INNVEST in a mission to support entrepreneurs and how you can do it too

How Should We Support Entrepreneurs?

How do we best support entrepreneurs?

 
Here are our main #tips on building your support approach and communicating with entrepreneurs.

• Build around a shared need. You might be new and don’t have a superpower (yet). Try building an offering around a skillset like marketing that will benefit both your organization and your portfolio. It might not be your superpower yet, but it’s something that you are willing to invest in for yourself and it could bring portfolio companies up with you. 

• Intentionally discover your superpower. Set up a regular cadence to ask team members, clients and the companies that you work with what they think your superpower is. This can be a very rewarding activity, and the answers might surprise you.

#2: Make it easier to get work done.

Running a business is a never   ending to-do list. Most Founders are juggling competing priorities while also thinking three steps ahead. If you want to help, don’t add to the to-do list, make it easier to get work done. 

This could look like: 

• Hiring an Entrepreneur in Residence. This type of person can roll up their sleeves and help portfolio companies on a wide range of topics. They can also help you be more entrepreneurial in your approach. This type of support is priceless. 
• Nice office space. Extra space with that new office, or due to employees working remotely? Providing early-stage entrepreneurs with a nice working environment where everything works is a huge added value. When INNVEST office was a table with four chairs, our friends at Innospace, Protik, Destil Creative Hub & Coolab let us build our daily work in their coworking space with preferential financial commodity. 
• Stay execution oriented. If you must run webinars, info sessions etc. they can tackle the things that your entrepreneurs are working on. 

#3 Recognize the power of a Meaningful Network

If well curated and engaged, the network of entrepreneurs that you work with can be your biggest asset. Curating and sharing  your professional network is essential as well. That’s why INNVEST also is created. 

• Build up portfolio trust and then let them test each other’s products/ services. Companies can provide discounted products or services their fellow entrepreneurs need, and in return get traction and feedback from friendly early users. It seems like a no-brainer to me for entrepreneur support groups to subsidize this. 
• Leverage the knowledge base of the portfolio. And if you get this going, it’s sustainable because people will help each other. INNVEST is writing this article after a rooftop networking event hosted by us annually at INNVEST Summit– Investing for Impact. We talked with entrepreneurs that we met annually and a few that we knew through a support program 15 years ago. It felt like being with family as we traded childhood stories about raising capital, building a business of substance and deciding when to move on. The only thing  the INNVEST Summit had to do was bring us together.  
• Give warm intros. This isn’t a unique advice, but don’t forget the power of vouching for someone else when you make the connection. What world are you a part of, that your entrepreneurs do not have access to? Helping entrepreneurs break into these clubs as peers and equals is a huge added value. 
• Pull in mentors. Because your portfolio is probably building awesome things, and there are probably people out there who would love to help. One of my previous mentors Dovydas Varkulevicius - Chairman of the Board of the Lithuanian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, spent 18 hours with his team mapping a patient’s angel investors and VCs journey, helping on identifing needed actions for further improvements in our fragile ecosystem. Matching the right people to the right problems can lead to long-term relationships and blooming of  very meaningful results. 

#4 Know when to get out of their way

Most conversations that we as INNVEST have with entrepreneurs about what support they need, eventually turn into examples of things that don't help. If you are an investor one of the most significant things you can do is be there for your entrepreneurs when they ask, and give them your trust when they don't. This goes for accelerators too. This means:

• Optional Attendance. Make the support offering desirable so that no one wants to miss it. And if they do, it’s probably for a good reason related to growing the business. Trust their ability to prioritize and focus. 
• Be careful with catch-ups. General catch-ups are great for building a relationship, but are not always the right forum to problem solve. Don’t send people down unnecessary rabbit holes. Consider having execution-minded team members take these.

#5: And then, of course, Attitude is everything.

A lot of entrepreneurs are trying to solve really hard problems. You don’t know what happened in the days and hours before your conversation. This is as simple as: 

• Offering kind words and encouragement. With all our members at INNVEST we felt the closest to many investors who took the time to hit “reply” to our monthly updates/ newsletters. 
• If you want to “push them”, be helpful. Are you offering criticism, or suggestions, comps and advice that people can use? Timing and tone will make a big difference in how a message is received. 
• Reread the tough emails out loud before you press send. Would you actually say this to someone? 
• If you get your approach right, it is a win-win. Useful interactions for the company are better at generating insights for investors and partners too. And remember- you are not trying to get this right, you are trying to get it right for you and for the types of businesses that you support. This requires knowing yourself, and your market. If we can continuously listen for pain points and apply unique assets and skills to those, I think we can collectively create an ecosystem that achieves more growth and impact and improves the wellbeing of Founders.

So, in this regard, INNVEST has within its mission to create concrete impact on the economies of the Western Balkans by providing opportunities for growth, supporting and encouraging young entrepreneurs while decreasing the gap between new business ideas and investment opportunities. The scope of INNVEST is to foster innovation across sectors as an important drive for positive change. INNVEST brings together leading entrepreneurs, investors, prime investors, policy makers and merges a vast pool of ideas from across the innovative spectrum to address national and regional economic challenges. 

INNVEST has three main pillars of success:

1. Fostering Entrepreneurship; We help the businesses and corporations that become part of our network to innovate from within through dedicated programs, incubators and accelerators.

2. Start-up promotion; We identify, mentor and integrate within our network new and innovative business ideas at different levels of their development.

3. Find investment opportunities: The third pillar of success is cross cutting and helps to integrate our major goals by bridging the gap of investment opportunities and start-ups. Through different forms, programs and activities we enable matchmaking opportunities, within and outside of our network, for new business ideas to meet with angel investors.

We are sure that our near future will keep rocking its little success stories, matchmaking opportunities and investing for impacts.