs.

Be sure to read all our event reports, with tips & tricks for starting entrepreneurs!

The brutally honest entrepreneurial journey of Stefan Fountain was originally published in Founder Institute Amsterdam on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Not every entrepreneur is a coder at heart. The other way around: also a road less travelled. But just like how a founder can learn how to code, an engineer can learn how to run a business. That’s why the Founder Institute, in collaboration with Jexia and the Facebook Developer Circle Amsterdam organized an event for those developers with an entrepreneurial itch. It turned out to be an evening with a lot of funny stories, anecdotes and valuable lessons learned from a handful of the best engineers-turned-entrepreneurs the Netherlands has to offer.

At one of Amsterdam’s finest business hubs, TQ, Ruben Daniels, founder & CEO of Cloud9 IDE took the stage first. His startup story was like a rollercoaster, with a lot of failing, but eventually an acquisition by Amazon. “Most startups fail”, Ruben started. “And we failed a lot.” In hindsight, he could have done things better, he told. Here’s what he learned:

The importance of product market fit

1. Spend your money wisely
“When we got our first investment, we felt like the cool guys. We hired like crazy, got massage tables, travelled the world and got fancy business cards.”

2. Listen to your investors
“We got warned by our investors about us burning money like this. We didn’t listen at all. I was stubborn.”

3. Watch out for feature fallacy
“We built features we wanted, not features our customers wanted.”

4. Never do a big launch
“Because then you are loosing your first impression. Better do launch quietly and pick the customers who fit your profile — like Superhuman does.”

5. Never scale before product market fit
“We eventually got to be a better company by listening to our customers. Growth hacks do not exist (for our target audience). But better product market fit does.”

Eventually, Cloud9IDE filed for bankruptcy, and had to raise money multiple times to keep things going. “That’s pretty stressful. So my advice: only raise money in times you don’t really need it.”

Really, don’t use ’growth hacks’ on developers

Thijs Cadier, the founder of AppSignal, build his business without any funding. This has its pros and cons of course. The pros: you don’t have to focus on an exit. The cons: there will be a period where it takes a lot of time to make your first profit, especially if you’re building a SaaS business like Thijs does. How do you overcome this? How to survive the Long Slow Ramp of Death? Thijs succeeded, here are his lessons:

1. Be patient, be very patient
   “In the first months, if you make a big sale, you don’t immediately notice it in your revenues due to how the SaaS business model works. That’s why it feels you’re struggling, while you do something right. You have to be cheap yourself for a long time.”

2. The ’f’ word: freelancing
“Freelance on the side. Yeah, it sucks, but it is necessary to pay your people and your own bills.”

3. Ask customers to pay for a year up front
“This gives you some breathing room to get more customers.”

4. Write about your product
“In the end, blogging helps if like-minded people read it.”

“What didn’t work?” asked someone in the audience. Thijs was very clear on that: “Anything that’s labeled a ’growth hack’. Our customers are developers themselves. They know when you’re trying to be tricky or try to do shady things. They get pissed off.”

“The best thing that has happened to me as a developer”

Next up was Ives van Hoorne. He is the cofounder of CodeSandbox. Like a lot of businesses built by developers, it started out as a side project. While building the first version, there was a time when CodeSandbox might not have seen the daylight. What happened: the human thing called distraction. “I was in college, things where fun, and I lost motivation building my project.” Eventually, when he showed it to his classmates, they responded very positive. “That got my motivation back”, Ives recalled.

To take his business to the next level, Ives did this:

1. Keep it simple, stupid
“We dropped many, many features for our first launch.”

2. When things don’t lift off, talk to people
“At first we got 6 likes on Github. Then I just talked to people, and reached out to ‘influencing’ developers. Asked them what they thought of it. That got things rolling.”

3. Encourage sharing & discovery
“On CodeSandbox, I let people search for the stuff other people make. So it has a kind of virality in it.”

