Why we do not notice the future Chatroulette or How to save the Russian startup market
The Russian Startup Challenge, which ended last weekend, highlighted a huge problem - a lack of understanding between the two main participants in this market, investors and startups themselves.
Many got used, without delving into, loudly saying at every corner: “In Russia, there are no normal startups, we all take from the West, and are completely unable to come up with anything good.” Of course, this is not true. The level of the majority of Challenge finalists is no worse than those projects that participate in well-known TechCrunch or YCombinator competitions. However, for example, the task.ly project, which is now (well-deservedly) included in the shortlists of several large European start-up funds, caused far from an unequivocal reaction at the competition.
What does this mean? The fact that investors or experts are not the same? Runet bad? Startups are "wrong"? Definitely not. This suggests a kind of "system error" of the Russian start-up market.
')
The market in our country already has its own history, of course, not all bright and cloudless. Yes, there were and there are bad ideas and bad start-ups from beginning to end (the 80/20 principle, and even 90/10 works in any part of the world). BUT: there are some good, even great ideas that, for various reasons, startups cannot pack into a form that is understandable and attractive to business angels. As a result, good ideas sometimes not only do not receive investment, but die in the first year of life.
Buyers startups and market experts can be understood. The endless string of either bad or untrained startups has completely blinded our eyes and deprived us of the last chance that we will notice the present future Google or at least Chatroulette (would give Ternovsky money if he addressed professional investors instead of parents? Hardly …). But on the other hand, we could see at start-up meetings much more high-quality and interesting projects, if not for the 100% confidence of their creators, that they would only hear harsh criticism, even if in something fair.
The trouble is that in words, until recently, many have declared help to start-ups, but in fact there was very little of it. Business angels and ventures immediately “at the entrance” want ingenious projects, platforms for reviewing “tough” business –linds of projects (the public likes them so much), projects - big money, the state - innovative domestic business. But in the vicious circle of "inept, but talented start-ups" <== ==> "tired, stupefied investor" almost no one pays attention, and certainly not trying to break it.
Fortunately, the situation is beginning to change: many market participants - including Microsoft, RVC, some venture capital funds - are starting to implement various educational initiatives for startups. Our goal, as the organizers of the Russian Startup Challenge, is to build on the basis of this event and the StartupPoint platform, with the help of those who think the same way as we, a single platform for all Russian startups, which would allow them to learn to speak the same language with professional investors.
And a few words about the Russian Startup Challenge itself. It turned out exactly what the Russian start-up market is today - no better and no worse. We wanted to create an event that would be the most objective indicator of the state of the industry - it seems we did it. Of course, next year the Russian Startup Challenge will take place again. And how it will be depends on the investors themselves (yes, on them too!) And the creators of startups, on whether they will finally begin to look for ways of mutual understanding. Just think about it.
PS By the way, the finalists of the Russian Startup Challenge were Cloudmach , Finobox , Katmandoo , Livecodes , Pliq_me , TimePad and task.ly.
The Russian Startup Challenge is an annual all-Russian competition that gives domestic Internet and IT startups a unique chance to present their ideas and developments to a real high-tech guru. The main thing in this competition is not rewards or cash prizes, but the opportunity to receive “feedback” from successful businessmen, each of whom is potentially interested in financing promising projects. For the first time the Russian Startup Challenge was held in 2010, the organizer of the competition is StartupPoint, a community of startupers and investors (www.startuppoint.ru).
Many got used, without delving into, loudly saying at every corner: “In Russia, there are no normal startups, we all take from the West, and are completely unable to come up with anything good.” Of course, this is not true. The level of the majority of Challenge finalists is no worse than those projects that participate in well-known TechCrunch or YCombinator competitions. However, for example, the task.ly project, which is now (well-deservedly) included in the shortlists of several large European start-up funds, caused far from an unequivocal reaction at the competition.
What does this mean? The fact that investors or experts are not the same? Runet bad? Startups are "wrong"? Definitely not. This suggests a kind of "system error" of the Russian start-up market.
')
The market in our country already has its own history, of course, not all bright and cloudless. Yes, there were and there are bad ideas and bad start-ups from beginning to end (the 80/20 principle, and even 90/10 works in any part of the world). BUT: there are some good, even great ideas that, for various reasons, startups cannot pack into a form that is understandable and attractive to business angels. As a result, good ideas sometimes not only do not receive investment, but die in the first year of life.
Buyers startups and market experts can be understood. The endless string of either bad or untrained startups has completely blinded our eyes and deprived us of the last chance that we will notice the present future Google or at least Chatroulette (would give Ternovsky money if he addressed professional investors instead of parents? Hardly …). But on the other hand, we could see at start-up meetings much more high-quality and interesting projects, if not for the 100% confidence of their creators, that they would only hear harsh criticism, even if in something fair.
The trouble is that in words, until recently, many have declared help to start-ups, but in fact there was very little of it. Business angels and ventures immediately “at the entrance” want ingenious projects, platforms for reviewing “tough” business –linds of projects (the public likes them so much), projects - big money, the state - innovative domestic business. But in the vicious circle of "inept, but talented start-ups" <== ==> "tired, stupefied investor" almost no one pays attention, and certainly not trying to break it.
Fortunately, the situation is beginning to change: many market participants - including Microsoft, RVC, some venture capital funds - are starting to implement various educational initiatives for startups. Our goal, as the organizers of the Russian Startup Challenge, is to build on the basis of this event and the StartupPoint platform, with the help of those who think the same way as we, a single platform for all Russian startups, which would allow them to learn to speak the same language with professional investors.
And a few words about the Russian Startup Challenge itself. It turned out exactly what the Russian start-up market is today - no better and no worse. We wanted to create an event that would be the most objective indicator of the state of the industry - it seems we did it. Of course, next year the Russian Startup Challenge will take place again. And how it will be depends on the investors themselves (yes, on them too!) And the creators of startups, on whether they will finally begin to look for ways of mutual understanding. Just think about it.
PS By the way, the finalists of the Russian Startup Challenge were Cloudmach , Finobox , Katmandoo , Livecodes , Pliq_me , TimePad and task.ly.
The Russian Startup Challenge is an annual all-Russian competition that gives domestic Internet and IT startups a unique chance to present their ideas and developments to a real high-tech guru. The main thing in this competition is not rewards or cash prizes, but the opportunity to receive “feedback” from successful businessmen, each of whom is potentially interested in financing promising projects. For the first time the Russian Startup Challenge was held in 2010, the organizer of the competition is StartupPoint, a community of startupers and investors (www.startuppoint.ru).
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/91375/
All Articles