Nerves, pre-accelerators and pizza
It’s pretty fair to say that even with a lot of preparation nerves before a big day are something I will always struggle with. Lately though, said nerves, have taken on a new persona much like the Jason Bourne character with a different disguise for any situation! This week insomnia was the character playing the roles of my nerves, ahead of the first roll out and meet up globally in Dublin for Startup Boost a global tech pre-accelerator.
You can read my last post here to find out more about what a pre-accelerator is and at the same time learn all about Startup Boost (that post is basically a two for one learning bonanza on this subject!)
Years ago I was about to walk on stage for a pitch competition and I turned to one of the judges also waiting in the wings just before it all kicked and asked how they handled nerves. I’m not sure to this day if that person was having a bad day but abruptly I was told they ‘don’t do nerves’. It wasn’t the most inspiring retort I’ve been party to in my life if truth be told.
I’d read once that Sinatra used to get nervous but had said that if you don’t feel nervous before something big, then maybe your heads not really in the game. I tend to agree and that’s probably what was happening. Getting to work with early stage startups is something amazing in that over a short period of time (in our case at Startup Boost 6 weeks) you get to see the ups and downs of a founder’s idea come to life like an engine being turned over. Truth be told sometimes those engines cough, splutter and misfire a little but with some tuning they start run pretty well.
Last Thursday 20th July was the day that those nerves got parked at around 6:35pm (apologies for the car analogies and puns that last one was hopefully it for all our sake and the sanctity of this article) as it was time to introduce a new batch of potential Startup Boost applications to what we are going to do with this program in Dublin and globally.
A major thank you right now has to go to the following amazing people for all of the help to date including Ed Fidgeon Kavanagh of ClearPreso and his presentation skillz and time on our deck, Kehlan Kirwan for making the time available to shoot our first ever meetup (apologies again for my beard causing editing issues as seen above…) and also Keith Farrell for all of his wizardry in design for our logo and design collateral. We got to introduce our city directors for Dublin including Carolyn Quinlan previously Web Summit and Techstars who I get to work with on our startlab programs at Bank of Ireland and the ever awesome Nubi Kay of Stripe who I’ve had the pleasure of working on Startup Weekend and previously Startup Next with for the last 4 years!
We then introduced attendees to what our goals are for Startup Boost, where we came from, why we do what we do and what successful applicants could achieve from the program during it and after it as we grow our global network of Startup Boost chapters. We explained the types of applicants we are looking for, who in short may have just missed a place on a tech startup accelerator, are getting ready for seed investment or most importantly of all need time with amazing mentors and speakers to think through and refine their business model to get revenue ready.
Claire McHugh (mentor), David Bowles (speaker) and Michael O’Dwyer (alumni) of the previous pre-accelerator I had the delight to run in Dublin called Startup Next joined our panel to discuss how to get the most from a pre-accelerator and what applicants could expect to gain from the program for their company. It was then back to mixing and chatting with attendees to hear all about their companies, answer questions on the program and maybe finally to get a slice of pizza.
With all said and done and nerves abated, attendees attended to and alumni mingling with possible Startup Boost participants underway it was time to take stock of the last few hours. Nerves can be a good thing to get you focused but shouldn’t rule the day especially when you only remember to eat pizza at the very end of the evening, thankfully whether hot or cold one of the 3 main building blocks of startups is still quite delicious! If you didn’t get a chance to visit then don’t worry thanks to the wonderful video skillz as mentioned previously of Kehlan Kirwan you can get a snap shot of the evening and info on the program below.
Want to know more about how to apply in your city or sign up to bring a Startup Boost program to your city? Then go to Startup Boost and drop your email and we’ll be in touch to say hello!