4. Hire in time so you can focus on your work
No explanation needed here!

The one thing about having a business Ives really would like to stress, is that it has changed his life. “I evolved as a person. I got to travel the world to speak on conferences, and had more direct conversations with people than ever before. When I had to do my first presentation on stage, I was nervous two months before. Although I’m not super smooth at giving talks yet, it gets better and better! And of course, when running a startup, I learn something new every day.”

Bonus: Rockstar Anecdotes

You would think the following stories came straight outta Silicon Valley:

When Ruben got funding from Balderton Capital, they told him this: “You lost so much money before learning these valuable lessons… now you clearly must be doing it right.” (Fortunately, he did)

When Thijs started AppSignal, he made less than 50 euros in the first two months. And that was money from friends & acquaintances.

Ives had an important investor talk while there was a very loud beer pong game in his dorm going on.

Enjoyed this article? Then hit that hand button! Got inspired? Then read our other articles on entrepreneurship. And hey, if you can’t wait to start yourself: check out the Founder Institute. In a couple of weeks we help you get your business going so you can start smoothly. We start in October this year!

What engineers-turned-entrepreneurs have to say about running a startup was originally published in Founder Institute Amsterdam on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

World’s Premier Early-Stage Accelerator Calling for Aspiring and Early-Stage Entrepreneurs in Need of Mentorship, Training and Funding

The Founder Institute (www.fi.co), the world’s premier idea-stage accelerator and startup launch program, announced today that it is has opened applications for it’s Amsterdam 2019 program. Since launching in Amsterdam in 2011, the program has created promising technology companies in the region, like Peerby, and more. Any aspiring entrepreneur or team interested in building a company with some of Amsterdam’s top startup mentors is invited to apply to the Amsterdam 2019 Founder Institute at http://fi.co/apply/amsterdam, or attend a free startup event hosted by the Amsterdam Founder Institute: http://fi.co/events/amsterdam.

For aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs up to the challenge, the Founder Institute’s comprehensive step-by-step program provides the structure, mentor support, and global network of entrepreneurs needed to start an enduring company. The Founder Institute is the only program of its kind that focuses on people versus ideas, accepts founders with day jobs, and shares equity with all participants. Founder Institute Graduate companies include fast-rising startups across 6 continents like Udemy, Realty Mogul, Travelcar, goplaceit, Appota, and many more.

New curriculum

In addition, the Amsterdam 2019 program will include the Founder Institute’s newest company-building curriculum suitable to address the needs of advanced founders (MVP stage) as well as aspiring new entrepreneurs at the idea-stage — a project just released this year in collaboration with hundreds of startup leaders across the globe.

The Amsterdam Chapter will once again be led by local startup leaders Bas van Essen (Jexia), Oliver de Leeuw (Nameshapers), Lorenz van Gool (Space Business Innovation Centre Noordwijk) and Rixt Herklots (Operational Director TheNextWomen NL). Entrepreneurs in Residence Cyndee Sugra (founder The Werck Group) and Daan Weddepohl (CEO & founder Peerby) and are also involved in helping aspiring entrepreneurs.

Mentors who are helping Amsterdam Founder Institute participants include:

• Adeline Lee: Director of Growth, Framer
• Arthur van de Graaf: Founder, Seeds & Getacrowd
• Gerrit Brouwer: Founder, Appical & Keypatch
• Sebastiaan Hooft: serial entrepreneur
• Cyndee Sugra: Founder, Chief Creative Strategist, The Werck Group
• Thomas Mensink: Founder & Analyst, GoldenEggCheck
• Daan Weddepohl: CEO & Founder, Peerby
• Ewoud Goorts: CEO & Founder, FlorAccess
• Frans Jonker: Founder, Ticketscript
• Patrick van der Pijl: CEO & Founder, Business Models Inc.
• Hanneke Stegweg: Founder & CEO, iLost
• Hans van Rijnswoud: CEO, HROffice
• Jorrit Kelderman: CFO, NightBalance
• Stefano Cutello: Founder & CEO, PastBook
• …and counting!

