ABSTRACT

Over the past 3 years the author had seen more than 300 different pitches. He had helped 50 go further, some with just a bit of advice, others with a network and connections, and he had helped about 20 of them with investments, time, and execution. His advice on and help with these ideas and startups and to the people behind them are starting to form a pattern. There are several things that the author says to them all again and again—things that everyone needs to hear. The most important of them is, Don’t underestimate the product–market fit phase. One of the author's most successful startups, which right now is flying with over 30 employees and a total investment of over DKK 5 million to date, has used 18 months to find the correct product–market fit. In that period, they were only one or two people employed part-time.