Bonaire, PYS is coming this 2020!

Do you have an innovative idea that everyone should know about? Do you want to grow your business? Do you need help to make the next step with your startup? Moreover, are you looking for funding? Present Your Startup will be in 2020 in Bonaire!

If you live in Bonaire and you have a scalable and innovative startup and you want to get to the next level, we can help you with our program! Apply until February 1st at our website. Continue reading for more information about our program.

About the program

You can apply filling the form at our website until February 1st. Afterwards, we will contact you for an intake through Skype to get to know more about you and your startup. For example, we will ask you questions like what stage is your startup at, if you have ever being funded, how many people are in the team, what are your goals, what do you want to achieve and what are your expectations from PYS program.

On February 7th, we will make a selection of the best applications and if you are shortlisted, we will invite you to participate at our Academy, which will be from the 17th until the 20th February. This “Prepare Your Startup Hotel” is an intensive training, with courses on different areas like business model, finance, pitching, legal aspects of a startup and marketing. During the week, you will also have time to practice what you have learned and of course, you will meet a lot of potential investors.

After the training week, we will select the best startups based on their drivers, business plan and how they developed in “Prepare Your Startup Hotel”. These finalists will be pitching at the finals of Present Your Startup Bonaire, which will take place on February 20th!

Finally, the winner of Present Your Startup Bonaire will be selected to pitch at our final event in New York or Curacao.

If you wish to apply, follow the next steps:

1. Apply filling the simple form clicking the button down until February 1st.

2. We will contact you for an intake through Skype.

3. On February 7th, we will select a limited number of entrepreneurs to participate at our academy. For the program “Prepare Your Startup Hotel” (Academy), the normal price is 25k USD, but our partner pays for most of it. Participants only have to pay 500 USD for a hotel (4 nights in a shared room incl breakfast). If you are from Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba, Sint Maarten, Saba and St Eustatius, you only have to pay 125 USD. NB: flights (if needed) are excluded.

Written by Claudia Flores Jimenez

claudia@innovate.today

Photos by Valerie Vallenduuk

Unlikely networking places

Correct me if I am wrong.

You’ve clicked on this article because the monotonous routine of conferences has tired your soul or because you would like to enjoy meeting new minds in a relaxed environment without the business pressure.

Well, you are about to read a list of activities which will introduce you to a new way of socializing. Let’s call it Networking 2.0

Book clubs

“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” – Margaret Fuller

Surprised?

In the digital era, where literature can be found with two clicks, book clubs still hold value. Intellectual conversations are at the core, a location where community and discussion meet. You don’t have to worry about approaching others, it is the exact purpose of the gathering.

From swapping notes to exchanging strategies doesn’t take much.

“What if books aren’t my strong point?”

Then, you have art and cultural meetups, to each their own.

Non-profit volunteering

While finding influential people in charity galas is frequently depicted in movies and similar, little attention has been given on the benefits of putting time and effort behind a good cause. In an environment where people put their guard down, it’s easier to connect without worrying about being irritating. Volunteering brings a different range of contacts and opportunities. Joining a board, for example, can put your skills to the test and at the same time introduce you to different figures. Bonus point if it’s a movement closely related to your business.

By applying reverse engineering, you could pinpoint a specific individual and follow their cause. Sounds controversial but more efficient.

Act without greed, gain new leads.

Toastmasters

If investing your money on skills is not a problem, these reunions will give you benefits in the form of public speaking and networking. In between speeches, you will have time to foster your next business relationship and/or meet your future investor. A non-business setting for business and non-related communications can open the way to profitable exchanges.

Everywhere and at anytime

What we have listed is just a fraction of what the world can offer. The secret is to be always ready and open, you never know who the person next to you is. Spare business cards in your pocket and optimize your elevator pitch!

Do you want to meet industry experts and fellow entrepreneurs?

Be sure to check our event page for opportunities!

Written by Steven Pango

steven@innovate.today

De inschrijvingen voor Present Your Startup Alkmaar zijn nu open

Op 4 december kondigden we het al aan en werd het stokje overgedragen van Haarlem naar Alkmaar: Vanaf februari 2020 start Present Your Startup Alkmaar. De aanmeldingen voor deze editie zijn nu open!

Present Your Startup 
Stichting Present Your Startup helpt startende innovatieve ondernemers verder door middel van training en het verbinden van startups aan experts en investeerders. Het hoogtepunt van het programma is gebaseerd op de tv-programma’s Dragons’ Den en Shark Tank waarbij startups pitchen voor investeerders en ervaren ondernemers. Sinds 2014 hebben er meer dan zeshonderd startups aan het programma meegedaan in Haarlem, Curaçao en New York.

Programma Alkmaar 2020 
Startups kunnen zich tot 1 februari 2020 aanmelden via www.presentyourstartup.nl/alkmaar. Daarna volgt een vrijblijvende introductiedag op 13 februari 2020 waarbij startups meer komen te weten over het programma en kennismaken met beschikbare financieringsvormen voor startups. Deelnemers krijgen tijdens die eerste dag al direct feedback van investeerders.  

