Wolfgang Männel’s Post

Science and Starting Up: Embracing the Maybe In the startup world, there's a lot of pressure to get things right from the get-go. But what if I told you that science itself thrives on a principle called "accumulation of evidence"? It basically means we build knowledge by gathering pieces of the puzzle, discarding what doesn't fit, and constantly refining our understanding. Even the most groundbreaking theories started as a "maybe." There's no crystal ball, and that's okay! When it comes to adopting new technology in your business, embrace the maybe. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁: Don't jump into a huge tech overhaul. Pick a specific area you want to improve, research a few solutions, and try one out. See how it works for you and your team. 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱: Track your results! Did that new marketing tool boost engagement? Is the project management software saving you time? Gather data to see if the "maybe" is turning into a "yes." 𝗕𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: Maybe the first solution wasn't a perfect fit. That's part of the process! Learn from it, adjust your approach, and keep testing. Remember, even giants like Amazon and Apple started small and constantly experimented. So, embrace the maybe, gather your evidence, and watch your business grow! #startupadvice #smallbusiness #adoptechnology #digitaltransformation

🚀 🦄 Latest from The Repute: “Unleashing The Unicorns: What to Expect From Press When Your Startup Hits the Billion-Dollar Spotlight” 🚀 🦄 https://bit.ly/4dBcqZ8 I'm back and in this latest edition, we're diving deep into the press outcomes for Unicorn companies—those startups that have reached the coveted $1 billion valuation mark. Building on our previous Series A guide, we analyze thousands of articles to uncover key patterns and trends that can help Unicorn CEOs navigate the complex media landscape. Achieving Unicorn status is a monumental milestone, but what does it mean for your Comms strategy? Does it guarantee prestigious media coverage, or are there new challenges to anticipate? Our data-driven insights reveal the realities of press engagement at this critical stage. Take a look as we explore: - The likelihood of landing top-tier media coverage as a Unicorn - The most effective topics and strategies for media engagement - The nuances of maintaining positive sentiment in the press This edition is packed with practical advice and real-world data to help you make the most of your PR investments. And, as always, The Repute is absolutely free. Read the full analysis and share your thoughts. Your feedback is invaluable! Will

✨ A huge thank you to Zach Johnston and Mirit Lugassi for joining our Investor Deal Room and sharing their POV on what makes portfolio companies exciting. Here are some key takeaways: 💡 Founder-Market Fit & Market: It’s not enough to know your industry—you need to live it. Investors want founders who deeply understand the market dynamics and can pinpoint unique opportunities. Show that you’ve experienced the problem firsthand or gained “unfair advantage” insights others have missed. 🔧 Technical Team Strength: For platform, infrastructure, and API startups, having a founding team with top-notch technical skills is crucial. In your pitch, highlight your team's ability to build and execute technically challenging solutions. 📊 Proprietary data in the age of AI can set you apart. Investors are especially interested in how unique data sets can be used to solve problems in sectors like healthcare, bio, and logistics. If you’ve got it, make sure it’s front and center in your pitch. 📈 Traction, Even if It’s Early: If you don’t yet have strong financial traction, show that senior leaders or key stakeholders are giving you their time and attention to work on the problem. This can be a powerful signal to investors and can help supplement traction while you're building momentum. Especially if these stakeholders are willing to speak to investors about the problem and your work together. 

