Week 1 at 360 Lab: Proving ‘Product- Market’ Fit
Rupert Barksfield | COO/Co-founder
Following our success in winning the Xcite event in Warsaw, Poland and fending off 936 other startups to make it into the top 4— myself and key members of the Pynk team made our way out to Graz, Austria for the first week of what promises to be a long lasting relationship with our new partners here at 360 Lab.
Having seen the action packed agenda on the first day, we have been incredibly impressed by the quality of this accelerator. As we have written about previously — Pynk have now taken part in several accelerators and so are well placed to make this judgement.
The initial accelerator lasts 17 weeks, made up of the initial introductory week followed by 4 x 4 blocks of weekly sprint sessions. These are not developer sprint sessions — but are designed to accelerate the commercial side of the business, with the sole intention of proving ‘product market’ fit. For any early stage start-up; proving product-market fit against pre-defined KPIs is a key milestone. Essentially, it is the stepping stone before investing more money into the business and moving to a ‘Series A’ raise.
This is part of a much wider 360 degree programme which takes place after the first 17 weeks and is designed to accelerate us for the next 360 days and utilise the wider network of the myWorld group (owners of 360.
The idea for 360 came about as all good startup ideas do; beer’s with old friends. These friends happened to be Hubert Freidl and Christian Vancea
The pair have made staggering progress hiring an all star team (including Felix Uitz and Martin Trink) whilst growing the accelerator and innovation group across multiple countries in a little over a year.
In December (18.12.2019) of this year they are bringing the Xcite event to London for the first time, an event we will give our full support to and bring in our contacts from the London fin-tech scene.
Programme leader Jasper Ettema brings many years of startup experience and runs a tight ship. Having exited several businesses before, primarily in med-tech, he covers all aspects of startup from business modelling, value proposition, displaying traction, design thinking, project management, contractual law, finance, marketing, sales and more.
To help us get there each startup in the cohort is assigned a ‘startup manager’ (SUM) — in our case we were lucky enough to have Edward Platt support our team. The SUMs typically have many years of commercial and startup experience and act as a liaison point between each company and the wider 360 Lab network of mentors. These mentors span multiple industry backgrounds and with years of experience under their belts are able to directly address each of our challenges. Already they are challenging us to think in new ways.
In our opinion, what makes 360 Lab stand out from the crowd is the comprehensive nature of the curriculum and the fact that each startup has their own support network specific to their industry. In effect, the programme is individually curated for each startup.
Finally, and importantly, there is a real sense of camaraderie amongst the startup companies themselves. Already we are sharing ideas, best practice and helping to solve each others challenges. We are working on a partnership plan with one of the companies here to help deliver on a particular tech solution more quickly, more on this to follow once the deal is done!
Here is a quick synopsis of the other companies here with us at 360 Lab and definitely companies you should keep an eye on for the future…
STACK
Stack have recognised that an increasing amount of everyday work is completed online via web browsers that are no longer fit for purpose. If I look at my screen now, I have more than 30 tabs open across 2 different browser windows. Flipping between web application is often a waste of time, especially when I can’t remember where I put something! Stack is the solution and offers users the ability to manage all of your Web Applications from one place. Having used the product, I’m sure they are onto something. Check it out and get Stack.
ALGOLY
We spent a lot of time in recent days with the guys at Algoly. The founding team, Dirk and Carl, have big plans for this one, and already have an impressive list of clients in their pipeline. They’re democratising access to algorithms with no need for coding or data processing skills required. That’s a service I and many others have needed over the years, and the B2B applications and use cases are extensive and span multiple verticals. They also have existing data sets ready to plug in. Check them out here.
CLASSERIUM
Classerium are in a class of their own and are disrupting online learning through AI and other frontier technologies. By using AI to understand behaviour patterns and how users are learning — they can customise the experience and improve learning efficiency. No longer will different learners of different abilities and potential be exposed to the same content. The back end analytics are amongst the best I have seen and it seems like the basis of a future model — and increasingly relevant value proposition where traditional learning methods seem outdated for our brave new world.
TRACKBAR
Finally, last but not least is Trackbar. A wild card added to the program, and a well deserved choice, an ‘internet of things’ based proposition that tracks fitness workout through a smart sensor. The data it collects allows users and trainers to optimise training programmes and avoid the dreaded ‘plateu’ where gym goes see only marginal improvements. I’m first on the order list as soon as the product is available online!
Following a productive first week we are itching to get started in week 2. As always, if you are a budding entrepreneur and what to know more — post below and I will try to answer back when I can.
Rupert Barksfield
Disclaimer: Please bear in mind that this information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by Pynk One Ltd. and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making (or refraining from making) any investment decisions. Appropriate independent advice should be obtained before making any such decision. When investing, your capital is at risk and you may recover less than the initial investment.
