Startup Syndrome

Andreas and Julia has been listening in on the Activate workshops recently and were inspired by the Go-to-market workshop by Rasmus Savander to talk about the Product-Market-Model-Channel fit. They end up speaking about different ways you can make sure you have coherence across these different parameters and how the fit between them can drive your business in the right direction. Resources mentioned: An image of the model and some background https://brianbalfour.com/essays/product-channel-fit-for-growth Alumni company of the week: Napper Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Produced by MTW Studios Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Andreas has recently been through the recruiting process of new colleagues to SSE Business Lab and Julia reminisces about her time recruiting and managing Andreas (phew!). They end up speaking about what to look for when recruiting people to a very small team, how you learn to become a great leader, and how to manage people in the fast-paced environment a startup is. Alumni company of the week: Ledarskapsjouren Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Carl Andersson Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Andreas has previously gotten the request to talk about the success stories they’ve seen at SSE Business Lab, and Julia has recently gotten a similar request - but to talk about the failures. They end up choosing the former topic to be a bit more positive, and speak about some of the more successful companies the’ve seen during their time, discussing what those teams did well. Alumni company of the week: Inex One Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Julia has been thinking back on a course she took about the pros and cons of diversity in teams, and Andreas recently hosted a workshop about what aspects are important for co-founders to discuss and align on in early startups. They end up speaking about SSE Business Lab’s diversity criteria, why they care about diversity and why startup founders should, as well as how many of the discussions about diversity could benefit from some nuance. Alumni company of the week: The Ode To Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Andreas has been getting a lot of questions about Shareholders’ Agreements lately, and Julia has been looking into the fine print of the Startup Tools’ Shareholders’ Agreement template. They end up speaking about the different clauses that are good to be aware of in the SHA, why cliff and vesting is so important, and what changes they would like to see in the Startup Tools’ template. Alumni company of the week: OMIT Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Andreas has been thinking about all of the different ways he’s seen startups fail, and Julia has finally read about the “Onion Theory of Risk” which Andreas has been nagging about. They end up speaking about the different risk factors contributing to startup failure, examples of startups they’ve seen falling prey to these risks, and what you can do to mitigate them. Alumni company of the week: Charlie Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Julia has been thinking about how to sell before you build after hearing Harald Mix’s comment at Breakit Funding Day where he spoke about how they built Northvolt and H2 Green Steel, and Andreas has dug deeper into when it does NOT work. They end up speaking about how much you need to build before you start selling, what you should never focus on before you start selling and when “sell before you build” doesn’t really apply. Alumni company of the week: Fleetm8 Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Julia has been looking into the history of the term SaaS, and Andreas has been deep diving into why VCs love SaaS businesses so much. They end up speaking about why repeatability, scalability and profitability are three major keys, what the rule of 40 is, and how your SaaS business can become a cash printing machine. Alumni company of the week: Quinyx Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Andreas has been reading up on the new Gemini Business by Google, and Julia loves to talk about startups competing out the big tech companies. They end up speaking about why startups have better odds to launch a new idea than the big tech companies do, what are some great examples of success stories, and what they did right. Of course, the also give founders the correct way to answer the question all investors seem to love; “Couldn’t Google build this?”. Alumni company of the week: Froda Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Julia goes back memory lane to when she started the Activate program, and Andreas tells the story of why och how he started Ideate. They end up speaking about how to MVP something like a startup program and how similar it is to getting early traction for your startup, sharing some behind-the-scenes stories of how scrappy the MVPs of the programs really were. Alumni company of the week: Spring Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Andreas has recently spoken to a company which early on did a sweat equity deal, and Julia ran into an alumni company who did the same. They end up speaking about why it is that they really don’t like sweat equity deals, what can go wrong if you choose to do them, and why they think the most common arguments for sweat equity don’t make that much sense. Alumni company of the week: Färsking Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Julia has been chatting to multiple different