Week 2:  Here's the latest news about the Mettacomms platform. TECHNICAL: This week we’ve been having fun testing the new platform. I love all this tech stuff. We had to test to see if the system could support multiple users at the same time. Then we had to test to see how best to ask questions of the system. If you know how to phrase the questions properly, you get the best results. Then we decided that we weren’t happy with results we were getting from one of our sources (it just wasn’t rich enough) so we went in search of another source to enhance the feedback that the client receives. VISUAL & FINANCIAL: We’ve also been working hard on the visual side of things as well. Alice has been creating our master Style Book, and we’ve begun trying to put a really polished final ‘feel’ on all Mettacomms communications. Because we are looking for investment in Ireland, UK and USA, Trevor has been busy converting our financial projections (a massive dataset) into each of the three currencies and Charles has been putting in the hours creating a marketing plan for 2025 in the USA. INDUSTRY TESTERS: On top of that, we’ve been liaising with PR consultancies to see when we can get everyone started on the testing. Super-excited to see how interested everyone is in testing our new ‘baby’. …. INVESTMENT: We’re currently seeking €1.2m in investment. We are Irish HQ, company registration in UK, and focusing sales on the USA. Ideal investor – someone who sees not only the value of what we are doing, but the potential for explosive growth. Deadline: close of Q3 2024. Email me if you are interested in investing or can open some doors for me. [email protected]   …and watch this space for next week’s update! #innovation #venturecapital #investment #entrepreneurship #ai #angelinvestment #mettacomms #techstartups #artificialintelligence #csuite #strategy #truth #reliabledata #ragtechnology #pr #communicationsindustry #media #journalism #factchecking #relaiblesources #womenintech #femalefounder #raisinginvestment

💥 Overhauling the VC Toolbox: Faster Decisions, Smarter Investments 💥 The past three weeks have been an absolute blast! High season is at its peak and our social media and sourcing efforts have generated three times the deal inflow we initially expected. It's been thrilling - and, honestly, a bit overwhelming. As we're scaling at lightning speed, our current tool stack is hitting its limits. Currently, there is no dealflow management and venture intelligence tool out there, delivering the workflow automation and data-driven precision we aim for. 🎯 My Goal: To make faster, smarter and more precise investment decisions in the shortest time possible. This challenge led us to evaluate the classic make vs. buy approach: The Case for “Make”: ✖ Tailored solutions that directly address our specific pain points. ✖ Flexibility to iterate and adapt based on our evolving needs. ✖ Enhanced ability to remodel existing workflows, breaking down inefficiencies. The Case for “Buy”: ✖ Quicker implementation and access to proven solutions. ✖ Leverages industry expertise built into off-the-shelf tools. ✖ Frees up time to focus on core investment activities. After weighing the options, I chose to start building my own solution. It’s been an eye-opener, allowing us to reimagine our workflows from the ground up and integrate feedback from the broader market like never before. The process has fundamentally reshaped how we operate and aligned our processes with industry demands. I nearly overhauled our entire tool stack and implemented a new engine to better evaluate our deals. While this transformation has reshaped our processes, there’s one tool I continue to rely on as it has been a game-changer for us: Jamie, a best-in-class note-taking solution, perfectly tailored to our needs. ✖ Automatically captures, organizes, and summarizes every conversation. ✖ Highlights key takeaways and ensures nothing critical slips through the cracks. ✖ Frees us to focus on insights rather than the hassle of manual note-taking. 💯 With Jamie, missing important information is a thing of the past. What’s Next? Further building our copilot to ensure data-driven decision-making like never before. What tools are you using to enssure you never miss a game-changing opportunity? Let’s collaborate! 🚀 #VentureCapital #DealflowManagement #AI #WorkflowAutomation ___ ROI VENTURES

Focus is key to survival. I'm glad I joined Peter Walker's Data Minute at Carta. Today's chart really lifted my spirits. Here’s why: ☝️) Tough times create strong companies. ✌️) It's tough out there, but I'm not alone. Are you starting a venture and need advice? Join a community. --> Kevin Jurovich - Has a weekly newsletter and resources. --> Elana Gold - Posts venture ideas and real-life market insights. --> Alex Pall - Shares the realest insights as a GP. --> Sophia Amoruso - Offers the Business Class to help you 🚀. --> Adnan Boz - Most relevant data on AI products. --> Hugo Rauch - Curates and creates startup content for your survival. I’m here to listen and help too!

