Tips for Founders Roadshowing in the Greater Bay Area From Swiss National Startup Team Captain Penny Schiffer
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The CEO and co-founder of Raized.ai, who roadshowed in Hong Kong and China with Venturelab, reflects on the advantages of the Venture Leaders program and offers her advice to startup founders.
Zurich-based startup Raized.AI uses artificial intelligence to improve deal flow for VCs and corporate venture capital units.How is roadshowing with the Venture Leaders team different to pitching & hustling as an individual?
The big plus of Venture Leaders is the whole trip is organized, saving you the weeks you'd otherwise need to prepare, and the years you'd need to build that network! In addition, being part of a country booth on a startup fair is an opportunity I wouldn't otherwise have been able to arrange at this stage of our startup. On the otherhand, when I organized my own roadshow to Silicon Valley earlier this year I was able to individualize the schedule much more towards Raized.AI's business needs.
What's the most important advice for founders preparing to roadshow in the region?
Be clear about what you want to achieve -- customer acquisition, fundraising, building partnerships -- and shape your message accordingly. Make sure you put clear 'asks' in your slides, e.g. "we are raising a Series A" or "we are looking to increase our customer base in Asia". If possible, use the trip to arrange meetings in addition to those organized as part the main Venture Leaders roadshow.
1st day of pitching #VLeadersFintech #HongKong in full swing.
— Penny Schiffer (@PennySchiffer) November 4, 2019
Some great feedback from today’s session (which I believe applies to a lot of Swiss startups):
- Show more numbers on traction
- Relate to your competition + show your USP
- Play more the Swiss tech angle in Asia???? pic.twitter.com/r3V8CIccGw
What was the most memorable thing you learned from the roadshow's legal and market entry workshops?
The details of setting up (and keeping) a business in China as a foreigner. It seems messy and unpredictable.
Do the Venture Leaders' pitches change during the roadshow?
The pitches improved quite a bit, so for the last session -- perhaps the most important one pitching to more than 100 investors and executives on the 100th floor of Hong Kong's tallest skyscraper -- was the best for all startups.
How do you prepare yourself for lightning pitch opportunities?
For the three minutes on stage I'll have memorized a script of my pitch argumentation. So as final preparation just beforehand I'll close my eyes and visualize pitching my startup to the 'world'.
What were the most-interesting things you learned during the fintech visits in Shenzhen on the final day of the roadshow?
The trip to China was very inspiring, in particular the insights Daniel Tu, former Chief Innovation Officer of Ping An, shared on how he and his team transformed the largest insurance company in the world from being a heavily analog operation, into fully embracing digital technologies in all aspects of the business. In less than five years this had helped increase revenue 250 percent! Such a speed, scale and boldness!
How to Shenzhen and Hong Kong compare?
Hong Kong business feels much more European, due to the number of expats and its colonial history. It also has a heavy legacy in terms of technology and institutions. In contrast, most of Shenzhen was created in the last few decades, leveraging new technologies and building infrastructure from scratch. One small everyday example was the fact that in Hong Kong you couldn't pay for a taxi or buy a subway ticket by credit card!
Is your startup ready to drive technological change on a global level? Register now for Venture Leaders China, for the chance to roadshow with the Swiss National Startup Team in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenzen, Hong Kong in June 2020.
What will you change about your startup as a result of your experience in the Greater Bay Area?
While I'm confident that our technology can be applied to solve challenges for Asian venture capital investors, we won't build an engine to evaluate Chinese startups just yet, due to the poor availability of data on the Chinese market and our model's language-specificity. Our focus remains on U.S. and European VCs.
Final thoughts on roadshowing with the Swiss National Startup Team?
The whole group of founders and roadshow organizers were very supportive and every member gave their best to make it a success. I was surprised how some of the team were able to be CEOs by day, dive into the Hong Kong nightlife by night, without it compromising their pitching and business performance the next day!
Is your startup ready to drive technological change on a global level? Register now for Venture Leaders China, for the chance to roadshow with the Swiss National Startup Team in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenzen, Hong Kong in June 2020.
Raized.AI AG: Raized.ai is a deal sourcing platform for VC investors
At Raized.ai we are building a data-driven platform for automated sourcing of startups to provide VCs with a personalized deal flow - matching their investment thesis and hitting the right point in ti... Read more
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