This is a guest post by Jorn Spiertz, co-founder and COO of PakketMail. The company that provides BIG shipping solutions to small and medium sized businesses!
Yesterday was history, today is today, but tomorrow is a mystery
Friday 20 February 2015; we received the message that Beta-i was welcoming us to Lisbon. PakketMail was going to participate in Lisbon Challenge Spring ’15 - We’re in!
From that moment we had questions; where would we stay? Who will we meet? How would the program boost our company? What could we learn from all the people we were about to meet during our new journey?
But one thing was sure… Another adventure was about to start!
After one month a lot of these questions can be answered, or at least partially answered. I believe it’s time to take some moments to reflect and put a short summary of our experiences down on paper. For myself, but also for you…
- For readers who are considering applying for the program’s next batch: use it as a source of information.
- For readers who previously participated in Lisbon Challenge: read it, close your eyes and think back of great times.
- For other type of readers: do a little bit of both!
A soft landing
Having to live in a new city, far away from home, could for some people be frustrating and put them out of their comfort zone. However, I’m an entrepreneur and better trained to deal with uncomfortable situations. I believe that Lisbon is a city where everyone can feel at home and find their balance. Right from the start!
A few factors of Lisbon that definitely make you feel at home:
- 300 sunny days a year
- Great coffee for around €0,50 and even more affordable meals
- The level of English spoken by Lisbon citizens is very good
- Friendly people all over the place
Ready… Go!
Alright, we’ve been enjoying that first week. Discovering the city and it’s many cool places near the Tejo or up in Bairro Alto.
But remember, PakketMail is participating in Lisbon Challenge. That means something different than going from the one restaurant and terrace to another.
We are here to meet fellow entrepreneurs from around the globe. We are here to reflect on our current business and see how we could optimize and scale what we do. We are here to take the ride of what is known as ‘super-acceleration’.
The program
On a weekly basis we’re having various meetings scheduled:
- An instructor meeting (every company has it’s own instructor throughout the program) - an instructor is someone of the Beta-i organization and in their own words “there to help us succeed”. These meetings are focused on setting week-to-week goals and providing relevant introductions to their network who could be of help.
- A coach meeting (every company has it’s own coach throughout the program) – a coach is an entrepreneur or an investor that has a lot of experience in building businesses. “Use me as much as you can and exploit my experiences to the fullest” were the words of our coach when we met him for the first time.
- Guest mentor meetings – these mentors are externals and specialized in specific topics. Be it marketing, raising capital, business model generation, cloud computing or other subjects. In one-on-one meetings they provide Challengers with valuable insights on their experiences related to your business.
Then we’re having some other activities as part of the program:
- Weekly workshops on specific topics with all companies. A few examples: Business Modeling, Sales Strategies, Online Marketing, Building Innovative Cultures.
- Events around a certain topic like the AWSomeDay on cloud computing or the Hackathon with external ‘helpers’ to reach specific goals set in 24 hours.
Besides all this, we are also meeting a lot of entrepreneurs and business advisors to whom we were introduced. Last but not least, and to top off the activities; we’re making sure that our existing customers keep smiling on a daily basis!
How do we manage to do all this at once?
The answer is simple: we are fortunate to be surrounded by great Challengers; entrepreneurs who are doing things they love and people who live with passion. They make the long working days seem shorter and even more amazing.
Of course there are moments in which my mind explodes and all information inflow just becomes an overkill – but most of the times the weekends are right there. Time to surf - Time to clear my mind and be one with nature…
Hectic times, beautiful times, exciting times, crazy times… I don’t know how to exactly describe this experience, but I can definitely summarize this as AWESOME!
Best,
Jorn