🚀 #StartUpJourney | #InvestorRelations | #ValueWorksInsight Navigating the startup ecosystem is thrilling, but it's paved with challenges that demand our keen attention and precision—especially when it comes to investor communication. 🔍 The Pitfall of Reporting Errors At the heart of every growing startup is a vision, but sometimes, the journey gets tangled in spreadsheets filled with "cryptic" calculations, manual data entries, and the rush of ad-hoc reporting. It's a familiar story, yet the implications of errors in investor communications are far-reaching: - Loss of Credibility: Trust is the foundation of any investor-founder relationship. - Legal Repercussions: Incorrect financial information isn't just a mistake; it's a liability. - Confidence Dwindles: Every figure misreported can lead to a question of integrity. - Reputation at Risk: The digital age has a long memory, and reputational damage is hard to undo. 💡 Turning Challenges into Opportunities It's not just about avoiding pitfalls; it's about setting a new standard for how startups engage with their investors. ValueWorks champions this transformation with a suite of solutions designed to ensure your investor communications are as robust, transparent, and accurate as your vision for the future. 1. Integrated Reporting Solutions: We believe in the power of automation and real-time accuracy, liberating you from the confines of spreadsheets. 2. Rigorous Quality Assurance: Our systems don't just compile data; they ensure its integrity. 3. Responsive Error Resolution: Should errors occur, our platform enables swift rectification, preserving your hard-earned investor trust. 4. Transparency and Documentation: With ValueWorks, every stakeholder interaction is an open book, ready for audit trails and compliance checks. 5. Continuous Improvement: Our platform evolves with you, adapting to market dynamics and investor preferences, ensuring your communication strategy remains at the cutting edge. Embarking on a startup journey is bold; maintaining clear, error-free communication with your investors is paramount. Let ValueWorks be the beacon that guides your way, ensuring your venture's story is told with the accuracy, transparency, and integrity it deserves.

"Just do it." I’ve heard this phrase a few times this week in different contexts. From different authors, on LinkedIn, and at an event I attended yesterday. We often spend hours, months, even years discussing before taking action. That kills innovation. Whether it’s a task we keep pushing off (Dina Reit), a new product idea people laugh at, or dealing with regular feedback and criticism. I hesitate too sometimes. It's human. But when it came to developing the #ProcessOnDemand Portal, even with the risks for our family, I told my husband Pablo: “Just do it.” It wasn’t easy. We built a platform for #ContractManufacturing and #TechnologySearch for the processing industry. Along the way, we learned: - The industry isn’t always ready to go digital. - A portal alone isn't enough - it is a good support for those who already know what they need. But there are researchers, startups, and production managers who don’t have the time to search and evaluate partners. That’s where we come in. My team and I take on the search, so you can focus on what matters -research, marketing, or talking to investors. When I introduce my company and services, I often hear: “Oh, so you're a broker for processing capacities.” “You’re a network.” Recently, someone said: “You're a JOBBER - you do the work I can’t or don’t want to do.” And I think this describes my job pretty well. What have you "just done" recently ❓

The Making of a Nobody Part 82 of TBD Trusting Your Gut In a Digital Age Trusting your gut isn’t just some old saying. It still matters, even with all the data and AI we have now. Over the years, I’ve seen how much relying on instinct, alongside data, can shape outcomes. I’m sharing this because we’re all navigating a crazy world where tech seems to have all the answers, but some things still come down to human intuition. When you’re building a team or making big decisions, it’s a mix of data and instinct that often makes the difference. Sometimes, your gut knows things that data can’t tell you. Team dynamics are a big deal. Aligned values and chemistry matter a lot—especially in startups.  It's often the key difference between success and just... getting by. Think about how you feel walking into a lively restaurant—there’s this energy you can’t miss. Great companies have that same kind of energy. It’s what sets them apart. So yes, trust the data, but don’t ignore your instincts... Sometimes, they’re exactly what you need to move forward. (-; #futureisnow #nobodystudios #venturestudio Nobody Studios