Dave McClure Talks About 500Startups Investment Strategy in Emerging Markets 500Startups and Dave McClure needs no introduction - the Valley based prolific Startup fund and its head was in Web Summit 2015 in Dublin. Not surprisingly he was very much in demand but lucky for you that I had the chance to interview with him :) If you are a good followers of the recent news you'll know that 500 Startups has taken a bold direction to introduce a new fund to invest in Turkish Startups recently. Erhan Erdogan, the 500Startups Partner in Turkey, has already declared 3 startups they are going to invest in and this is expected to create a domino effect. (link in Turkish) Does Refugee Crisis Scare 500 Startups? Investing in Turkey means neighboring to a civil war. Dave himself is visiting Istanbul quite often (he says 6 times in the last 3 years in the podcast) is no foreigner to the issues. In the podcast you'll also find his point of view on that front. How does 500Startups Investment Strategy Differ in Cash-Tight Ecosystems - like Turkey? He also goes on to give great advices to the founders in countries who have harder access to the funds. He admits that they might look into different parameters and explains what those are. Listen to the show now for more! The post OuE08: Dave Mcclure – We are Quite Bullish With Our Investments in Emerging Countries appeared first on Open Up Europe.

Open Up Europe Podcast | Business and Entrepreneurship in Europe | Business Strategy | Technology | Online Business

OuE08: Dave Mcclure – We are Quite Bullish With Our Investments in Emerging Countries

 Web Summit 2015 Was a blast Web Summit 2015 was huge this year and I had the chance to witness it as a reporter for you.  It was my first time and I learnt a lot. I summarized 4 quick lessons I learnt and I am sharing them with you. Enjoy! Transcript Episode 7 - 4 Web Summit Lessons & 1 Surprise    What's up everyone, great to be together with another episode of Open Up Europe Podcast, your host Sidar is here. Last week Open up Europe was at Web Summit 2015. In this episode I'll tell you 4 lessons I learnt :  and a surprise in the end.     Web Summit is this GIANT event taking place in Dublin every year, but next year it is going to be in Lisbon. Just to give you an idea on how huge it was - From the center stage to the machine stage you needed to allow 15 mins of walking indoors & outdoors. That's the time for an entire talk in Web Summit which you'll miss in your hopefully comfortable sneakers. There are 21 summits and hundreds of talks - all super interesting but impossible to attend all.    Therefore Lesson 1: Plan the sessions you would like to attend in advance. Failure to do this will result in missing the value offered by such an event. You need to factor in your walking times and your free roaming time between the interesting booths.    There were more than 30 THOUSAND people attending at web summit. That's like you and me, multiplied by 15.000. I mean it is HUGE. Everybody is interesting in a way but you are coming with certain goals in your mind.  Luckily there is an app that equips you with the basics of networking   This is crucial, Lesson 2: Do your homework and target people you would like to meet.  You'll inevitably end up meeting tons of interesting people but only a fraction of them if ever, will help you reach your goals. Are you fundraising? Reach out to the investors who have a similar portfolio of companies like yours. Are you there for PR? Notify and follow the journalists to whom you will pitch your story.   Talking about pitching, brings us to Lesson 3: Know your elevator pitch like you know your name. And then know it better. I can't count the number of Alpha startups to whom I approached to ask the simple question "what do you do?" who failed to give an answer to hook me up in the first sentence. There were brilliant pitches during the PITCH competition so the competition was brutally tough. You don't have to win a competition - but you need to spark interest to stand out, because trust me - you need it there.    To write these lessons I learnt I reached my phone and realized that the wi-fi is not working. There comes the 4th lesson: bring your roaming and data plan.    The 3 days of Web Summit was buzzing with energy and nights were no exception. They were stressing the fact that the "magic" happens after but I have to think otherwise. You'll hear the stories of UBER raising a round of funding at 3.AM in the morning in the bar. I went to all bars and tried to come back early to be fresh for the next day.        The Real Fun was after the web summit tho: Surf Summit. We have headed to Sligo - West cost ireland for beautiful landscapes, hiking, biking and surfing. Not only I have seen rainbows and I was very close to catch a few leprechauns, I also happened to get first time on a surf board in my life. The experience was a blast.    The reason why everybody loved the Surf part was easy - it was down to earth. No obligations. At Web Summit everything is business oriented in a packed timeline. It felt like speed dating. In Surf Summit you bond with friendship, with road trip and with falling-off-the-board-together type comraderie :)   That's a must have part of Web Summit that you can't afford to miss.    Now I am back home with the blues of Web Summit and Surf Summit I'll work on editing the interviews I have done during the event -...