Anybody who is interested can apply to the Amsterdam Founder Institute at http://fi.co/apply/amsterdam.

Learn more about the Founder Institute at http://fi.co.

About the Founder Institute

The Founder Institute is the world’s premier early-stage accelerator and startup launch program. For aspiring entrepreneurs and early-stage entrepreneurs up to the challenge, our comprehensive step-by-step program provides the structure, mentor support, and global network of entrepreneurs needed to start an enduring company.

In addition, the Founder Institute is the only program of its kind that focuses on people versus ideas, accepts founders with day jobs, and shares equity with all participants. Leaders of the world’s fastest-growing startups have used our program to transition from employee to entrepreneur, test their startup ideas, build a team, get their first customers, raise funding, and more. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 150 cities and 60 countries, the Founder Institute’s mission is to “Globalize Silicon Valley” and empower talented and motivated entrepreneurs to build companies that will create one million new jobs.

The Founder Institute was founded in 2009 by Adeo Ressi and Jonathan Greechan. It is operated out of Palo Alto, California.

Press Contact

Silicon Valley: Co-founder Jonathan Greechan is available at (j@fi.co)

Amsterdam: E-mail local director Bas van Essen at bas.van.essen@founderinstitute.net You can also ask Bas for the contact details of Daan Weddepohl, founder and CEO of Peerby. He is an alumnus of the Founder Institute, mentor and Entrepreneur in Residence for the Amsterdam chapter. He is also available for questions about his experiences in the program.

Silicon Valley-based Founder Institute Opens Applications to Amsterdam Startups was originally published in Founder Institute Amsterdam on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Whether you like it or not, at some point in your entrepreneurial journey you’ll have to get legal advice. It can be very basic, from incorporating your business to very complicated — like filing for patents.

At The Thinking Hut in Amsterdam, the Founder Institute once again organized a fully packed evening with inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Let’s start with legal basics. Suzanne Knottnerus, tax advisor and transaction lawyer for startups at blended.law stated the most important thing for a startup upfront: sort your legal affairs from the start. “This way, later, your position towards an investor is way, way stronger. As a startup, you have a small budget and big dreams. So always be in control of your own files.”

Of course, that’s easier said then done. Here are some tips from Suzanne to get (and stay) in control when dealing with a lawyer.

• If you have a request, don’t make it hard for yourself by trying to write ’legally’. Write down the request in your own words, and tell why you request it. This makes it easier for the lawyer to understand what you want.
• If you don’t get something, speak out and just ask.
• Be clear about a budget — and maybe ask for a fixed fee.

Next where Suzanne’s tips for things you should do from the start, to benefit later:

Write down a cooperation agreement with your team
You don’t need a lawyer for this, but just write down who should do what in the team or what you are doing together as a group. Check every once in a while and adjust when necessary. Why? As a startup, you are vulnerable. So at least have this on paper.

Have a shareholders agreement
You should have thought about what happens when someone wants to join your business, share wise. What happens when someone gets married? What happens when someone gets health issues? What is someone runs out of money? Have this on paper!

Keep track of funds
Record all money loans in a loan agreement, and keep track of current account positions and expenses. Getting funding also means a clean administration.

Work & fee arrangements
Eventually, an investor might want to join to take the business to the next level. Make sure all the founders are on the same page when an investor joins. Also, create a decent NDA. You can do this yourself, better is to have a lawyer do a quick check.

It might seem a bit ’conservative’ and a hassle to do this from the start, but we’re speaking about the future of your own business. And nothing’s more important when you start being an entrepreneur!

Why you should consider patenting

You see it a lot in startup pitches: patents. Either some startups have them already or they mention they have some pending. Why is that? Well, one thing is sure: investors love it if you have some. “It’s a safety for them, patent advisor Marc van Oldenborgh tells. “It’s part of their strategy.”

