Contrary to what many imagine, a good idea is not enough to succeed in the business world. Entrepreneurship goes far beyond that. For example, many startups that are just beginning develop brilliant products and services and showcase a long list of potential problems that this innovation can solve. However, many times they do not do their homework well, as the first point, which is what we call defining a focus. Any project, regardless of the area in which it is implemented, requires this item, and the recommendation is to focus on the problem rather than the solution.
The first question to ask at this ideation stage is: what important and economically relevant problem can be solved? Additionally, what is the size of this market, who are the emerging and established competitors I will have to face. It is worth noting that the competing solution is any "thing" that uses the money intended to pay for the service but was used to pay for something else.Thinking about it, the cinema competes with dinner or with the theater. This is the first understanding of this point of view, before declaring that there are no market competitors.
On the jackfruit tree, jackfruit grows!
Innovation is very difficult to happen within the business itself. The programs ofVenture Buider,for example, they are organizations that develop promising projects, offering intellectual and operational resources to the startups in their portfolios, which still pose a significant methodological challenge. It is necessary to deconstruct everything one knows and is certain of in order to innovate, and this is difficult to accomplish with feet and hands tied to the daily processes of the existing business in development. Therefore, it will always be easier to provoke innovation in an environment protected from the day-to-day relationship.
In this regard, accelerators and hubs, such as CyKlo Agritech focused on agribusiness, have fulfilled the role of hosting innovative projects for already established companies in the market. Talking about innovation is questioning the truths of the existing business that pays the bills, so an alternative environment allows this dynamic to be carried out with less strain on the involved teams.
It is precisely in this sense of assistance that the impact of the pandemic on the startup acceleration sector was very significant. The interest in routines involving physical presence decreased, and so it was necessary to adapt to the moment. Opting for smaller physical spaces or creating new shared uses for the large areas, which were once filled with people.
There was also a change in the validation processes, in the case of biotechnology and related areas, which require the accelerator team to have more professionals vertically integrated into the theses supported by it to carry out complementary work.in locoinstead of the startup's own team. Similar to when you hire an agent to do something on your behalf, in this case, it is this new team from the accelerator that takes on some of the tasks at the acceleration site. For example, it could be the execution of a germination protocol at a research center or monitoring of test areas on the client's farm where the solution is being tested.
That's why if Muhammad doesn't go to the mountain, the mountain must come to Muhammad. After the pandemic, the appeal for quality of life has been causing a phenomenon called Maomé. Accelerators are opening complementary offices, close to the geographies where they are located.Smart Citiesurban centers focused on technology Where they, the entrepreneurs, study, live, and work there, and are seduced by the possibility of developing partnerships with these accelerators that are present in their geographic region.
However, it is important to emphasize that in the case of 2.0 accelerators, which are specialized in accelerating a specific vertical market, they must also have their headquarters in the key locations of their operation. For agtechs, which focus on agribusiness, the headquarters must be located in cities that are experiencing this segment and activities within this business chain. In the case of Cyklo, it is reducing the space in Matopiba (the company's headquarters) and creating two more offices, one in São Paulo, targeted at startups in the interior of the state, and another in Santa Catarina, focusing on those in western Santa Catarina.
Last but not least, it is worth noting that financial resources for startups in the early stages of their life are becoming scarce. The traditional banks and financial agents working in this acceleration stage, which we call the beginning of the journey, have been reducing their presence worldwide.
Here in Brazil, a movement of restructuring these actors is beginning, who, for example, are starting to unite accelerators and venture capital managers into new funding models. In the coming years, we will see various partnerships between seed money, angel capital, accelerators, and hubs, reorganizing the offering of funding + acceleration + smart money + post-acceleration funding + financing for more intense operational phases, as well as growth that will be previously combined and offered as packages, reducing sales effort and negotiation costs.