OuE07:4 Lessons from Web Summit 2015 and 1 Surprise

  This episode witnesses a brilliant mind of Healthcare Industry and an Europreneur from UK: Jeremy Walker - the CEO of Meducation. Wondering the secrets that led a niche platform lead to 75K Users? Enter Jeremy. About Meducation and Jeremy Meducation is a social platform with a focus on education of Medical students. To date, they have 75K users with a 20% average retention rate. If these numbers alone don't impress you check this : they are adding 10K per month to that number. Yes, that's an immense growth and Jeremy Walker walks us through his tactics (no pun intended). Jeremy has a very friendly style and his way of speaking instantly gets you in the story. By the time we ended up our chat I couldn't believe how much I learnt. Chicken and Egg Problem of Social Platforms My favourite part of the podcast was the part where he responded the solution of the famous chicken and egg problem of social startups: acquiring users to share content and sharing content to be able to acquire users. His innovative ways of solving this problem will most certainly help. We have also talked about how Jeremy has bootstrapped Meducation and how he doesn't need to monetize while still being able to pay the bills.   Here Are the Show Notes [02:00] Meducation User Numbers and Retention Rates [04:24] How did Meducation reach 75K users? [05:00] The classical two side of social network problem and how Jeremy solved it for Meducation [08:20] The retention and its effect on growth, the effect of credibility [11:00] How does Jeremy Position Meducation in the Healthcare and Education Market [12:00] The 2 types of Social Communities: Bond based and Identity Based [18:00] Acquiring super users [28:00] The business model, bootstrapping and monetization And many more topics like - How does Jeremy choose ideas to work on - Meducation's Current Team structure - Main Challenges that Meducation faces           The post OUE06: Jeremy Walker solves Chicken and Egg Problem of Social Platforms appeared first on Open Up Europe.

OUE06: Jeremy Walker solves Chicken and Egg Problem of Social Platforms

Growing your audience. Going viral. Spreading the word out there. And all of that, for free. 0 dimes. Who wouldn't want that? That's the promised lands of Growth Hacking my friend. When you know what to ask there is no better person than to ask an academician who has run tons of experiment and taught lots of classes on the subject. I am talking about the guest of the episode 5, Prof.  Omar Mohout. Is Growth Hacking a Hype? We have had an ecstatic talk with Prof. Mohout who is the Professor of Entrepreneurship in Antwerpen School of Management. He gives key elements of growth hacking and explains the 3 top qualities of a growth hacker. He is the author of 3 ground-breaking books: Lea(r)n Pricing, Lea(r)n Marketing and Start Up Masterclass.  He is an Entrepreneur himself, an advisor in top startups like ReleaseQueue and ProSoccerData.  He is a mentor in accelerator programs like Microsoft Innovation Center and iMinds. He is a jury in many start up competitions - one of them being StartUp Weekend which is organized by Gregory Van Ass - as you remember he was the guest of the very first episode.  You will learn a lot in this episode and enjoy the fluent style of Prof. Mohout. As a bonus you will learn what to do if you would like to get people like Omar Mohout as part of your advisory board :) Please let me know if you have any questions or comments! Show Notes My favourite part of the podcast was when Prof. Mohout shared his favourite Growth Hacks. Global Brain Institute Here are the show notes: [2:30] How does Academia and Entrepreneurship can go hand in hand - he also explains why he has joined academia when he was anb entrepreneurs [5:00] What are the patterns for high growth startups? [10:30] What are the metrics to focus on while validating a startup idea? (He gives 2 brilliant examples) [11:00] Prof. Mohout's Shark Bite vs Mosquito Bite Framework [13:00] How do I know the problem I am addressing is a Shark bite or a Mosquito bite? [16:00] What's growth hacking? Prof. Talks about the history of growth hacking and the communities. [17:45] Omar gives examples on the most innovative Growth Hacks from European Startups [18:15] The balance of depending on an environment [19:00] The secret behind the rocket fueled growth of Skype [20:50] What's the recipe of going viral? How did Skype go viral? What are the techniques? [24:00] How does the profile of a good growth hacker look like? [25:00] Prof. Omar Mohout's favourite growth hacks :) [27:00] Should a StartUp go to raise money first or find customer first? [28:30] How should a startup balance their scaling? [31:00] The importance of Advisory Boards and tips for getting people on it. [35:00] How does the #betech look like this year?   The post OUE05: Growth Hacking and Mysteries of Going Viral explained by Prof. Mohout appeared first on Open Up Europe.

