When asked about their experience pitching at TechChill, Alexander Bitskov, COO and CTO of LEGID, stated, “At first I was anxious because I knew that the investors would be experienced and would ask difficult questions. But after pitching a few times, I realized that it’s important to just be yourself and have confidence in your product. If you believe in what you’re doing, then the investors will see that too.”
At TechChill, startups are only allowed a limited amount of time to pitch their products or services to a panel of investors. This can be nerve-wracking, but Valentin Feklistov, Founder and CEO of LEGID, says that it’s important to make the most of the time that you have.
“You need to be able to get the essence of your pitch across in a short amount of time. This means having product market validation and a strong story to tell. If you can do that, then you’ll be able to interest the investors and get them on board.”
Both Alexander and Valentin agreed that the Baltic startup scene is a very tight-knit and close-knit community. This can be helpful, as it’s easier to build relationships and get feedback from other startups. However, they also cautioned that going to a new market means that there will be new investors around, and that it’s important to be prepared for this.
The Baltic scene is also unique in that it’s very international. This is something that Alexander and Valentin say has been helpful for LEGID, as they’ve been able to get feedback from a wide variety of people.
On another note, when asked about how to make the perfect pitch, Valentin stated, “Pitching is a talent that can only be perfected with time. It’s similar to throwing a lure to the investor. If you are able to, you will be successful at it. You should be practicing all the time as well, and you should be getting input from a variety of investors. Pitching is also a dynamic process; in fact, we’ve already modified our pitch deck 50 times. Despite the fact that you’re only looking at a short presentation, you should understand how much effort and dedication is required to complete this basic pitch.”
Naturally, after attending such an event, many takeaways can be discerned, one being product-market fit and validation. Alexander stated, “It is crucial for startups to have product-market fit. This means that your product solves a problem that people actually have. If you don’t have that, then it doesn’t matter how good your pitch is, or how much money you raise, you will not be successful.”
He also went on to say that in order for a startup to be successful, they need to have a clear understanding of their target market and who their customer is. Without this, it will be very difficult to find the right investors, as they will not understand the potential of the product.
All in all, both Alexander and Valentin had interesting insights to share about their experience pitching at TechChill. Next up, LEGID will be attending the The EU-Startups Summit 2022 will gather over 1,500 founders, startup enthusiasts, corporates, angel investors, VCs, and media from across Europe. When prompted about if the investor profiles will differ in Spain, Valentin stated, “Of course, it’s a different market. We’ll be looking for different types of investors, but I think the main thing is still to have a good story and to be able to show product-market fit.”
It will be interesting to see how LEGID’s experience in Spain differs from our experience in Latvia. Overall, the momentum is growing for LEGID and we look forward to continuing our journey across markets.