Uit de deelnemers worden maximaal 15 startups geselecteerd die deel mogen nemen aan de Prepare Your Startup Bootcamp van 2 tot 6 maart 2020. Tijdens deze 5-daagse academy worden startups door professionele trainers voorbereid op pitchen, vragen van investeerders en verdere onderhandeling. De tien beste deelnemers pitchen op 20 maart voor een groep investeerders tijdens de halve finale. De aanwezige investeerders bepalen welke vijf startups woensdag 22 april 2020 vanaf 19 uur mogen pitchen in de finale van Present Your Startup Alkmaar. 

Best3Minutes wins Present Your Startup the Netherlands 2019

Haarlem, 4 December 2019 – Best3Minutes is named as the winner of the 6th edition of Present Your Startup The Netherlands. The evening took place at the Stadsschouwburg & Philharmonie in Haarlem and was hosted by successful entrepreneur Annemarie van Gaal. Entrepreneur David Beckett, founder of Best3Minutes, impressed the panel with their solid market analysis, impressive traction and powerful dedication.

Best3Minutes is a startup founded by pitch coach David Beckett. After teaching hundreds of startup founders to pitch, he decided to set up an online learning platform to improve your pitch. The startup is on a mission to make impact by empowering the voices of entrepreneurs and change makers.

“I’m really delighted to win the competition and I love helping other people to shine on stage and to make a great pitch. I’m really happy to have had the chance to do that for myself for once. I am really happy with the result.” said David. The startup wins a trip to New York with other entrepreneurs and a training worth 6.000,- euro.

“The jury panel strongly believes that by investing in a digital solution for their training, they can easily scale their business.” said chair of the jury panel Jacqueline van den Ende. “This award is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators.”

Triple ThreaT was awarded the Public Choice’s prize.

“Overall, this edition’s composition was truly diverse, ranging from social initiatives to technological and environmental products. Best3Minutes stood out thanks to their credibility and trustworthy planning” said Valerie Vallenduuk, Founder of Present Your Startup.

About Present Your Startup
The foundation helps startups to grow by organizing accelerator programs and pitch competitions. Since 2014, over 500 startups applied for the program. This year, after a packed Introduction Day, a selected number of companies experienced the benefits of the Academy. The top 5 startups pitched the 4th of December in front of a large audience. The judging line-up included Jacqueline van den Ende (Partner at Peak Capital), Ron Van Bijsterveld (Chief Technology Officer at VeliQ), Rixt Herklots (Operational Director at The Next Women), Victor van Veelen (Coach at ScaleUp Company and co-founder Friethoes), Erik Schut (informal investor).

The organization of this event has been possible thanks to our partners and sponsors.

How to diversify your revenue streams

You made it! Your business is real, ongoing, stable. A call? Your client n.1 is withdrawing his orders. Another is requesting a delay in payment. Could you have anticipated to it?

As revenue flows in and success takes shape, it is easy to become confident in the long viability of one stream. However, excessive dependency can prove to be fatal, especially when a related analysis is missing. At the end of this article, you will know the criteria for a foolproof examination and the ways to multiply your revenue sources.

Big picture

“If customers comprise the heart of a business model, Revenue Streams are its arteries”

The building block describes the sources from which a business earns money. A business model can generate cash from one-time payments, ongoing payments or post-purchase customer service. Complementarily, different pricing mechanisms are present.

Important questions

Answering these subjects is the first step you must take in order to establish a dependable assessment:

For what value are your customers really willing to pay? For what do they currently pay? How are they currently paying? How would they prefer to pay? How much does each Revenue Stream contribute to overall revenues?

Ways of generating streams

SWOT Revenue Assessment

Using this familiar tool in combination with the business model canvas, we can determine that Streams belong to the external environment and thus opportunities or threats may result from the analysis of the section.

Feel free to use the table below:

Threats

·         Are our margins threatened by competitors? By technology?

·         Do we depend excessively on one or more Revenue Streams?

·         Which Revenue Streams are likely to disappear in the future?

Opportunities

·         Can we replace one-time transaction revenues with recurring revenues?

·         What other elements would customers be willing to pay for?

·         Do we have cross-selling opportunities either internally or with partners?

·         What other Revenue Streams could we add or create?

Takeaways

1.       Take advantage of digital data to uncover potential new areas of revenue expansion
Are there any gaps in the market that the data suggests might be lucrative?

2.       If you have built your business around a specific knowledge or skill, coaching/consulting opens up a world of possibilities. Split up your services and start segmenting.

3.       Create a monetized membership or subscription option.

4.       Make sure you carve up your resources so that one revenue stream doesn’t take up the entirety of your focus.  (Hojeige, 2019)

"Business and non-profit researchers have long argued that by establishing and maintaining multiple streams of funding… organizations are able to avoid excessive dependence on any single revenue source, stabilize their financial positions, and thereby reduce the risk of financial crises."- Peter Frumkin, Elizabeth K. Keating

Diversify or die?

It's not a case of to diversify or not to diversify but to what degree: as a startup, diversification should be limited to closely related products or customers. Young companies have many challenges from simply getting products/services to work, to scaling up, to finding paying customers. Diversifying spreads your focus over a broader range of products or customer segments increasing the chance of the startup taking their "eye off the ball".

Do you want help in improving your monetary condition? Apply for an intake.

Written by Steven Pango

steven@innovate.today