Filling in an application for a startup accelerator is never easy. You need to make sure you move on to the next phase but you’re not quite sure if you’re being too realistic or over ambitious.
So, it comes down to many questions and very little answers…
What should you focus on?
What weighs more in the application, product or team?
What about traction? What is expected of you?
Why are you applying to Lisbon Challenge in the first place?
With all this in mind, we’ve put together a few tips to help you improve your odds and get a better application for Lisbon Challenge until this Sunday.
1. Go straight to the point - no bullshit
Don’t ramble. You don’t need to give us a big introduction for every answer, you just need to be clear and go straight to the point. Read the questions and prepare your answers (yes, we know this sounds a bit like your middle school teacher, nonetheless, it’s important to emphasize). You should be honest and realistic about your current stage and metrics, no bullshit.
2. Team, team and team
You’ve probably heard this a thousand times before, on every article and blog-post about startups in history. But we do care a whole lot about your team. Take your time to explain everyone in your team. Talk about your co-founders and their backgrounds (college degrees, work experience, what they’re passionate about, etc.). We want to see if you and your team are capable of doing what you say you will, if you have the right skills and passion to take it further.
3. Be realistic about your numbers
It’s important to show some ambition, of course. However, you need to be realistic about your numbers. Don’t make things up just because your user base is small. Same goes for your valuation, it’s not a guess, it needs justification to make it credible. Understand your progress and all of your costs, first.
4. Explain your product but don’t write a whole essay about it
It shouldn’t take you more than 50 words to describe your product. Explain us what your product is about, talk about the technology you’re using and how you plan to evolve. Use comparisons with other companies, if that’s the case. For example, our alumni Uniplaces, when they first pitched they called themselves the Airbnb for student accommodation. This way we can immediately understand what you’re describing, especially if you’re building a disruptive business that doesn’t exist yet.
5. Referrals and recommendations really matter
We love our network and we always ask for their opinion when it comes to big decisions. So, if you manage to get a referral from a founder who has been through Lisbon Challenge before, that is a huge advantage. But it’s not just founders, talk to our mentors, our partners and our friends. Let them talk about how cool your startup is and how your awesome team is the one to take it to the next level.
6. Do your homework
Understand your market and show us that you know what you’re talking about. Let us know who your competitors are and explain your competitive advantage. Do your homework, first.
7. Traction is important
If you have some traction, if you show us that there’s a need for the product you’re building you’re going to get our attention. Know your key metrics and show us what you got. It can be a mailing list that you managed to grow with a single landing page where you explain your product, for example. Show us that there’s potential for growth (that’s where we come in, to give you hand with our accelerator program).
8. Let us know why you want to be part of Lisbon Challenge
Why Lisbon Challenge? Why build a startup in Lisbon? Let us know why you want to join our accelerator so that we can understand your commitment and motivation.
We really hope this helps. Now, go ahead and get back to your application for Lisbon Challenge. Remember that applications for our Fall Edition close this Sunday, July 12th, precisely at 11:59pm. We would wish you luck, but we don’t really believe in luck (or silver bullets), it’s pure hard work 