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News & Blog
3 October 2022
Founders Talks: Market validation is a key stage in creating a start-up. Why is Selmo.io winning the hearts of Facebook sellers? Have you ever come across the concept of "live commerce"? Livestream shopping is a hit sales channel in many countries around the world and its popularity is on the rise, also in Poland. The seller presents selected products during a "live" broadcast, and customers declare their willingness to purchase in the broadcast’s comment section or via a direct message. Simple? Not for sellers who drown in hundreds of messy orders. Selmo is a start-up that addresses the needs of these sellers by helping to automate live sales. How its founders came up with this idea and how they validated it, what plans they have for the future, as well as where you can meet future co-founders - these are the things we talk about with Kuba Karyś and Filip Szczepanik. 8 August 2022
Leadership? Do not confuse with management! What is leadership in a start-up all about? According to data published by Failory*, up to 90% of start-ups on the market fail. How come? The culprits are numerous: from unsuccessful ideas, ineffective marketing activities and lack of financing to a poorly selected team. However, many of these mistakes can be easily avoided at early stages of development by giving the reins to a founder with well-developed leadership skills. But what exactly is leadership? Is it different from "ordinary" management? How did the transformation on the USS Santa Fe submarine change the view of leadership models? 11 July 2022
Founders Talks: To build a company, you need an element of madness Over 3500 customers from dozens of countries, a large appetite for further development, a successful IPO on NewConnect and plans for a swift move to the main market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange – Woodpecker.co is not slowing down. How was the idea to build the company born? What does Woodpecker have in common... with an app for personal trainers? And why should we not let ourselves be discouraged by failures, but should draw conclusions and aim high instead? Today we talk to Matt Tarczyński, founder and CEO of Woodpecker. 30 May 2022
11 (un)obvious mistakes in managing a start-up. Part II In the previous part of the article, we've described the first five mistakes that founders often make at various stages of building a start-up. These include developing products that do not respond to the needs of users or prove to be over-engineered; not verifying assumptions with the market; lack of skills in multithreading in management; lacking a bird's eye view and not demonstrating a high level of competence. Today, we present additional six slip-ups that occur in many start-up stories. 9 May 2022
Founders Talks: Science and venture building – a match made in heaven. How NaturalAntibody is changing the pharmaceutical market NaturalAntibody has been on the market for just over a year, and word has it that it can revolutionise the drug manufacturing process. Konrad Krawczyk, a scientist at the University of Oxford and co-founder of NaturalAntibody, talks about how this bioinformatics startup came about, why building a business alone is a big challenge for a scientist and how the fund's competences can help bring academic concepts to life. 14 April 2022
11 (un)obvious mistakes in managing a startup. Part I "Ideas are commodity. Execution of them is not." Michael Dell's words pierce the bubble of magic surrounding the world of start-ups. How come? Isn’t brilliant idea enough? For many founders, this also comes as a surprise. When building a business, they face various challenges and are not ready for all of them. In these moments, they are most prone to making mistakes that could prove a financial blow to the company. 2 February 2022
Founders Talks: Startup with a mission. How Wellbee destigmatises mental health and makes lives more comfortable When the Wellbee platform launched in September 2020, its mission was clear: to encourage Poles to take better care of their mental health and to help them get professional therapeutic support. We talk to Wellbee's Paweł Chrzan and Darek Milewski about what other goals the founders have set for the platform, why it is a two-speed start-up and how building Wellbee was different from building other businesses. 27 October 2021
Zalando – brainchild of venture building The global market of organisations operating in the venture building model is in its heyday. Among entrepreneurs, however, there is still a lot of doubt about what venture building really is. Learn more about its advantages, how it differs from the support received from incubators, and how it can be used by startups essentially looking for the typical venture capital financing.
Founders Talks: Market validation is a key stage in creating a start-up. Why is Selmo.io winning the hearts of Facebook sellers? Have you ever come across the concept of "live commerce"? Livestream shopping is a hit sales channel in many countries around the world and its popularity is on the rise, also in Poland. The seller presents selected products during a "live" broadcast, and customers declare their willingness to purchase in the broadcast’s comment section or via a direct message. Simple? Not for sellers who drown in hundreds of messy orders. Selmo is a start-up that addresses the needs of these sellers by helping to automate live sales. How its founders came up with this idea and how they validated it, what plans they have for the future, as well as where you can meet future co-founders - these are the things we talk about with Kuba Karyś and Filip Szczepanik. 8 August 2022
Leadership? Do not confuse with management! What is leadership in a start-up all about? According to data published by Failory*, up to 90% of start-ups on the market fail. How come? The culprits are numerous: from unsuccessful ideas, ineffective marketing activities and lack of financing to a poorly selected team. However, many of these mistakes can be easily avoided at early stages of development by giving the reins to a founder with well-developed leadership skills. But what exactly is leadership? Is it different from "ordinary" management? How did the transformation on the USS Santa Fe submarine change the view of leadership models? 11 July 2022
Founders Talks: To build a company, you need an element of madness Over 3500 customers from dozens of countries, a large appetite for further development, a successful IPO on NewConnect and plans for a swift move to the main market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange – Woodpecker.co is not slowing down. How was the idea to build the company born? What does Woodpecker have in common... with an app for personal trainers? And why should we not let ourselves be discouraged by failures, but should draw conclusions and aim high instead? Today we talk to Matt Tarczyński, founder and CEO of Woodpecker. 30 May 2022
11 (un)obvious mistakes in managing a start-up. Part II In the previous part of the article, we've described the first five mistakes that founders often make at various stages of building a start-up. These include developing products that do not respond to the needs of users or prove to be over-engineered; not verifying assumptions with the market; lack of skills in multithreading in management; lacking a bird's eye view and not demonstrating a high level of competence. Today, we present additional six slip-ups that occur in many start-up stories. 9 May 2022
Founders Talks: Science and venture building – a match made in heaven. How NaturalAntibody is changing the pharmaceutical market NaturalAntibody has been on the market for just over a year, and word has it that it can revolutionise the drug manufacturing process. Konrad Krawczyk, a scientist at the University of Oxford and co-founder of NaturalAntibody, talks about how this bioinformatics startup came about, why building a business alone is a big challenge for a scientist and how the fund's competences can help bring academic concepts to life. 14 April 2022
11 (un)obvious mistakes in managing a startup. Part I "Ideas are commodity. Execution of them is not." Michael Dell's words pierce the bubble of magic surrounding the world of start-ups. How come? Isn’t brilliant idea enough? For many founders, this also comes as a surprise. When building a business, they face various challenges and are not ready for all of them. In these moments, they are most prone to making mistakes that could prove a financial blow to the company. 2 February 2022
Founders Talks: Startup with a mission. How Wellbee destigmatises mental health and makes lives more comfortable When the Wellbee platform launched in September 2020, its mission was clear: to encourage Poles to take better care of their mental health and to help them get professional therapeutic support. We talk to Wellbee's Paweł Chrzan and Darek Milewski about what other goals the founders have set for the platform, why it is a two-speed start-up and how building Wellbee was different from building other businesses. 27 October 2021
Zalando – brainchild of venture building The global market of organisations operating in the venture building model is in its heyday. Among entrepreneurs, however, there is still a lot of doubt about what venture building really is. Learn more about its advantages, how it differs from the support received from incubators, and how it can be used by startups essentially looking for the typical venture capital financing.