Marc once got Spotify to settle a case about a patent he filed in 2001, it was about sharing data via devices. Then it went quick — he just sent subpoena’s to other big tech companies, who were more than happy to settle.

It immediately showed why it can pay off the have an invention patented. “You need to think long term though, Van Oldenborgh says. “It costed me 180.000 dollars over 18 years to keep my patent alive.

So patents are useful for investors, and for yourself if you are willing to sue big companies. Because: “Don’t think you’re rich if you filed a patent. It’s worth nothing if you don’t go to court.”

But when can you patent something? When is something an invention? Marc summarized:

• It has to be something new, and have a link to technology.
• It has to be inventive and it has to be not obvious to a skilled person. You can even combine two existing things to one, like cars & GPS. If it’s non obvious, it’s an invention.
• It should be useful, people should be willing to buy it.

Next, when you think you can patent something: file a claim. Your patent will be judged by that! A claim should be short. Then you need a patent attorney to make that claim a bit longer and better.

For startups it can be worth the money to file a claim. You can protect a patent for 10.000 dollar a year, worldwide.

Last tip: don’t talk to anyone outside your own circle before the application of a patent. And do not publish anything, not even a small social media update, before filing.

Think you have what it takes to start your own business? Then enter the Founder Institute, a three-month program designed to transform yourself from employee to entrepreneur. Legal matters, like in this post, are of course part of the curriculum. Enroll now!

Legal advice for startups (with tips from the guy who sued Spotify) was originally published in Founder Institute Amsterdam on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Funding is always a hot topic, the Founder Institute Amsterdam found out during their funding event in The Thinking Hut.

With four speakers on diverse funding topics, there was something for every aspiring founder. Topics like angel funding, the business model of VC’s, female focused funding and crowdfunding were heavily discussed for the more than 80 people attending.

The thing about angel funding

Wisse Koedam from Brenger has raised over 2 million euro from informal investors in 4 rounds.

Here are his thoughts on what you should and what you shouldn’t do:

• Do talk to as many people about your wish to get funding — you never know who might have the money or the connections
• Do focus on more than 2 potential investors — if one agrees, others will follow
• Avoid investments from family & friends — that might give you trouble in later stages
• Avoid angels who don’t have enough money — it’s a high risk investment and they should be ok if they lose it

Once you raised angel funding: keep them updated, preferably every month. Be totally honest with them, because they can help you as well. Use their advice and use their network!

Angel funding has both its advantages and disadvantages: “With angel money, you have more freedom, and less immediate urge to grow. You also have more time to experiment. On the other hand you get smaller investments of course — and less frequent help compared to VC money.”

Wisse ends with something that is often overlooked when getting your first funds. “My experience is that investors don’t have to believe in the initial company. Most importantly, they have to believe in you. It’s about people, not the idea.”

Female founder focused funding

There is a problem with diversity in the financial world, as it is dominated by men. As a result, the female founder world is struggling getting investor money. Rixt Herklots, managing director The Next Women, delivered the bad news: 2,2% US VC funding is going towards female founders, while only 1,6 % of Dutch VC money is going to those companies.

Next to that, in investor talks, women entrepreneurs often find themselves asked what could go wrong — i.e. they get the ’prevention’ questions. While men mostly get questions about how great it will be — i.e. ’promotion’ questions. And then there’s the fact that the interest of VC’s lies in sectors where females aren’t in.

According to Rixt, there are several ways of solving this funding problem for female founders:

• Create awareness
  One thing to promote is by asking VC’s to do something very simple, yet effective. A proven trick from the field: let hem have special ’office hours’ for female founder focused funding. Also address the unconscious bias there is towards women in the startup ecosystem. Even your own bias as a woman!
• Look for alternative ways of funding
  Change won’t happen overnight though. That’s why you shouldn’t stop looking in your quest for funding. You can still get the money you need through crowdfunding, angel investors, bank loans and/or subsidies.
• Educate others and yourself
  When you know there is a bias, you can prepare for it. That’s why you should come fully prepared, get the numbers straight and your story. The most important thing Rixt told the audience: “Know your own worth, don’t go too small.”