OUE05: Growth Hacking and Mysteries of Going Viral explained by Prof. Mohout

Have you ever wondered how to get press attention as a European Start Up? It seems sort of a black magic - you happen to impress one person and boom, suddenly the users flock to your site! Ever asked the magician tell his/her trick? That's essentially what we do on the show! Especially interesting when the black magician is one of the WIRED TOP 100 Influencers and inspiring Journalist, Robin Wauters! You have planned an outstanding launch and only missing guest for the party is the media. But how will you do that?   Delve into the secrets of publicity with Robin Wauters How should you pitch to a journalist? What does Robin Wauters think about the press releases? Which verticals in Europe are hot right now? What's the best startup hub to start a business in Europe? Listen to the episode to find out all the answers to these questions, and more.  Because in the episode Robin Wauters shares his tips not only for entrepreneurs, but also for those who have aspirations to become tech journalists. We are contemplating over how he began his blog, then his move to TechCrunch, TheNextWeb and finally how his being let go from TNW has led to the route of successful journalist he is today. Despite having tons of credentials under his belt like having worked in TechCrunch and TheNextWeb AND being named as a top influencer - you will be surprised how humble he is. Last but not least we chat about Tech.Eu and what Robin attributes its success in Europe. Give this episode a listen, you will love it - guaranteed! Resources Tech.eu for the numbers mentioned Tech.Eu Podcast Show Notes of Episode 4 With Robin Wauters [02:30] - What did Robin study, what's his background? [04:05] - How does Robin keep up to date in this era of endless information clutter? [04:45] - How does Robin use twitter as a news aggregator :) [05:40] - What does Tech.eu have the other outlets don't? [07:17] - Do we have role models in Europe? [08:20] - Celebrity culture in Entrepreneurship in United States [10:00] - Robin reveals which bad incident has led him setting up Tech.Eu and make it successful [12:00] - What should an aspiring new tech journalist focus on? [14:48] - Sacrifices and Choices you have to make when you want to be a journalist [17:00] - What are the most promising verticals in Europe? And why? [18:46] - If you are starting a startup in EU, does the city matter? [20:00] - What should an entrepreneur do if he is one of the hot verticals? [20:20] - The secret sauce to get press attention [22:15] - The ingredients for the perfect pitch [23:00] - Should I send out Press Releases? [24:00] - What constitutes the success of a Start Up Hub? [26:30] - Who calls themselves as "the next silicon valley"? (And why they are idiots) [28:30] - As EU how do we stack up against the rest of the world in terms of our numbers? [33:00] - Belgian Start Up Manifest and making policy maker [36:00] - Emerging Tech Hubs as Turkey, Hungary etc.   The post OuE04: Robin Wauters on being a Top Influencer and Keys to a Successful Startup PR appeared first on Open Up Europe.

OuE04: Robin Wauters on being a Top Influencer and Keys to a Successful Startup PR

This episode was a blast. I had the honour of hosting Frank Maene the Managing Partner of Volta Ventures and Humming Bird Ventures: a successful investor and overall an entrepreneurship guru - although he is too humble to call himself as such. He has more than 25 years of experience in the industry and more than a dozen in the VC and Investing in particular. He has seen the dot-com bubble - companies falling left and right. He has seen and survived many crisis. Has worked both in Europe and Silicon Valley. He is tasked by the deputy minister to put Belgium firmly on the digital map. When you have such a high profile in your show what do you do? Of course ask a lot of questions and get best out of their successes and advices. That's what has been going on in the show - we are discussing the tidbits of raising money in Europe - such as what does he first look at in a company etc. We also talk about the best time to raise VC money and the cautions the entrepreneur must take beforehand. Frank is an excellent speaker and it has given itself out in the podcast too, so this one has been a delight. Go ahead and listen to it, and then why not may be send him a presentation deck? ;) I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did and please let me know about your feedback either in the comments or in the contact form. Here are my notes from the show: Michel Akkermans from Clear2Pay   [2:20] : Volta Ventures had recently a successful exit with Engagor. Frank tells the story behind. [3:35] : How much does Volta Ventures usually invest in a company and why? The whole maths behind it revealed. [08:45] : What's the ONE advice that Frank keeps on emphasising in every event? [10:40] : The perfect formula for the time to come to a VC for funds :) [13:40] : What's the value of a good VC, what MUST a VC do for you? [15:00] : Comparison of the European and US Entrepreneurship Culture [19:50] : What should the European Startups do more of what Silicon Valley Startups are already doing? [22:00]: Best advice for youngsters (below 25) [24:00]: What's the MINIMUM percentage of time that should be spent on raising money? [25:20]: Why you need a "buffer" and the best way of creating it [26:15]: How Frank decided to become a VC [29:00]: What do VCs do with failed/failing companies? The post OuE03: Art and Science of Raising Money for your StartUp in Europe with Frank Maene appeared first on Open Up Europe.

