TINC Fall 2019 - Truly Understand Scaling
By Abhirohan Parashar, Intern at Innovation Norway San Francisco & Silicon Valley
Join us at the TINC Fall 2019 Pitch Night at the Alley on Wed Nov 6th!
After a hard-earned break over the weekend, the group of Nordic startups participanting in our TINC Fall 2019 accelerator program have entered yet another eventful and busy week. A roundtable breakfast with Michel Wendell, of Nexit Ventures, gave insight about the ins and outs of the ecosystem in Silicon Valley in relation to the Nordic one. This was followed by a workshop with Nir Eyal, author of best-seller "Hooked", on Behavioral Design and how products can be designed with customer psychology in mind. The day ended with Sean Percival's growth workshop which explained how to leverage marketing in growing startups.
The participants have had their first founder workshop with Julie Hanna, a core mentor at TINC program since the start of the program. Julie is a Venture Partner at Obvious Ventures, a special advisor to X, Chair of the board at Kiva and was appointed by President Obama as Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship. She blew our minds on everything from entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley to the immense strengths of the freemium model.
The TINC group also has an opportunity to schedule potential partner/customer meetings during the program and they have ongoing one-on-one sessions with their mentors. The joint sessions have plenty of value though, including Olivia Gorajewski from US Law for Nordics, who gave the group an overview of American laws around taxing and setting up American entities. The weekly pitch coaching sessions with Nathan Gold are an integral part of the program, that is where the teams work hard on refining their 3-minute pitches that can prove valuable in the competitive Silicon Valley environment.
Another crucial issue is understanding the investor mindset in Silicon Valley, which was partly explained by Shomit Ghose, Partner at Onset Ventures, focusing on the importance of data utilization and how to apply it to generate great insight into your customer and business. The TINCers also got to pick Scott Barclay’s (Partner at DCVC) brain on investment in the Valley and hear more about his own background.
Read more about the TINCers’ takeaways from the program so far below:
Monetor
Kevin Graeter, CEO and Founder
Monetor automates currency strategy through rule-based decision making.
Describe the first week in three words:
Intense. Disorienting. Inspirational.
The most valuable input you have gotten so far in the program:
To learn about the general difference in mindset has been invaluable. The largest companies in the world are built here, and its inspiring to learn more about the culture and try to take it back home.
The highlights from the first two weeks:
Truly understanding scaling. Scott Sambucci's sales for startups workshop was very good and Behavioral Design with Nir Eyal completely changed my product perspective. Han Jin has opened my mind on storytelling, something I've been trying to crack for years. Shomit Ghose and Julie Hanna have also just blown my mind.
Advice to companies applying to TINC:
Come prepared. Do research on the mentors, I could have asked more questions to just learn from them in general. You get as much as you put into it and if you're coming alone, make sure your team back home is supporting you.
Builton
Birger Lie, CEO and Founder, and Rolf Petter Hernæs, COO
BuiltOn is a SaaS backend for web and app developers building smart digital products and experiences - BuiltOn is the AI foundation for digital businesses.
Describe the first week in three words:
Enlightening. Daunting. Exhilarating.
The most valuable input you have gotten so far in the program:
The way we have thought about sales and product market fit are not necessarily true. The necessity of product market fit iterations being constant is something we appreciate more now.
The highlights from the first two weeks:
The quality of the mentors and the interaction with them has provided immense food for thought. We've really been able to look at our company from an outside and neutral perspective.
Advice to companies applying to TINC:
Do your homework. Have an idea of a value proposition before coming. Have an idea of your market and your pricing, because it will all be challenged relentlessly.
Zelo
Henrik Jesman Sunde, CEO and Founder
Zelo is a B2B SaaS that helps management reach and engage employees without the burden of silo communication tools. Zelo discovers which channel works best for each individual employee. The SaaS empowers management by communicating when each employee has highest probability to engage with content.
Describe the first week in three words:
Rewarding. Intense. Eye-opening.
The most valuable input you have gotten so far in the program:
I have gotten a lot of input on testing different markets before scaling. I've been given advice and guidance on testing what other markets might be most viable to enter.
The highlights from the first two weeks:
The founder talk with Lasse Andresen. He was intense and he was completely himself. He was extremely genuine, and it was a pleasure talking to someone so successful, who is so true to his company culture.
Advice to companies applying to TINC:
Brace for impact! There will be a lot of input on your established truths and it will be a stormy 4 weeks. Use the network available to you for validating your product/market. Speak to VCs while here to learn more about what's needed to raise funds internationally in the future. Additionally, given there are few consequences, take the opportunity to pitch and start aligning for the future needs.