What VC’s are looking for

When you have had a seed round, or an angel investment, after a while maybe comes the need to grow even more. That’s where venture capital comes in. Thomas Mensink, startup analyst at Golden Egg Check, gave us all insights in the Dutch funding market, and, most importantly, insights in how VC’s look at your company.

Some golden rules:

• VC’s in The Netherlands tend to invest in “potential x feasibility”, i.e. in “how big can this get x what is the probability of succeeding”. So it isn’t about having a new idea! Thomas explained this with his Startup Matrix.
• Focus on traction over your funding need, this will impress VC’s more.
• Always ask yourself if you really need that VC money right now.

This last one is important, because of the business model of a VC. Thomas: “Be aware that you give away a part of your company. Also you must grow continuously, and you must prepare for an exit: you must be willing to sell your company in 5 to 10 years.”

Cheering for crowdfunding

Daan Weddepohl, CEO of Peerby and Entrepreneur in Residence at the Founder Institute, shared his experiences with crowdfunding. He managed to raise more than 2 million euros through crowdfunding platform Oneplanetcrowd in just 4 days. Here’s how he did it:

• Preparation is key
  Test the pitch, test the message, test the landing page — with the Peerby community!
• Ask the active community to invest (early Peerby users)
  Early Peerby users and the sharing economy community where asked beforehand to invest. Without an existing community, crowdfunding is pretty hard!
• Prepare for best and worst scenario’s
  Crowdfunding seems easy, but can be very stressful, Daan recalled. It’s best to know what to do in a worst case scenario if the funding fails. But also if it’s a success. Decide how much more you need if it turns out a success as well.

These 4 examples of funding are just the tip of the iceberg on how to get investments for your startup. The Founder Institute helps you get investor ready. Rixt Herklots is also in the organization, Thomas Mensink is a mentor, and Daan Weddepohl and Entrepreneur in Residence. Get into the programme now!

Getting funding isn’t easy. Here are some tips & tricks to help you out was originally published in Founder Institute Amsterdam on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Networking is crucial for (aspiring) entrepreneurs to find their perfect “partner-in-crime” when building a business. How do you find people, and most importantly, how do you find the right people?

The Founder Institute Amsterdam brought 40 people together in TSH Collab to learn from renowned founders themselves.

Founder Cyndee Sugra (The Werck Group) got interviewed by Daan Weddepohl (Peerby). Both are Entrepreneurs in Residence in the Founder Institute Amsterdam chapter. They both gave the eager audience of 40 aspiring entrepreneurs some valuable insights.

How they found a co-founder

Cyndee started her career in music, when she landed a record deal when she was just sixteen years old. She then went on to work in the music business at the forefront of the industry’s digital transformation, as well as other media companies and tech start-ups. In the early 2000’s the Internet bubble burst, which prompted her to launch a design and technology agency to help Fortune 1000 and Entertainment companies innovate digital products, as well as develop their own software.

She eventually brought in a CTO due to company growth and needing to solve more complex technology issues that went beyond the agency’s existing capabilities. “Co-founders often come when you least expect it. It happened very naturally with someone I already knew quite well and had a history with, which already meant that we had trust. My experience is that if you are too desperate in your search, you won’t find the best match.”

Daan had a more straightforward path: he found his CTO and co-founder in the Founder Institute accelerator programme. “Part of why we ‘clicked’, was the understanding of our roles. We both knew creating a company is different then being in a company. Co-fouders need to understand that. It’s simply not about having a cool job title. You need to zoom out and define what you want for the company, not for yourself.”

Questions from the audience

How do you value the skill set of co-founders?