OuE03: Art and Science of Raising Money for your StartUp in Europe with Frank Maene

This is the second episode of Open Up Europe podcast.  I am thrilled to bring you an inspiring entrepreneur from Turkey but living in UK - Ekin Caglar, the CTO of Woto.com. About Ekin Caglar Apart from being the top technical man of Woto Ekin Caglar is quite good at songwriting and production. He has been in the IT business since 25 years and has tons of valuable insights to share on how to build a B2C business. He also talks about well as transition from a B2B to a B2C business. In the Interview Ekin Caglar explains why we are experiencing a new era of Social Media and how to get the best out of it. We talk about how Woto got her first few customers. We talk about its technical backend. We talk about everything interesting! :) There are even a few freebie startup ideas thrown in :) My favourite part of the conversation is where we talk and compare about the value of outsourcing with a view over different countries: India and its region versus Eastern Europe (mainly Russia, Poland,  Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey). The resources mentioned in this episode Microsoft (Azure) Blob Storage Microsoft SQL Server Service Oriented Architecture Google Analytics  Pingdom Intercom  Elastic Email The show notes [01:20] - The story of the name "Woto" [02:15] - How did the founders of Woto come up with the idea [03:40] - First tester of Woto :) [08:10] - How did Ekin Caglar and his team Bootstrap Woto [08:50] - What is Woto's business model? [10:25] - The challenges of educating your customers for the new wave of Social Media [12:20] - What's the next move coming from Woto? [14:30] - The technology stack behind Woto [16:55] - How did Woto manage to scale? [19:00] - Outsourcing in India and Eastern Europe [21:00] - A brilliant start up idea, free food for thought for you! :) [23:50] - How did Ekin Caglar end up being an entrepreneur [27:15] - Should you always follow the money? [28:10] - The advice that Ekin Caglar would give to his 21 year old self. [31:00] - The biggest advice of Ekin Caglar for entrepreneurs [32:27] - Another startup idea! :) [36:40] - How you can contact Ekin Caglar If you have enjoyed today's episode please don't hesitate a moment to leave a comment under the post or contact me through the contact page or tweet to me. I am more than happy to connect! The post OuE02: Ekin Caglar andThe New Wave of Social Media You Must Ride appeared first on Open Up Europe.

OuE02: Ekin Caglar andThe New Wave of Social Media You Must Ride

This is the second part of the first episode of the Open up Europe podcast. Click here for the first part. We are continuing to talk over raising funds, European Startup actors and Belgian Entrepreneurship. Gregory answers interesting questions like why taking up a government grand is not a good idea. Gregory organizes Startup Weekend Liege and TedX Liege  and he is the founder of GOTORO (french), a non-profit organisation helping entrepreneurs. Don't hesitate to leave a comment here, or a review or itunes! Here are the resources mentioned in the episode: Pomodoro Technique Pictawall Startup Manifesto Belgium Startup Manifesto Europe Basecamp Whatsapp Dolibarr - Open Source CRM Dropbox Resau Entreprendre Bruxelles Here are the show notes: [4:24] - Why it is important to network, especially in europe in contrast to U.S [6:20] - How to approach a technical co-founder [9:34] - Using the Pomodoro Technique [10:50] - A project came out of Startup Weekend Liege that Gregory is most proud of [14:00] - Startup Scene in Belgium [14:20] - Why you shouldn't spend time on getting government grands when raising funds [15:00] - The next silicon valley :) [16:00] - What Belgium needs [18:00] - The top productivity tools that Gregory uses [20:05] - Working with a VA [23:00] - Resau Entreprendre - A nonprofit organisation for mentoring entrepreneurs and importance of mentoring.         The post OuE01 Part 2: Gregory Van Ass on Raising Funds for Your Startup and Failure appeared first on Open Up Europe.

