Any startup ecosystem in the world needs a constant flow of people coming and going in order to refresh the ecosystem with new ideas, startups, investors, people who upgrade their skills, multiple resources, etc. That’s key to keep it alive.

Alex Farcet seems to have pretty clear this flavour through StartupBootCamp accelerator, focused on Europe not only fostering entrepreneurship and supporting global startups but also building a new breed of angel investor with AngelsBootCamp, a two-day workshop to train executives, entrepreneurs and finance professionals in interesting topics like due diligence, legal trends, portfolio management or investments with a practical approach, interacting with experienced investors. In a nutshell, the first great approach that you need if you feel attracted by startup world but you have no experience, or if you are a successful entrepreneur with some money in the bank and watching and mentoring projects and need the right skills to start support them from the investment perspective.

The first AngelsBootcamp  took place last year in Berlin on 7-8 June and now StartupBootCamps has just launched a new AngelsBootCamp again in Berlin on 17-18 March. 

From Startup Commons perspective, we encourage and support this kind of events that aim to build a better scenario for entrepreneurs in Europe and aligned with our mission  to develop a global startup ecosystem more accessible, transparent and efficient for all stakeholders in the startup ecosystems.

There are many things in entrepreneurship that still remain the same after many years. In this case, we wanted to share the interview that Bambi Francisco from vator.tv did with Yoav Leitersdorf at Innovate!Europe conference, held in Zaragoza, Spain, some years ago.

It shares some great and simple to understand tips for new start-up entrepreneurs:

1. Get to revenue quickly
2. Raise as little capital as possible
3. Learn to be lucky (increase your opportunities to be lucky)
   

The one extra tip was, it’s OK to fail. European entrepreneurs seem to have VERY different viewpoint to failure. European failed entrepreneurs rarely continue as entrepreneurs and start something new, when in US the most successful entrepreneurs have failed in past. I think this is a VERY important lesson. Europeans should understand to value their biggest lesson that they get from their failure!

See the video for the full interview.

YES, European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs and Junior Achievement Young Enterprise (JA-YE) Europe, working together with the World Economic Forum (WEF) is interested in helping to inform this broader effort to improve conditions for entrepreneurship in Europe by conducting survey research among alumni of its programs as well as a smaller group of entrepreneurs. 

The objective of this project is to promote long-term growth and job creation in Europe by significantly improving the conditions for innovation-driven entrepreneurship, creating an immediate and sustainable impact. This can be achieved by connecting key leaders in Europe’s entrepreneurial communities in order to build a unified European community of entrepreneurship leaders.

The survey is only open until the 16th February, so please act now! 

The results will be shared publicly as a part of the World Economic Forum’s larger theme of Fostering innovation-driven entrepreneurship in Europe.

In addition to filling the survey, you can help by spreading the message. Below is a precomposed tweet message to click & tweet to help spread the message of this survey.

"Survey: Help Foster Innovation-driven Entrepreneurship In Europe"


Thank You :)

Berlin is taking a position to be one of the leading startup hubs in Europe. Now, it is probably already #2 after London. Berlin and London are very different places with different history. London is the most international, English-speaking finance center and has a lot of money and also many VCs. Berlin has a special history, being the divided city and the new Berlin started to emerge 20 years ago. It also has its special underground culture, which includes design, music and social enterprises. And Berlin’s cost level is lower than in many other cities in Europe.

Last week we spent some time in the in Berlin and met startups, investors, and companies that can help startups. Berlin Partner makes it important work to develop the startup ecosystem in Berlin by helping startups to set up functions, in finding investors and also attracting investors to the city. They have many practical programs for startups and entrepreneurs to move, find facilities, get the first funding and handle practical paper work. There are also co-working places in Berlin, e.g. Betahaus.

The advertising agency BBDO, which also cooperates with Grow VC, is an example of larger companies that also want to develop models to work with startups. They are working with models to support startups and also models to be more relevant for small and medium size growth companies. An important part of the startup ecosystem is that it is a combination of many components. Not only is it comprised of startups and investors, but also many other services, partners and customers. We don’t really believe in Silicon Valley copycat models; we believe more in Global Virtual Silicon Valley concepts and for different places to build their own unique concepts.

Due to its history Berlin doesn’t have similar ecosystem of larger companies than many other cities in Europe and Germany. It means that many people have no safety corporate position and they are willing to create their own business. It also means lower cost level e.g. for offices and apartments. Berlin also attracts a lot of people, who belong to minorities, or represent alternative culture or mindset to create new. Berlin Fashion Week is one example, how Berlin is also taking a position in design and fashion business. Berlin is the home of many creative designers. Many people around Europe and the US are finding new opportunities by coming to work in this creatively dynamic culture.

Startup Commons is building its global network of partners, which helps startups to establish themselves worldwide, get help to find customers, partners, and investors literally around the world. We also want to develop cooperation with local hubs in the US, LATAM, Africa, Europe, India, SEAP and China to find a good home or branch locations for startups. That’s why we are keen to talk with all cities, companies and people who are willing to participate in our mission.

Accelerators and incubators are an increasingly important and visible part of the startup ecosystem in technology hubs around the world.

These initiatives work on a variety of different models to offer the same basic proposition to entrepreneurs: affordable office space, a support network, and sometimes seed investment to bring together and nurture entrepreneurial teams until they are in a position to scale up and fend for themselves.

An accelerator’s success and reputation are dictated by the success of its startups. This in turn is dependent on the volume and quality of entrepreneurs it can attract and the accelerator’s ability to build and improve its startups’ teams during the period in which they are part of the program. Accelerators and incubators often bring in external mentors and advisors to help this process. They also help startups get access to funding by providing as many funding opportunities and angel networks as possible.

Startup Commons Platform is built with the mindset of improving team-building, tracking progress, and developing startups into viable businesses. Being viable in this sense can mean ‘investment-ready’ for those that will require investment; or simply able to grow sustainably for those that will not.

The core Team Builder module allows an accelerator to assess and evaluate a startup team throughout its program so that it can demonstrate the improvement between beginning and end, according to the accelerator’s own criteria. For instance, an accelerator can develop criteria for investment-readiness so that it can assess a startup idea, the team, and the market against these criteria when the entrepreneurs join the program at the beginning and leave at the end.

The Showcase module gives a central location where an accelerator can illustrate its startups’ successes, and the Startup Tracker module allows them to keep tabs on the progress of startups that may have applied one year and not yet quite been ready.

Through being part of the Startup Commons Platform an accelerator can also be connected with different startups ecosystems enabling its teams to access outside expertise, potential co-founders, mentors, lawyers, advisors, and investors.