#DOGO: Welcome to APX
I’m Tadas, founder of Dogo — a mobile app that helps you train your dog at home (iOS/Android). We are two founders with my wife Rasa. We recently applied to an accelerator in Berlin called — APX. After super smooth and fast process we got in, this was our first 2 weeks and I want to briefly share how it went.
1st day
We saw the office, met other startups and the APX team. The place is amazing, it has a lot of history and a very unique vibe.
APX is a new accelerator by Axel Springer and Porsche. It started only this March but it is built on shoulders of previous well-known and successful accelerator Axel Springer Plug and Play.
At the end of the day, we had an Improv workshop by Henri & Blake. I actually enjoyed it very much. It was relaxing, made me think about how to be more positive and I got to know new people in startups that joined with us.
I need to learn more German to understand what’s written on the walls.
2nd day
Pitch Tuesdays. The idea is that you can and should pitch your idea every week in front of an audience. I loved to learn more about what others are doing and we also immediately saw how much work we still need to do on our presentation. But we also pitched and already received very useful feedback. Can’t wait for the next one.
3rd day
Today we started working on our pitches, so much work to be done… good that we already started ;)
In the evening we had guests in the office. There was a digital version of the Startup Guide launch event. During the event, we also saw the first episode of video series about startup cities.
Later, there was an interesting panel discussion about the past, present and future state of Berlin’s startup ecosystem and what makes a place great for startups. In short — people who give back to the ecosystem, affordable living costs, supportive government, talent.
4th day
Today we were visiting Axel Springer office building and went to the top floor — journalist lounge. It used to be Mr Axel Springer office and the place is gorgeous. The interior is from an old publisher office in London and is more than 200 years old. The guide was very entertaining and I enjoyed a small excursion with a glass of wine.
The autumn was visible through the windows. I guess THAT is coming again.
5th day
We started a day early with fresh and tasty breakfast and insightful talk from Rüdger Rubbert about fundraising and exits. It’s refreshing to see people who are building businesses for 30+ years and just can’t stop!
It was a much calmer day and we could concentrate more on working on Dogo.
APX lasts for 100 days so we are now 5% better!
It was a very intensive week, I haven’t told half the things that we did. Everyone was very supportive in the office and we felt energised and motivated so time just flew. I’m really excited about this new journey but I’m also happy that it’s weekend! I don’t think Ūdra likes our new schedule so much and we owe her some time together in a nice forest.
8th day
Super exciting day for Dogo! Today we launched “Challenges” on Android. The idea is simple — every week we have a theme and users can upload a photo. This week we wanted to remember the summer. The interface is still very primitive as you can only upload a photo and up-vote other entries. There are no filters, comments or anything fancy but initial feedback is positive and people are uploading a lot of super cute photos.
9th day
Pitch Tuesday. We spent all day re-doing our pitch deck. Was worth it! For a week we get to keep Trophies for “Best pitch” and “Best idea”. Feels good :)
10th day
Mentoring day. We had 3 groups of mentors (1–2) talking to us personally. We had a chance to ask questions and also received a lot of questions ourselves. It was great to receive their feedback. However, we have noticed that there is no “golden solution” as during the day we received opinions that were contraindicatory to each other. First mentors were more business orientated. In their opinion, we should focus on what we are doing well, what is our main competency, concentrate and because we have good numbers we should put more emphasis on that. Which is, of course, legit advice as we are building business and finance side is what makes a great and successful business.
Next mentors were more from the advertising world. They loved the idea - app for dogs. They immediately started brainstorming on what our idea can become in a few years. In their opinion, a roadmap is extremely important as it can show your vision of what you are planning to achieve. It’s also a great advice as you can justify why you need the money and also show that the idea is much bigger than it is now.
Probably, for most startups, the problem is that time and capacities are limited. It is hard to focus on NOW and on the FUTURE at the same time ;)
11th day
Rasa went to another PEAK workshop. This time building and analyzing customer journey in our app. These workshops are very insightful as they not only prepare us for better pitches but also helps us understand our users, what are their motivation and this helps design a better product. By the end of the workshop, Rasa had 4 solutions that will help to improve user experience within Dogo.
12th day
Friday! We could have more of these. We had our weekly meeting with Yoni and Corinne where we talk about how everything is going, how was the mentoring day, etc. Mental, intellectual and emotional support we receive from these sessions is incredible, you feel like after a psychologist session :)
Enjoy the upcoming week with my special selection:
