Besides the regular mentoring sessions we were also offered the chance to hold specialized sessions with other mentors to discuss specific issues around our startup. These mentoring sessions helped us answer some very specific questions. The mentors of these sessions were guns-for-hire. They always came up with great feedback and suggestions.

Because of them, we improved our pitch deck, made our device easier to install, identified marketing strategies for launching our upcoming B2C product, as well as talked trademarks and answered other legal questions.

The online courses

Yet another thing that was required from IMPACT was to attend at least 2 online courses. My teammates took a total of 6 courses. We took courses on Social Media, Google Analytics, User Experience and App Store Optimization (ASO). When selecting these courses we tried to pick them such that they were aligned with the needs of our startup as well as the personal interests of each individual.

The results of attending these online courses is already starting to be seen. The Social Media course has helped us start our marketing efforts around our B2C product, and the ASO course will help us once we launch apps for a wider audience. Learning has long-term benefits, and more results might appear in unexpected and subtle ways sometime in the future.

FIWARE technologies

We use FIWARE to monitor our devices, and report plausible issues directly to Slack.

Our products is composed of a device that monitors the boat’s whereabouts (position and sensors). Although it rarely happens, this device may fail. Usually the issue is only temporary (like a network outage). Nevertheless it is important for us to minimize its impact. Building a monitoring service for our devices has been on our to-do list for a long time. Since IMPACT was promoting the use of FIWARE technologies, we decided to use them for this task. The tool we developed helps us to detect, in almost real-time, any issue with any device. This makes it easier to find the root cause of the problem and prepare a solution faster. We integrated the monitoring tool with Slack, such that not only developers, but also our customer support team is notified of such events. This tool is slowly becoming integral to our operations. Using FIWARE we were able to build this system such that it is reliable and can easily monitor increasing numbers of devices.

Creating an effective pitch deck

From the moment we applied to the IMPACT accelerator until it ended we pitched four times. Based on the feedback of the audience and mentors we know that the last one was really great. Making it took many iterations. My involvement with preparing the deliverables, measuring the KPIs, etc gave me the knowledge needed to help co-create the pitch decks and one-pager. The time constraints for presenting a pitch deck forced us to learn to clarify the message as much as possible. Eventually, investors need to understand the product and the business.

Marko pitching with the improved slide deck at IMPACT’s Investor Day

The real value of an accelerator

In my opinion, the mentoring sessions, the monetary grant, the added pressure to show growth and the learning are not the ultimate goal of an acceleration. These activities helped us grow a thicker skin. Because of them, I am better at judging what matters from what doesn’t. But these are just activities which point a startup to a right direction.

An accelerator teaches startups the basics of life in the startup ecosystem.

The role of an accelerator is to teach startups how to take care of themselves. They do so through the activities outlined above. They help us to improve our understanding of all the different dimensions of a startup. It is important for startups to keep these dimensions in mind at all times. During the acceleration we learned to critically analyze the progress along each dimension and also to understand which are most important for the growth of the company.

Finally, the accelerator gives startups a push. They throw founders out of their dreams and make them ready for the real world. They make us ready for the next stages of growth and put us in the hands of investors (or at their mercy?). They also placed us into a community of startups at similar stages of development, so that we can help each other out.

But it’s still up to each individual to encompass the lessons. The accelerator widened my field of view and made me conscious of things I didn’t know or care about before. Now it’s my turn to remember to keep my eyes open. I need to pay attention and learn from every step, analyze every action I take, learn from my missteps, and power the rockets of the startup in the most promising direction, again and again. It’s all up to me, and you.

Postmortem

Our business has a very strong seasonal component. The majority of our sales are concentrated within only 3 months each year. We joined IMPACT during off-season which made things difficult for us. It was a very unfavorable time for us to show rapid growth. But in hindsight, joining the acceleration during off-season had more value than if we had joined in Spring. Showing growth and progress in the depth of winter is tough. And that pushed us to do more, eventually exceeding our sales expectations during those months. The number of new leads (and pre-orders) during this period was incredible.

We joined the accelerator during off-season. This made it hard for us, but that made us stronger.

Sometimes, IMPACT’s work assignments always seemed to come at the worst moment — before an important trade fair, during negotiations with distributors or when everything was in the air. But every problem was a chance for us to grow. In hindsight, the activities we took part of during the acceleration make much sense.

You either embrace your inner FILDI (Fuck It Let’s Do It), take the plunge and walk away a stronger person, or you back down and walk away a smaller person. Growth or retreat.

— Max Anderson in What I Learned About Startups and Life from Falling Out of Planes

The acceleration was our MBA. Now that we graduated, it’s up to us to keep the learning curve steep and to make progress every day. Lately, we have learned a ton of things about the market in the Netherlands and Italy by working with our new distributors abroad. And I am eager to see what else we learn each coming day.

Before we joined the IMPACT accelerator my role was primarily technical and managerial. I didn’t have any experience on startups nor a realistic view on how to make one. Back then I couldn’t have imagined contributing to so many of the accelerator’s activities. In fact, I probably didn’t even know about most of this stuff. The effort I invested into these activities made me better understand the entire startup ecosystem. Because of them, today I know a bit better what I am doing.

The end is a new beginning

The acceleration program ended with an Investor day and a Deceleration event. At the Investor Day we pitched our business to external investors. The deceleration event was a 3 day event in a beautiful location in the outskirts of Madrid. There was no WiFi. It was a very informal place to connect with other successful startups. At the event we listened to and presented talks, as well as participated in other activities, like a boxing session.

The Deceleration event gave a moment to inhale deeply, before resuming at full speed.

During the acceleration, the Deceleration event was something for startups to look forward to. A moment to relax after all the hard work. But the deceleration is not a rewind button, it’s just a short pause. Enough to inhale deeply, before resuming at full speed.

At the end of the acceleration we were exhausted. We had achieved a lot (in terms of activities by the accelerator as well as the product and business wise) and still have so many things to do. Now, we are not decelerating, but learning to control the chaos. We are documenting and optimizing business processes. This is the perfect time to do this. Having too much work to do makes it easier to clearly see which tasks are the most important. We try to focus on what is important and always look for bargains that result in the highest payoff. This is the only way to survive in this competitive environment, to grow and expand. And if we successfully control the chaos, we won’t ever need to stop the acceleration. We can make space in our schedules to learn new things, experiment with new verticals and continuously review our progress. We are still accelerating, and we are ever more productive, and doing more and more meaningful work.

High fives

Through these past months I was able to observe the value of a great team at work. I just couldn’t have done all of this alone. Most of the time I was backed by at least one team member. Marko, our CEO, reviewed my document drafts (the marketing plan, product plan and term-sheet) and I reviewed his (the pitch decks and one-pager). For the FIWARE implementation, Miloš, our backend developer, has nailed the Slack integration of our device monitoring solution while I was dealing with the FIWARE core. Thankfully, the rest of the team managed to stay mostly focused on their core tasks. It’s because of them that our sales count keeps increasing, and our product reached maturity.

Anja and Alja, our designers, are responsible for the beautiful designs of our pitch deck and one-pager. High five!

A big thank you to the IMPACT organizers, especially Vesna and Daniel for their ongoing support and for gracefully reminding us of approaching deadlines. Without our mentor Marcelo Royán and specialized mentors (Inma Martínez, Alex Barrera, Pedro Jareño and Bianca Del Genio) the IMPACT experience would not be possible. Their questions and suggestions have propelled us forward.

Finally, thanks to everyone else who helped us get to where we are today, either directly or indirectly. In a way, you are part of Sentinel.