Acquiring new customers and generating revenue is the fuel to keep a company running.

It therefore creates pressure on the sales representative as they are in charge of generating these revenues by acquiring new customers. In addition, they have got to deal with rejection in their daily routines, which is mentally challenging.

The application round for our 12th cohort in the SpinLab is officially open, and with that, we wanted to take some time to highlight some tips we’ve collected over the years to help you make your startup accelerator applications really stand out.

In case you want the short and sweet video version

And believe us, we’ve seen some really bad applications. So we definitely know what you shouldn’t be doing. Collectively between all projects, our team has evaluated over 4,000 applications to various programs, and we are now ”trained” to easily find the most outstanding applications.

Especially during the current pandemic it would be very hard to live without some of our favourite products/services, that mostly appeared since the beginning of the millenium: Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Spotify, HelloFresh - just to name a few.

Although these and other favourite products of generations x, y & z are very different in nature, they often have 1 thing in common: venture capital. Some would even argue that without venture capital financing some of these products wouldn’t even exist today. Nevertheless it is almost guaranteed that those products would be different or their wider adoption level would be less without venture capital.

But what exactly is venture capital?

While Venture Capital (VC) is among the most preferred and frequently used financing options for startups, many founders are not very familiar with the definitions of various venture capital contractual terms – sometimes even after an investment has already taken place. For the sake of fairness, these contractual terms are quite complex and thus contracts are quite long.

Since VC contracts are private agreements, individual arrangements and wordings are up on negotiation. However, there is a basic set of frequently used mechanisms that can be considered somewhat “standard terms.” Still, in contracts – as well as in the dozens of books, presentations and many blogs and comments on those – the language used is formal and based on legal standards.

Therefore, they are close to what founders will officially sign, but are still difficult to understand for beginners.

As you might have heard a lot recently, Leipzig has been found to be a very attractive and livable city in several rankings over the past years.

No wonder the city has attracted a lot of creative minds to stay and join the fascination. Leipzig’s startup scene has grown to a respectable size given the fact that Leipzig is only the 8th biggest city in Germany. With a growing startup scene fueled by lots of meetups, events and co-working spaces, and specialties in the fields of Smart Infrastructure (digital health, energy and smart city) as well as and Social Startups Leipzig has a lot of attractive startup employers to offer. 

Crowdfunding has come a long way. What started with pioneer Kickstarter a little over a decade ago, has become a booming and crowded space with many stories of record-breaking success.

And, of course, failures that have kicked off more sh*tstorms than anyone can keep track of, and sometimes even lawsuits, by disappointed backers. Along the way the market has diversified into basically any vertical one could imagine (e.g. Experiment.com enables scientists to crowdfund their research) and the first platforms have come and gone.

As a spin-off of the Technische Universität Dresden which participated in the EXIST Research Transfer Program, the Energiekoppler team applied to the SpinLab to develop their entrepreneurial skills and expand their network. The team developed a standardized and automated flexibility tool that is used for remote diagnosis and control of decentralized energy generators, storage devices and consumers of small power classes. The "swarmBOX" processes power, heat and mobility requirements in the building per connected system and forecasts the system operation locally. Coordinator "swarmHUB" records further restrictions at grid level or from energy trading and plans the deployment of the networked energy systems in order to help stabilize the energy supply or to realize the sales of excess capacity. 

The reason for applying to SpinLab - The HHL Accelerator were several recommendations by contacts in the industry: Among others, Robert Klimpke, innovation manager at LEAG, spoke out in favor of the program, which helps founders prepare for pilot projects and investment rounds. 

While you’re busy building your business, expanding quickly and working on your products, HR can often take a backseat at first. For sure you have already created your value proposition and buyer personas. Now it’s all about your startup as an employer, not as a corporate brand.

As you know, a highly motivated and skilled team is the key to success. It’s nearly impossible to overstate the importance of having the right employees working for your startup. Growing a business is for sure a team effort. But how can you create a buzz around your startup, attract motivated talent and keep your existing workforce to stay with your company and stay happy?

There is only one right answer to this question: Employer branding.

Since its inception in 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has thrown many companies, consumers, and individuals into a bit of a confused frenzy.

It’s understandable too - suddenly there was talk of huge fines being imposed, rules of non-EU companies also being effected, what was still allowed regarding data collection, and what no longer was - I can say from my own experience here in the SpinLab, that getting ready for the GDPR was no simple task.

What indicators do investors look for when they talk about sustainable investing? Are there any standard criteria taken into account? How do VCs make sure that their startups are serious about their impact? Is sustainable investment = impact investing? The fifth edition of SpinLab’s and HHL’s Investors Day was all about ESG, sustainability issues  and the future of the German investment market.

Together with top-notch speakers, participants could learn from their experiences in leading towards meaningful strategies, discuss concerns and get insights on best practices. Accompanied by 14 startup pitches and personal as well as hybrid networking sessions, the event was one of the first in-person experiences after a long time for many investors that joined the event.

How would you feel when you were the  customer of a startup, that seems to have some trouble going on – and not knowing what’s happening with your order? 

Have you ever bought something and received the message that the package has been sent, but has not been delivered in over a week?