The keys to growing your company

Patrick Hunt, managing partner of Intelectium, has reviewed the Keys to making a startup grow in an interview published by Womenalia. In it, Patricio summarizes some of the reflections he has been offering in the series of 13 videos that can now be visited at our Youtube channel. Innovation, presentation to investors, entrepreneur profile, sectors in which to undertake, international expansion... No area of entrepreneurship is left unaddressed in this series of advice to entrepreneurs, although in this case Patricio focuses on two fundamental aspects that can make a project grow: 1. Start in markets with a large number of potential customers. Successful startups solve existing problems, it's no use building very good platforms if they don't solve problems demanded by a significant number of consumers. “If you don't analyze a market well, you end up focusing on very niche markets, and under those conditions it's very difficult for your company to grow, even more so if you do it from Spain”.2. Focus on sales. Often, in our work with entrepreneurs, we notice that they focus a lot on the product. And sometimes, this concentration is short-sighted. More resources need to be dedicated to the commercial side, both in sales and marketing.Patricio believes that a new company must have a global approach right from the start. “If you launch a startup in the United States, you can focus on it for a long time, since it's a big enough market. If you launch your project from Spain, you must have, at least, a European focus, and you have to be able to extend the activity to other markets quickly”. And why not limit yourself to the Spanish market? “Spain is not an attractive enough market and innovations take a long time to take hold. The most experienced entrepreneurs in this market are already doing business in others”, explains Patricio. Patricio talks about Intelectium as a hybrid accelerator: “Intelectium provides entrepreneurs with experience and commitment, preparing their startups to obtain funding as quickly as possible” And what should a project look like in order to convince investors? If it has already been launched, the entrepreneur must be able to present a prototype product or service to the potential investor. If the project is already launched on the market, it should meet four requirements: that the project grows with a Traction (growth) of at least 15% per month in terms of number of users, which Generate retention (that customers will use it again), who believes Engagement (that customers show that they need it) and, of course, that the public be willing to pay for that product or service.