Cyndee: “It is important to know what your weaknesses are so you know what to look for in a founder to fill your gaps. Also, founders possess that extra ‘something’ that goes beyond a certain skillset, which involves passion, being relentless and taking risks. Finding that ‘one’ is difficult, but I think it’s ultimately about tapping into our human side. Founders are people as well, we’re not work machines. Find that connection with your founder.

Should co-founders live in the same city?

Daan: “As always, it depends. But as Cyndee said: you are building a human connection. So you need the personal time, especially in the beginning. I highly recommend meeting each other face to face in the early days.

More advice or insights for launching your startup? Apply to the Founder Institute programme or attend our next event (attendance is free)!

How to find the perfect co-founder for your startup was originally published in Founder Institute Amsterdam on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In our previous blog entrepreneurs Gerrit Brouwer and Sebastiaan Hooft shared some sneak peak insights to the meetup at TSH Collab, made possible by the Founder Institute. During this meetup, hosted by Daan Weddepohl (founder & CEO of Peerby) and attended by aspiring entrepreneurs, they not only talked about their personal leap, but also about the aftermath — what experiences you can encounter and the characteristics you will need in your own entrepreneurial journey.

So how did Gerrit become an entrepreneur? Right after high school, he started as a marine. At a very young age was he was already leading a platoon. Then came a career in investing: first in investor relations at Shell, then he worked as an investment banker at Rabobank. There he got to know the Dutch darling of GPS, TomTom. Seeing the excitement around that company ignited his entrepreneurial spark.

As Brouwer said it: “Combined with the love of creating things and coming up with solutions, I wanted to start my own company.” He then started Appical, HR software for on-boarding new employees. After that, he went on to start two brand new businesses.

Gerrit’s advice to the audience of aspiring entrepreneurs:

1. Building a business can be stressful. So balance out attention to family & friends and board & clients. Focus on who should be getting attention at the right time.

2. Don’t hire that rockstar corporate CEO or fancy board member when you are just starting. In the starting phase of your company you need more flexible people.

In a previous post, Gerrit promised to talk about the thin line between success and failure. And he surely did. Gerrit told about the time with Appical, which was defined by great ups but also great downs. In that period he was “living on his credit card”, but he also knew an investment was coming soon. There was also the need for marketing & sales at that moment, but no money yet. “At such a moment you need to trust your gut feeling. My feeling said we should go for it. So we spent our personal savings on marketing & sales. We had nothing left. Then, the investment came. So you need to give it all when you want to succeed. My question to you: are you willing to give it all?”

Sebastiaan Hooft’s entrepreneurial journey came about very differently: his colleague at a corporate died of a heart attack. As it was someone he looked up to, Sebastiaan felt he could have been that guy. “Soon after that experience, I quit my job. Then I started an IT business with another former coworker.” After a couple of years the company was sold.

Here’s what he learned along the way:

1. Learn to say ’no’. You can get more people, you can get more money, but you can’t get more time. Time’s valuable.

2. Having a startup isn’t about money and/or freedom. It’s about creating something that changes the world.

In the announcement for this event, Sebastiaan promised to talk about the need for mentors. During the evening he stated that you need good people around you, right from the start. “If you’re a dreamer and want to become a starter, then you need to start searching for people who will get you to the next level. Not friends, family and fools. They come for free but they might cost you. Find people that will keep you sane financially, emotionally and physically.”

Mentors of Founder Institute

Gerrit Brouwer, Sebastiaan Hooft and Daan Weddepohl are all mentors in the Founder Institute startup program. Daan Weddepohl, also a Founder Institute alumn with Peerby, vouched for the Silicon Valley program that is opening in Amsterdam again on October 1st this year. “Founder Institute has brought me a lot. They were really pushing me in a very structured process, towards setting up a successful business. I wish to have Amsterdam founders to have that same experience.”

If you are thinking of becoming an entrepreneur yourself, you too can apply for the next Founder Institute program in Amsterdam. Apply here!

Advice to aspiring entrepreneurs was originally published in Founder Institute Amsterdam on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.