Four things to do even before the MAP application

 Jip Brouwer (L) and Relectrify co-founders Valentin Muenzel (M)  Daniel Crowley (R)

 

1) Build a strong co-founding team

If you already have fantastic co-founders around you, great! If you haven’t, before MAP is the perfect time to go and pull these in. In my view, the two most important qualities of a strong co-founding team are complete and utter trust, and being able to work very well together. While complementary skills also hold a lot of value, required roles and skills tend to shift as startups progress, so prioritise fast learning and flexibility over fixed skills.

2) Know your unfair advantage

Behind the glitter and glamour, startups are hard. You are competing against the odds.Make sure you are acutely aware of the advantages you have over your competition that will stop them from doing what you are but with more resources. Technical know-how and networks are good, traction and/or protected IP are better, all of them together are ideal. And if you haven’t inherently got an unfair advantage, then figure out how to build one. Fast.

3) Put together a compelling pitch

There are good pitches, and there are compelling pitches. The former allows the audience to understand what it is you are doing, the latter makes the audience care emotionally and want you to succeed. They may even be compelled to help, whether by providing good advice, introducing you to relevant contacts, and/or becoming an unofficial brand ambassador. So don’t stop working on your pitch when it is good; make it compelling.

4) Pitch to people

Whatever it is you do, go and pitch your idea to people. Talk to your friends, prospective advisors or mentors, and even strangers you meet during your day-to-day life about what it is you are doing. It’s a scary prospect at first because someone could steal your idea. But consider that most people have more than enough on their plate. The few that do not, typically have their own share of ideas to pursue. And there is also that competitive advantage of yours, which means you should be better positioned than almost anyone you meet. The feedback you will get is incredibly valuable for improving both your pitch and your business. And if you happen to meet the one person that has spare time, is interested in your idea specifically, and is better positioned than you to solve the problem, then you’ve just stumbled upon a great co-founder.

Valentin

Co-Founder of Relectrify