Lift 13 is not an event only for start-ups. But this year ambitious young companies could learn a lot. And one young company could even test its solution at the conference.
The themes presented at Lift cover a diverse range of subject from the sphere of innovation, such as Digital Crafts, Agile Management, Democracy in Distress, Resilience and Resistance as well as Innovation Drivers. The talks do not have very much to do with the daily business of a Swiss start-up, but the entrepreneurs like them anyway. “It is interesting to hear talks about other issues than usual at business conferences”, says Dominik Grolimund, serial entrepreneur and founder of Silp. He can remember that past Lift talks gave him new ideas for his work. Grolimund is not alone. Lift brings together 1000 people from 30 countries.
However going a step beyond the traditional conferences that feature prestigious speakers, Lift also rolls out interactive workshops, evening events, exhibitions, challenges for start-ups etc.
One workshop which clearly addressed start-ups was the one on venture capital. Feargal Mullen from Highland Capital Partners shared some important insights. Highland Capital invests in European start-ups in the growth stage. One of them is GetYourGuide. Mullen is member of the board of the internet company from Zurich.
Mullen gave several clear recommendations for start-ups, like
- Real entrepreneurs can convince investors in two minutes without any Powerpoint slide, therefore start-ups should work hard on their elevator pitch.
- The main thing investors look for is vision
- European start-ups should have product managers like US start-ups
- In the software business execution and time to market is more important than IP
- Be always in contact with investors even if you don`t need money at the moment
- Look for an investor that supports you in good and in tough times
- Confidentiality Agreements are not worth the paper that they are written on. Just share information in a way that you always feel comfortable.
In addition to the workshops one start-up even had the chance to test its solution with the participants of Lift. Mobino has developed an innovative payment solution that is used by the visitors e.g. to pay their coffee. “The feedback of the different user groups is very encouraging”, says Jens-Christian Fischer, CTO of Mobino.
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