My visiting lecture at Aalto Mikkeli IB Campus on 3rd March 2011.

1. The wonderful world of startups and Aalto Venture Garage as a seed accelator Aalto Venture Garage Ville Simola

2. My Agenda

4. What it takes to build a startup?

6. Definition #1 “A startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets. “ - Wikipedia

7. Definition #2 “A startup is NOT every new business venture (actually, it is but this is not the way we use the term anymore). It is a new tech venture, internet related mostly, that has the potential of rapid growth through servicing new market segments and/or offering new product/services” - Quote taken from Quora.com

8. Definition #3 ”A startup is the organization used to search for a scalable business model” – Steve Blank

9. Some comparisons

10. Comparison #1(Steve Blank) Small businesses Business model found Profitable business Existing team Not all the businesses of internet age are ”scalable startups” Scalable startup Designed to grow big Huge uncertainty Typically needs risk capital These companies are the real startups

11. Comparison #2(Steve Blank) Traditional accounting Balance sheet Cash flow statement Income statement Startup metrics Customer acquisition costs Customer lifetime value Monthly burn rate

12. Comparison #3(Steve Blank) Business plan Static-document ”No business plan survises the first customer contact” Focus on planning not execution Business model Can be iterated quickly Shows how company creates, delivers and captures value Focus on execution and how to make money

13. The idea

14. Idea #1 Importance is usually overemphasized

15. Idea #2 Will pivot during the journey

16. Idea #3 Is something that should not be hidden

17. The team

18. Team #1 Is the most important asset

19. Team #2 Should combine a different skillset

20. Team #3 Needs to have high and passionate vision

21. To be successful?

22. Success #1 Technology is nice but it’s all about the value

23. Success #2 Planning is good but execution wins the war

24. Success #3 Great companies are not born they are built

25. Success #4 Grow or die!

26. Recommended readings

27. Aalto Venture Garage http://www.vimeo.com/16458062

28. Background

29. The start The Garage started with grassroot initiatives by a group of students and entrepeneurs at Aalto University

30. Why? We saw the need for change in the entrepeneurship ecosystem in Finland. This was the fall of 2009. The garage was empty.

31. Numbers LicensingRevenue for ResearchInstitutions <3 M€ Seed, Startup, EarlyGrowth VC ~ 83M€ Public Investment on R&D 2010 PrivateInvestment (GEM2009) 2.000 M€ #51/54 Companiesseeking for growth (GEM 2009) #53/54 Fast-growthcompanies (≈20) Sub-contractors Resourceintensive Lähteet: GEM 2009 Global Report, Deloitte Technology Fast 50 & Fast 500 EMEA (2009, 2010), FVCA (2010), PwC MoneyTree, NVCA (2010), IVA (2010), Tilastokeskus (2010), Center for Venture Research (2009), Tekes (2009, 2010) 30

32. Activities

33. Co-working

34. Grass root initiatives Pitching events Open Mics Talkoot workshops/ Startup weekends

35. Grass root initiatives Inspiring speakers Tuli-talks w/ research based start-ups Hackatrons

36. Enternship 10-week Entrepreneurial internship is aimed for students interested in startups and high growth companies no restrictions when it comes to school or nationality Applications taken in from 4th of March

37. Startup programs

38. Summer of Startups 10-week start-up program targeted for students Teams areprovided: 1) Coaching, mentoring & keynotes from the best serial entrepreneurs, VCs, PR professionals etc. 2) 24/7 working space 3)Pre-seed funding for the selected team

39. Startup Sauna More mature start-up program targeted for advanced companies from the Baltic region running 2 times a year Teams are provided: 1) Garage coach network 2) 24/7 working space 3) Office space and trip to Silicon Valley for the three best ones

40. Some case startups

41. Key success factors

42. Key factors #1 Culture of venturing from grass roots: Aaltoesetc.meaning that we have best students and researchers interestedto a) start b) work on startups

43. Key factors #2 Ideas and teams coming not only from Aalto or rest of Finland but from whole Baltics and Nordics: only way to get good enough people and ideas

44. Key factors #3 experienced serial entrepreneurs with international success and failures as coaches to work with the selected startups from very beginning: our coaches

45. Key factors #4 Exposure for the best startups to real markets, competitors, investors and specially to culture of doing business: 3- 4 months in the valley, in future Israel and china

46. Key success factor? SISU (FIN) “Special strength and stubborn determination to continue and overcome in the moment of adversity. It's a combination of stamina, courage, and obstinacy held in reserve for hard times.”

48. My contacts

49. aaltovg.com aaltoes.com facebook.com/aaltovg facebook.com/aaltoes Ville Simola ville@aaltovg.com +358 44 070 0520