founders about the basics of fundraising, and Andreas has been hearing more about how the US is influencing Sweden in fundraising. They end up speaking about when to start planning for your fundraise, how to design a fundraising process, and how to work the magic of psychology to close investors; it’s all about social proof, FOMO, and momentum… Alumni company of the week: Tilly Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Andreas has been mentored by an old acquaintance and Julia has been going through half a coaching program. Neither makes them equipped to give advice around mentors and coaches, yet here we are. They end up speaking about how to find a mentor or coach for yourself, how to leverage the person’s experience and knowledge and why the SSE Business Lab coaching is structured the way it is. Alumni company of the week: Caterbee Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Julia and Andreas have both been on an offsite with the team, going through the OKRs for the year, which reminded them of the most important metric to track as a startup; the North Star Metric. They end up speaking about what a North Star Metric really is, how to figure out what it should be for your startuo and end off with a quiz on which metric a few famous startups use. Alumni company of the week: Qasa Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Julia has been listening to Startup School from Y Combinator and Andreas has been wrapping up as application deadlines for the programs approach - this Sunday (Jan 28, 2024). They end up speaking about how to apply to the SSE Business Lab programs, what to do right to increase the chances of being admitted and how to answer questions from the Board of Admissions at the pitch. This is an episode that gives you an unfair advantage of how to get into the Activate and Incubate programs at SSE Business Lab. Alumni company of the week: Tidings Other resources mentioned: How to apply to SSE Business Lab: https://ssebl.com/apply Pitch deck templates: Activate - https://[ssebl.com/deck-activate](http://ssebl.com/deck-activate) and Incubate - https://ssebl.com/deck-incubate Program info: Activate - https://ssebl.com/activate and Incubate - https://ssebl.com/incubate Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Julia has been busy planning the annual LP dinner for SSE Ventures and Andreas has been figuring out if there’s a perfect way to manage your investors. They end up speaking about how often investors actually want to hear from founders and in what format, as well as how you resolve conflicts with investors on your cap table for a smooth long-term collaboration. Company of the week: Geil Other resources mentioned: Managing Your Boss, HBR: https://hbr.org/2005/01/managing-your-boss The Investor Update Template https://medium.com/@juliadelin1/landing-your-first-investment-the-investor-update-email-df0f6618677f Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Andreas has been reading the New York Times’ lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, and Julia has been looking into similar legal disputes from the past. They end up speaking about whether OpenAI will have to shut down ChatGPT and start from scratch, what the implications of this case could be for AI development, and why the timing might be perfect for the “Spotify of AI” to emerge. Company of the week: Klimio Other resources mentioned: Thomas Eriksson’s Linkedin post: [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/erikssonthomas_i-går-kom-nyheten-att-new-york-times-till-activity-7146117520255614976-v2gp](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/erikssonthomas_i-g%C3%A5r-kom-nyheten-att-new-york-times-till-activity-7146117520255614976-v2gp?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop) Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Andreas has welcomed the new year as an opportunity to suddenly become a morning person, and Julia is also inspired ahead of 2024 after listening to a podcast with author Adam Alter. They end up speaking about first principles thinking as a way of solving difficult problems creatively, how it might be extra relevant during a time of year where many are looking for new challenges, and how it can be applied as an entrepreneur. Alumni company of the week: Ebie Other resources mentioned: Diary of a CEO with Adam Alter: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2dVHm9F530MKDFGwIshWZT?si=FhnOgEbrQpiy7MhhOgFcPw Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Andreas has just learned the term “one-round wonder”, a company that only raises capital once and then becomes profitable, and Julia has been thinking about what such a strategy means for the returns an investor can expect. They end up speaking about what is needed to become a one-round wonder, whether this makes sense for investors, and do a quiz trying to guess which well known companies only raised one round before becoming profitable. Company of the week: Bantaba Other resources mentioned: suno.ai Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård

Andreas has been annoying VCs by asking them why founders should choose them, and Julia has made a near-impossible quiz guessing the VC based on what they write about themselves. They end up speaking about why branding should matter for VCs, how to get dealflow as a VC investor, and which firms actually stand out from the crowd. Alumni company of the week: Dibz Hosted by Julia Delin & Andreas Johansson Edited by Victor Ganguly Responsible publisher: Lars Strannegård