Development, creation of business and competitions conferences. Is it necessary?
Not so long ago, we were faced with the question of participation in the "competition of young developers." There was no experience of participating in such events, and it was not so easy to assess the significance and usefulness of this undertaking.
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So, our story began suddenly. On one of the developer sites, I saw the announcement of upcoming events, namely, the “Golden Byte” international championship of young computer talents. It was almost the last day for filing an application, and therefore there was almost no time for reflection. I read the rules, the prize fund, and, blinded by the "international" and the seriousness of the event, I hasten to register.
The theme of the contest works of the Golden Byte-2015 Championship is “Changing the World” (“Changing the World”).
Well, there was also a prize fund of about $ 50,000 , then turned into some thousand hryvnia ...
Eyes burned, so many temptations! Although the purpose of my article is to talk about the benefits of putting the honest question: why?
Yes, at this stage, it's time to honestly answer yourself what we want to get from participation . Do we really need this? Is it worth it.
It sounds trite, but I have not tried it myself yet, I could not resist the temptation to get involved in this celebration of life.
There may not be so many real goals: get money, get a job, hire employees, have fun, kill time.
Continue the story, and the results and the lyrics will list below.
At the application stage, it turned out that I was no longer “young computer talent” at 29. My team: the designer and programmer has completely gone for the young, because both for 24 years. I decide that it is too early to give up and write a letter to the organizing committee to the girl Marina. There is nothing to lose, and I write everything as it is: I want, they say, to participate and such are the shortcomings. To my surprise, Marina turns out to be a good person, and not some sort of "orgom" distant. We enter into correspondence and find how we get around all the difficult places. We are registered as a team, and I am in the role of a “business coach”, whose age is not regulated.
I immediately want to emphasize an important point: guys! Feel free to write and knock on all doors. Who knows what and where it is written: achieve your own, look for ways. It really works!
And then it started: the first stage - the presentation of the project. 10 days until the end of delivery of the material. These ten days I made a website, a presentation, drew promotional pictures and spent a lot of time preparing a single document with 10 slides.
After some time, we were glad that we went to the next stage and now we need more. According to the regulations at this stage, we must present our project in person before the commission. Marina again helped from the organizing committee, and we were allowed to "pitch" on Skype. Needless to say, I was swallowed up with preparation? Day after day, the study of other people's presentations, pitches, experiences performances. Making plans, writing speeches. Again designs and slides ...
The day of the presentation has come. To put it mildly, it was exciting. It turned out devilishly difficult to break away from paper and talk calmly. I rehearsed for several days, but every time I wanted to improve and change the text. I was allotted about 10 minutes. I spoke my text for 4.5 minutes, and then answered questions. The commission included representatives of large IT companies. The men are kind and good - so it seemed when I saw them. Our people. The questions were practical and interesting. It was easy to answer them, and then I relaxed and stopped being afraid.
They asked for technical details, development plans, monetization. At the time of the presentation, we already had a working prototype, and I demonstrated it “alive”. He took out his phone and showed directly on Skype how the application works. It was all over, thanked and said goodbye.
There was a feeling of desolation. As if he passed his thesis at the university.
Contrary to the promises to contact in a week, Marina wrote me in Skype after a couple of hours and invited me to the final. This moment was a turning point in this story. The fact is that the final is in Kiev, and this is about 4 thousand kilometers from me. The organizers provided accommodation, but not flight. Those. for the sake of continued participation would have to spend even more time and money. The information war on TV in those days was at its peak, and relatives categorically began to protest against a trip to Kiev.
This moment made me cool down a bit and ask myself questions: why do I need this?
- I was not going to attract money. Not the project, and indeed.
- The goal was not to get a job either: we make applications “for ourselves” and we like this.
- Hiring someone was not going to.
- In Kiev, I was already, the motive “to have fun” also did not figure.
Then I decided to write to several professional participants of the market of “contests, start-ups and conferences” and asked heart to heart: “Guys, but what about them?”. To which I replied: " Do not. Better get your product . ”
At this the story of participation ends.
1. Deadline. At the application stage, the application was in the bud. I had to get together and rebuild all the processes in the team in such a way as to do as much as possible and faster. There was a clear deadline, and the work went very intensively. This is a positive effect. Moreover, as we advanced through the competition, we had other deadlines and the following sprints.
2. A sober look at the goals and objectives of the project. The need to tell you concisely about your product made me answer all the questions myself and put all the information in order.
3. Experience. I had to learn how to make presentations, write stories and tell about myself.
1. Many, many hours on the development and creation of what did not affect the quality of the product.
2. Spent days writing texts and preparing for the presentation.
3. Additional promotion costs.
There are cases when participation in the competition is really necessary. There are such projects, for the development of which money is needed, and the projects themselves literally attract them. In other cases, I believe that we should not be sprayed and waste time. It is much more useful to focus on development and create something valuable.
I would like to once again refer to the experience of a startup from Africa and quote it:
In this article I want to talk about how we participated in the competition, what we got and what conclusions we made. Writing a note pushed the cry of the soul of a startup from Africa, who went too far in wandering around conferences and presentations . I recommend reading the results and details of his torment in a “note about why he no longer wants to engage in start-ups, what lessons he learned from his experience and why young entrepreneurs are wasting so much time”. ( Translation and discussion in Russian here )
')
So, our story began suddenly. On one of the developer sites, I saw the announcement of upcoming events, namely, the “Golden Byte” international championship of young computer talents. It was almost the last day for filing an application, and therefore there was almost no time for reflection. I read the rules, the prize fund, and, blinded by the "international" and the seriousness of the event, I hasten to register.