OuE01 Part 2: Gregory Van Ass on Raising Funds for Your Startup and Failure

The very first episode Open Up Europe Podcast :) We have an awesome entrepreneur from Belgium, he is Gregory Van Ass. Gregory is the organizer of TedX Liege and Startup Weekend Liege. This episode comes in 2 parts,in this first part we discuss great tips on entrepreneurship and how to organize an event as great as a TedX. Gregory organizes Startup Weekend Liege and TedX Liege  and he is the founder of GOTORO (french), a non-profit organisation helping entrepreneurs. Gregory is an excellent writer and he shares his insights on his space on linkedin. Here are some of his most popular posts, also mentioned in the podcast: Looking for a CTO? Here is how to get one A freelancer is not an entrepreneur I've failed but I've learnt Here are the show notes: [1:55] - Gregory introduces himself and tells about which businesses he is in. [3:50] - How and why Gregory's first company failed [5:10] - Top advice from Gregory from what he learnt from his failures. [7:50] - Gregory explains how he recovered from failure. [11:40] - Two book advice from Gregory [12:42] - Gregory's successes and TedX Liege [15:15] - The reasons of organizing a Startup Weekend [21:20] - The one thing you need to organize a TedX Event [22:27] - Personal benefits of organizing a TedX Event [23:30] - The best way to learn all the details of how to organize a TedX Event   The post OuE 01 Part 1: Gregory Van Ass on Organizing a TedX Event appeared first on Open Up Europe.

OuE 01 Part 1: Gregory Van Ass on Organizing a TedX Event

Welcome to the first Episode of Open Up Europe Podcast! In this episode I am by myself and I am talking about the need to look at Entrepreneurship with a European viewpoint. After that I explain the format of the show and at the last part I give background information on myself. Should you have any feedbacks or ideas please don't hesitate to submit it through the contact form or the email address mentioned in the podcast. Below, you will find the show notes. Peace out! - OK   Here is the transcript of the show:   Hey fellow European Entrepreneurs!  Welcome to the Episode 0 of Open Up Europe podcast. My name is Sidar Ok, and I am your host for the show. This episode is gonna last for about 10 minutes and it is only you and me.  I'll talk a little about what the show is about, and then give a background info about myself.     Open Up Europe is a European Infused Business show brought to your doorsteps every Tuesday morning. Every week I'll interview the most inspiring and interesting entrepreneurs, investors and thought leaders of European start up scene and will happen to record it on the fly so you can listen.    So why do this? Why Europe? Well, There are lots of awesome business shows out there about entrepreneurship - but they are mostly about the US of A and in Europe we kinda have our own way of doing things and our own perspective so why not have our own show!    Every week on Tuesday morning at 09:00 A.M Brussels time, on your podcast feed you will find a new freshly baked episode with an incredibly successful business person from Europe. In the interviews I will try to get them to slice and dice their ways of working, tips, tricks and tools. And at times we will dive into their remarkable life stories.     After all, they have been through the problems that we all face in the continental europe: such as Difficulty to access funds, difficulty to access skilled labor, lack of cost effective marketing channels, tons of redtape, cultural aversions, language and border differences to count a few.    On the other hand we also have a plethora of successful Enterprises stemmed from the very same European soil - relatively new companies like Skype, Soundcloud and established ones:  Redbull, Continental, BMW, Loreal.    These successful businesses also had the same roots and the environment yet they managed to flourish - but how? And more importantly, how can we learn from them? Are there any repeatable patterns? In every episode I'll keep exploring these and hopefully you will join in!    I will strive for every episode to be around 20 or 25 minutes so you can listen easily while doing something else, like driving or working out. Within the show I will mainly ask questions to my guest and it will be a conversation based and spontaneous show - so no fixed structure or boring, clichee questions.    Last, I’d like to talk a little about myself. I am Sidar Ok. I was born in the Kurdish part of Turkey: right in the middle of a war zone to a middle-class family.    I WILL spare you the horrible details of the war, but let me tell you that at times just to survive you have to take big risks and gamble.     As you can tell from my accent that English is not my native tongue, actually it is the 3rd one! My mother tongue is Kurdish, I also speak Turkish, French, Dutch and Spanish. So I apologize in advance for any invoncenience about my accent.    As a kid and teenager I had to sell all kinds of things like chewing gums on the streets,I sold water purification systems to door to door , I have done theater and performed at rich kid's parties as a clown. This was also how I was able to pay for my costs of school which led me to to study computer science in Izmir.    Boy, was I a TERRIBLE student ! I always got just enough to pass and spent time being social while not failing in any class. I have never been able to get any peace with traditional academical mindset.    

OUE 00: What is Open Up Europe All about?

Open up Europe is a podcast that brings weekly inspiration from experienced European Startups and Venture capitals.

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Open Up Europe Podcast | Business and Entrepreneurship in Eu...

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