Liveblog: Techcrunch Geek n Rolla Event 5

This is the last in my series of blog posts writing up the Techcrunch Geek n Rolla tech-entrepreneurship event...

15:53 Reshma Sohoni, CEO, Seedcamp - Recession Business Models for Tech Startups

Seedcamp is a great organisation helping very early stage companies get some seed funding, some expertise and advice, and share their experiences. She's going to give some of that experience now.

15:56 Business Models for startups
Think through your business model at the start. Don't just build and worry about money later. There are lots of ways to sell valuable services Devil is in the detail - and execution. Talk to other startups, do your homework. Only one of the seedcamp startups has used advertising as their business model. The rest are 'freemium', subscription, simple sale of goods or license models.

15:57
Don't rely on advertising
There's a lot of advertising noise out there. Rates are falling. Effectiveness is falling. Income is falling. Look at affiliate programmes, vertical markets, lead generation and more innovative commercial models.

16:00
Freemium
A subscription business model - but with a bottom rung free option. People can try it easily.

16:02
Virtual Goods
Used a lot in gaming and virtual worlds. Stardoll, HotorNot are good examples.

16:03
Blended business models
Reshma thinks mixing business models is the way to go. Taking a share of some transactions, having affiliate links and having subscription income for example. But she says consulting is not a business model, because it's not your core activity.

The techcrunch writeup of this talk is at: http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/04/22/more-from-geeknrolla-seedcamps-guide...

16:11 Fred Destin, Atlas Ventures - To VC or not to VC

Fred wants to help entrepreneurs understand Venture Capitalists. First VCs are swamped. Don't just email, don't just give your card straight away at an event. Build a relationship. He may not invest straight away, or at all, but he will help you, he will connect you to others. Don't be shy, talk to him. But the objective at first is not to tell him everything about your business. Raise his interest, raise his pulse and get him to like you. You come in, you pitch, and you're probably one of 30 they're looking at at the time. Within minutes he'll know whether he wants to fund you. It's like falling in love. He'll have an urge to give you money!! If he's a good VC, he'll then rationalise it.

16:13 Making an impression
After the first pitch - one day later he remembers 70%, after 5 days he remembers 10% of what you said - but he has to sell it to partners. So he needs supporting information from you and a clear pitch as to why it's a great opportunity. He needs 4 or 5 talking points to help him.

16:14 Follow up
He says European entrepreneurs are really bad at follow up. They don't call, don't email quickly. They give up to easily and don't come back to discuss knockbacks they get from him. Give him a call, answer his challenges.

16:22 Other points
They don't sign NDA's. They will give you help even if they don't give you money. Ask them for contacts, advice. Pick their brains. Due Diligence is always the same stuff. You can prepare. That'll make it faster. Timing is everything, and you're nowhere until the money is in the bank. When they do fund you they want to be partners. Building a business is long and painful. He lives it with his startups and thinks about them at night. The best entrepreneurs step aside to take a founders role and bring in a pro CEO - they still get the fame.

16:26 Q&A
He's extremely uncomfortable with single-person companies. Before you go to him, attract your core team, even if they work for you part time for free. Bring a talented team - a company is a collective organism - on your own you're nothing.

The techcrunch writeup is here: http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/04/21/geeknrolla-european-entrepreneurs-ne...

16:29 Pitching Competition

There's now a session where ten start-ups are getting the chance to pitch their business plan to a panel of: Doug Richard, formerly of Dragon's Den Michael Smith, formerly of Firebox.com Alex Hoye, Angel Investor Julie Meyer, VC from Ariadne Capital

16:32 Jennie Lees, Affect Labs
Helping brands monitor brand intelligence online and what is being said about them. Looks into the conversations online using language analysis technology to work out the emotions behind them - positive or negative. How to make money? Freemium - theres a free trial. Looking for