Take 3/3: Use the “The Art of War” on Web Summit
By Cuckuu’s CEO
In Take 1/3: “Does size matter” and Take 2/3: “Everyone you will ever meet Knows something you don’t” we talked about how overwhelming Web Summit could be;
So for this last three years, we have been learning how we can improve the experience for us, how we can make the most out of it.
One of my favorite books that I believe every entrepreneur should read is “the art of war” by Sun Tsu.
Every year before Web Summit I create a document that I give all my team and its called “Cuckuu and the art of War”.
So what have I learned from the previous experiences?
1- Think
“Every battle is won before it is fought”.
What are your goals? Put them in order of priority so you can go after the ones that are the most important.
Use the nice to have/have to have rule; this is as easy as asking yourself if your company can live without that specific action.
2- Research and plan
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
Now that you know what you want and who can make it happen for you, its time to plan how to make it happen.
Use the app and the list of attendees of Web Summit, use your network and community to ask for help, don’t be afraid to ask, whats the worst that can happen?
Find out where the people you want to talk are going to be, what they are looking for and how you guys can click.
Wanting to meet investors is not a goal, be specific, not all investors will be the right fit, find the ones that invested in your area, CrunchBase is a great help for this. And don’t forget don’t ask for money ask for advice, create a relationship with them, make them want to know more.
Look inside your startup, who is the best person for each job, just because you are the CEO you might not be the answer for everything, know yourself and your weaknesses.
3- Focus and adapt
“As circumstances change, one should modify one’s plans.”
There will be a lot there that will distract you; you will feel there is a lot of opportunities that might be getting away.
Focus on your goals and be strong to keep on the path, but always look at how things are evolving, and if you fell something changed and the path needs to be modified just go for it.
4- Be prepared for all
“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.”
Know your numbers, know your pitch, know what you want, know who you and your company are and what they stand for.
Luck is when preparation meets opportunity, so the harder you prepare, the luckier you will get.
Make sure you and your team can talk about what you guys are doing with passion and conviction if you do this the opportunities will multiply.
5- Be able to walk away
“If a battle cannot be won, do not fight it”
Be ready to get No’s, you will get a lot of them.
Be graceful when you do and know when to move on, time is short so don’t try and change someone’s mind when you feel in your guts they are not the right person.
6- Follow-ups
“Sometimes we need to lose the small battles, in order to win the war.”
No one will give you a big check there in web summit; the idea is to put seeds in their minds and make people interested to know more.
It might even look like you fail, but the war is not over, make a great impression, show respect for their time and make sure you can move on with a way to reach them later.
Give 24 to 48h to reach them and make sure you know who they are, make it personal, do not copy paste; this is one of the most important things to win the war in the end.
And more importantly, have fun, show your love for what you are doing, people invest in people.
Whatever your goals are, investors, partners, users, talent or just great talks people will always have to invest in you, even if it is with their time, so make it memorable.
And make sure you come and visit my team and me on Thursday, Nov 9 at stand number B-131 in the Advertising, Content & Media.
Never forget “together we are stronger”
And one more thing;
would you like to go to Web Summit for free with Cuckuu?
We want to take someone with us that as something cool to share with the world, so tell us why we should pick you.
All you have to do is use your favourite social media and tell us why we should pick you and use the #Cuckuu & #MyBestBuddy
Then you go with us to create cool content about Web Summit, check the rules at www.cuckuu.news/bestbuddy