The theme of the contest works of the Golden Byte-2015 Championship is “Changing the World” (“Changing the World”).
Championship Objectives:
- create a powerful platform for developing the startup industry, searching for new ideas and talents;
- encourage young professionals to innovate and develop business ideas;
- assist investors and funds in finding strong projects;
- assist companies in finding talent from around the world;
- raise the image of the technical sphere by motivating the creation of technical projects;
- provide real support to creative youth and their ideas;
- encourage young people to come up with new business projects and actively develop them;
- to draw the attention of the new generation to social problems and give an opportunity to influence their decision;
- strengthen the prestige of intellectual activity in society;
- encourage young professionals who are willing to develop and create new interesting projects.
Well, there was also a prize fund of about $ 50,000 , then turned into some thousand hryvnia ...
Eyes burned, so many temptations! Although the purpose of my article is to talk about the benefits of putting the honest question: why?
Yes, at this stage, it's time to honestly answer yourself what we want to get from participation . Do we really need this? Is it worth it.
It sounds trite, but I have not tried it myself yet, I could not resist the temptation to get involved in this celebration of life.
There may not be so many real goals: get money, get a job, hire employees, have fun, kill time.
Continue the story, and the results and the lyrics will list below.
At the application stage, it turned out that I was no longer “young computer talent” at 29. My team: the designer and programmer has completely gone for the young, because both for 24 years. I decide that it is too early to give up and write a letter to the organizing committee to the girl Marina. There is nothing to lose, and I write everything as it is: I want, they say, to participate and such are the shortcomings. To my surprise, Marina turns out to be a good person, and not some sort of "orgom" distant. We enter into correspondence and find how we get around all the difficult places. We are registered as a team, and I am in the role of a “business coach”, whose age is not regulated.
I immediately want to emphasize an important point: guys! Feel free to write and knock on all doors. Who knows what and where it is written: achieve your own, look for ways. It really works!
And then it started: the first stage - the presentation of the project. 10 days until the end of delivery of the material. These ten days I made a website, a presentation, drew promotional pictures and spent a lot of time preparing a single document with 10 slides.
After some time, we were glad that we went to the next stage and now we need more. According to the regulations at this stage, we must present our project in person before the commission. Marina again helped from the organizing committee, and we were allowed to "pitch" on Skype. Needless to say, I was swallowed up with preparation? Day after day, the study of other people's presentations, pitches, experiences performances. Making plans, writing speeches. Again designs and slides ...
The day of the presentation has come. To put it mildly, it was exciting. It turned out devilishly difficult to break away from paper and talk calmly. I rehearsed for several days, but every time I wanted to improve and change the text. I was allotted about 10 minutes. I spoke my text for 4.5 minutes, and then answered questions. The commission included representatives of large IT companies. The men are kind and good - so it seemed when I saw them. Our people. The questions were practical and interesting. It was easy to answer them, and then I relaxed and stopped being afraid.
They asked for technical details, development plans, monetization. At the time of the presentation, we already had a working prototype, and I demonstrated it “alive”. He took out his phone and showed directly on Skype how the application works. It was all over, thanked and said goodbye.
There was a feeling of desolation. As if he passed his thesis at the university.
Contrary to the promises to contact in a week, Marina wrote me in Skype after a couple of hours and invited me to the final. This moment was a turning point in this story. The fact is that the final is in Kiev, and this is about 4 thousand kilometers from me. The organizers provided accommodation, but not flight. Those. for the sake of continued participation would have to spend even more time and money. The information war on TV in those days was at its peak, and relatives categorically began to protest against a trip to Kiev.
This moment made me cool down a bit and ask myself questions: why do I need this?
- I was not going to attract money. Not the project, and indeed.
- The goal was not to get a job either: we make applications “for ourselves” and we like this.
- Hiring someone was not going to.
- In Kiev, I was already, the motive “to have fun” also did not figure.
Then I decided to write to several professional participants of the market of “contests, start-ups and conferences” and asked heart to heart: “Guys, but what about them?”. To which I replied: " Do not. Better get your product . ”
At this the story of participation ends.
Time to draw conclusions
What I got:
1. Deadline. At the application stage, the application was in the bud. I had to get together and rebuild all the processes in the team in such a way as to do as much as possible and faster. There was a clear deadline, and the work went very intensively. This is a positive effect. Moreover, as we advanced through the competition, we had other deadlines and the following sprints.
2. A sober look at the goals and objectives of the project. The need to tell you concisely about your product made me answer all the questions myself and put all the information in order.
3. Experience. I had to learn how to make presentations, write stories and tell about myself.
What it cost:
1. Many, many hours on the development and creation of what did not affect the quality of the product.
2. Spent days writing texts and preparing for the presentation.
3. Additional promotion costs.
Conclusion
There are cases when participation in the competition is really necessary. There are such projects, for the development of which money is needed, and the projects themselves literally attract them. In other cases, I believe that we should not be sprayed and waste time. It is much more useful to focus on development and create something valuable.
I would like to once again refer to the experience of a startup from Africa and quote it:
I was invited to four startup events just this week. Wait, check email. Five. Seminars, breakfasts, presentations - all this hobbies for abnormal. Tell everyone no.
Startup events are believed to be helpful in terms of connections. I had one or two helpful acquaintances. Most of the time, these meetings are a waste of time that needs to be spent on work.
Your project may be related to media, medicine, engineering. But he, most likely, is not connected with the startup industry. Therefore, at such meetings you will not meet your future clients.
Attend only events that have your customers.
Sometimes you can afford to meet with several entrepreneurs who are close to you in spirit. But if you do not sell, return to the office and work. Or go home and spend time with your family.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/291188/
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