Pitchora Reflections

Some thoughts and a bit of advice...

Hi and welcome to this issue of Growth Expectations, a newsletter with thoughts about startups from GO Ventures’ Head of Investments Paul Grech

The third edition of Pitchora was held a couple of weeks back and once more it lived up to its ambition of helping startups reach new heights.  It was an enjoyable, if intense day, where the ten finalists did their utmost to win a share of the €50,000 on offer.  Pitchora is, I feel, one of the best startup related events in Malta so I’m always eager to see what comes up.

This year was no different.  I won’t speak of the startups themselves (at least, not individually) but I did make three observations that I feel the need to share.

Promising Advances

As Pitchora is a pitching competition with startups at varying stages in their journey – from merely an idea to ones that are already generating revenue – you expect and accept that not all will be of the same quality.  What impressed of this year’s batch was that there were around six startups who genuinely had a shot at winning.  Perhaps more importantly, those same start-ups have a real shot at becoming a viable business.

Without wanting to upset those who pitched their ideas last year, that’s an improvement on an edition that presented better startups (in general) than the previous year.  It is the kind of trajectory that offers encouragement about the direction and enthusiasm around the local startup scene.  There is a lot that need to be done to truly have a startup ecosystem, but none of that would matter unless there were people stepping forward with solid ideas.

Colour Coded

More than an insight, this is a curiosity: there were thirteen men who were presenting (as opposed to two women – encouraging diversity being an area where more effort is needed in the local startup scene) of which eleven were wearing white shirts.  Wonder if there was any particular reason for their choices or if it was purely serendipitous.

The Value of a Balanced Team

It would not be fair to say that pitches by more natural salespeople did better, but it definitely helped.  That’s always the case, not only when it comes to pitching your idea but even in life: how many times does a talented person not get recognition largely because of their inability to put a positive spin or properly voice what they do?

When looking at a startup, you always have to analyse the problem it is trying to solve and the power of their solution; personally, those are the first things that I try to understand.  Yet just as important is the quality of the team looking to solve them.  This does not simply mean gauging whether the founders have the technical abilities needed but also whether there is enough balance within that team.

Do they have someone who is good at analysing numbers?  How are they handling marketing?  And, if they need to raise money, can they sell the idea to people?

This does not mean that founding teams without such talents are bound to fail.  Some of the issues you can recruit for others can be coached.  Equally, a strong, experienced and balanced advisory board sends out positive signals.

What is important for founders to appreciate is an awareness of the above.  If selling or the financial side – to take two key examples - are definitely not your thing then perhaps you need to find a co-founder who has a complementing skill-set.

Clearly it is not that simple to find the right co-founder.  Doing so, however, can make the difference between getting the startup to fulfil its potential and not.

Please share this post if you like it and think others would do too.

What I’m Reading

With every issue of Growth Expectations, I’ll also be sharing something interesting that I read during the previous week. Lately, I’ve been thinking about creativity and innovation so this analysis of Bob Dylan’s creative process struck a chord. His fusion of two old ideas to form a new one changed the course of popular Western music. If this approach worked for a creative genius like Dylan, it certainly warrants exploration as a method to overcome stagnation and seek originality by combining two existing ideas.

Have any thoughts about this issue of Growth Expectations? Please do let me know!