We have been travelling around the Nordics and Baltics to find the best startups to participate in our seed accelerator program called Startup Sauna. In the past year when we have run the program that was called Bootcamp, it was apparent that the Nordic and Baltics countries have athing or two to learn from each other.

Be Proactive

Teams in Finland seem to wait until the last minute to apply. For example, we have received about 80% of Finnish applications on the deadline day. In comparison, the Russian applications were pouring in the minute that the applications was open. This demonstrates to us as organizers that Russians are eager to enter our program.

The truth is that our coaches who are making the selections are constantly looking over the applicants. This means that the earlier we receive your form, the more time the coaches get to read and go over your applications.

Feedback

Teams in Russia and the Baltics were eager to receive feedback and once they received it from our coaches,  they are fast to change and implement. On the other hand, Finnish teams take their feedback with a grain of salt. Often what some of them do is try to argue with the feedback given. Obviously, feedback and comments are opinions, and it is up to the startup to decide if it is worth considering.  But often what we’ve seen is that the Finnish startup tries to debate the feedback or comments. Please do not do this, especially if it is at pitching competition! It puts the startup in a bad light and nothing good comes out of it.

Same thing goes with answering questions during a presentation,. If you don’t know the answer to the question asked, don’t make something up. It is perfectly fine to say “I don’t know, but let me find out and get back to you”. It proves to the audience that you are humble and are willing to find the answers.

Technology

If we see another social media startup, we are going to scream. The world does not need another internal Facebook for companies. It was so refreshing to see in Russia some very high technology startups: the two teams that were picked based their startup on nanotechnology and optics sciences. In Finland, these types of technologies usually stays in the research labs and it is rare to see a researcher start a startup with its research.

Presentation

Most of the startups in each country visited had low presentation’s skills.  It is well known that Finnish people are the not the best presenters, and we didn’t find the world’s next Steve Jobs in the Baltics nor in Russia. Every startup needs towork on their pitch especially if they are thinking about going to the States. “Show, don’t tell” hasn’t been heard of, apparently. It doesn’t hurt to have some pictures on your powerpoints and keep the word count to a minimum either.

The principle reason why the Startup Sauna toured around the Baltics and Nordics was to get better deal flow. In the past programs, we received only 60 and 40 applications. This time, we have received 180 applicants.

In the end, we have received not just better applications, but we have engaged a whole community. We have found more great startups, broadened our networks and gathered new coaches, hopefully making the region stronger!