Highs and Lows of the First Trinidad & Tobago Startup weekend
My experience at the first Trinidad & Tobago Startup weekend held May 22-24 motivated me to return to writing. Overall it was a great experience and joy to witness teams pitching their ideas and products so passionately. Although, I only had the opportunity to attend the last day which was designated for individual teams pitching, I acknowledge the planning committee for an excellent job at coordinating this event.
This is not a report on the event (reporting is not my day job plus if you are currently reading this article then you should have been present; no “excuses, buts or maybes”). I will briefly highlight the highs and lows of the event from the perspective of an entrepreneur and business.
As a quick teaser, there were attendees from Jamaica and Barbados and a huge group picture in the end…
For the record let me state that: This Startup Weekend event was the first event of its kind to be held in Trinidad & Tobago and like every new initiative, there is always room for improvement.
Now For the High’s and Low’s
High: Great initiative for raising the Entrepreneurship spirit in the country and across the region while inspiring people to be doers, movers, thinkers and shakers.
Low: Not enough marketing, promotion and exposure of the event and “how” it would benefit potential participants and attendees.
High: Great platform for teams and members to gain experience on how to move a product from idea stage to a minimum viable product.
Low: three (3) days is a very short period in order to hammer out all the kinks, bugs, obstacles and questions that may arise when dealing with project planning and product development but that’s the rules for the event around the world (I don’t know about you but my weekend only has three (3) days hence the name of the event). If you play the game you have got to play by the rules.
High: All entrepreneurs love any opportunity to pitch his/her idea or product to anyone who is willing to give them a listening ear; hats off to the organizers for creating this opportunity.
Low: Many of the teams pitching where not clear on their target market and did not know or present their projected financial numbers.
Side note: One of the key questions of any potential investor is how they are going to get their money back. How long will it take to get a return on initial investment? Many investors may require roughly 3x times (some may require more) return on their initial investment for an estimated period of three years.
It makes little sense for an investor to send his or her hard earn money somewhere to die; I personally would not. For every dollar from an investor that goes out, the main goal is to bring back a new dollar and that new dollar has to bringing with it a +1. If you have a viable, scalable idea or product and you can show an investor how he/she is going to get a return then you are beginning to tick the checkboxes for raising capital.
High: The winners of the competition were awarded some form of capital which is a great step for getting any business of the ground while paving the way for participants to become business owners and future leaders.
Low: There were teams who stated the amount of funding required however I can’t remember any of them stating the amount of equity/ownership of their business they were will to give away. Unless you are seeking a loan (which is debt financing) you will be required to give away some of your pie to get the funds required to make more pie.
Side note: If you are in the idea stage, potential investors may require roughly 40% – 100% equity based on the amount of capital required. However if you have a solid idea, great team, proven traction and profitability you will be in a position that enables you to negotiate lower percentages for more capital.
Once you put a percentage of equity which you are will to give away to the amount of cash require. You will be atomically creating a valuation for you company, product/idea which the investor will then calculate simple by doing the math then determine if your valuation is worth the stage you are currently in he or she will also know whether or not your valuation is good or utter rubbish; It makes sense to know your financial numbers before seeking investment.
High: The helpful judges and mentors; it’s always good to have others around you who are experts in their domain. People who will make you think outside the box and help turn your idea/product into a viable business.
Low: I can’t say much about the mentors as I’m not fully aware of the level of involvement with each team. However I do have my bone to pick with the Judges. Firstly your main role is ask the hard thought provoking questions to determine if an idea or product is viable and can be sustained in a specific industry.
The harder the questions are, the more thinking, testing and research would be needed before an idea is turned into a product and product brought to market. Yes, there time during the event is limited however they can always revisit these questions after the event to further improve their offering; in my opinion some of the questions were just too easy.
That’s it for now, overall congratulation to all the teams who participated in the first Trinidad & Tobago Startup weekend I hope your experience was a great one and it will help mold and shape new entrepreneurs to help move the Caribbean forward.
The second Trinidad & Tobago Startup weekend event was held on November 22-24, which I also had the privilege to attend. I shared my thoughts on each team presentations via Twitter so you can follow me @oudinsamuel to get a recap on the team’s presentations while you are on twitter show us some love follow @caribonix. I will be publishing my thoughts on the second event within the next few days.
Your turn to share:
Did you attend the first event held on May 22-24? What were your thoughts?
Image source: trinidad.startupweekend.org
