To help businesses thrive, (and for that matter esports businesses finding ways to launch properly), there is the need for entrepreneurs (new and established) to find and associate themselves with incubator and accelerator programs. Through the programs they will be provided with the right network of contacts, resources, and funds to carry out their goals. We had author, investor, and founder of the company “Prepare 4 VC”, Jason Kraus, to talk about "Navigating the Startup Ecosystem"; how entrepreneurs can tap into communities, and crowdfunding platforms.
Hailing from Boston and doing most of his living there, Jason describes the city as one of the biggest communities for startups, with the universities and hospitals being the main influences. There are a lot of tech companies there that tend to work with B2B companies selling to other businesses, focusing also on the biotech and med tech industries, consumer tech and other industries. Boston proves to be a great place to have businesses thrive each step of the way in the fundraising journey, with about hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds raised in some areas, as well as going further into millions of dollars.
Prepare 4 VC was really taking what I was learning on the investment side and the experience analyzing hundreds of different startups and investment opportunities trying to help the founders create better pitches and presentations that would excite investors. — Jason Kraus, Prepare 4 VC
The entrepreneurial spirit was something Jason had had in him for a long time, so venturing into the finance aspect, on the analytical tip of data and resources to help fund and create investments for businesses was what he dug deep into. From gathering information on financial management to being a part of an angel investment group, sitting through screenings and pitch meetings for startups, these helped in boosting his interests in finance and entrepreneurship. These sets of experiences helped him in his venture analysis and even landing him partner roles with some startups, hence leading to him starting his venture “Prepare 4 VC”. With his venture, he offers consultation to businesses who want to know how to pitch their products to investors the right way and get the investors excited about their products. Also important is how to spot opportunities to make changes with products so they help make things better, instead of just wanting to test them in the market straight away.
The other venture that Jason handles is the EQX fund, where seed funds are provided to entrepreneurs as they are able to identify which areas they need support. This is done in the early stages and measured as emotional quotient, and the focus is on betting on the founders as this will be given to who shows the EQ more, betting on the founders to carry out successful ventures. They are a combination of serial entrepreneurs who have run successful startups in the past, making up a team with advisors, experts, and board members to help receive feedback from customers on products, apply the feedback and use it to figure out what to do next.
Depends on the area you're located in, but the premise is that the public can invest in your company through a platform and you can get either customers or just people that are really excited about your business to put a small amount of money in. — Jason Kraus, Prepare 4 VC
To tap into these opportunities as entrepreneurs, Jason suggests Prepare 4 VC as one of the places to start from, finding the right opportunities through networks of theirs or incubators and accelerators they may be working with. There is also LinkedIn, where there is a database of incubators, accelerators and angel investor groups to search from and connect with especially for businesses in the early stages seeking networks and seed funds. For established businesses you may want to be signing up for accelerator programs, and the best you can do to help yourself as a business is to have identified your strengths and your weaknesses. Also important to note are the areas you wish to improve (say marketing and sales). This will be translated into a presentation showing your journey: why you got into this venture, where you are headed and why you joined this particular program to help you take you there.
With entrepreneurs the challenge oftentimes is with the number of roles for the business and the inadequacy of delegates or team members to take up certain roles which they know may not be their strong suits. So to make this less of a burden will be to liaise with personnel who know their way around these areas not to necessarily know how to do the job, but to be able to communicate the vision to have what you request created for you. It goes along to help with presenting the business with a fair understanding of the roles and have excitement built around it.
Jason also helps point out that it is necessary to carefully identify which programs to sign up for: be it in the idea stage or product development stage, so you do not go to programs that you may have already had stages you had gone through. So plan effectively when choosing the programs, and only when they are necessary to sign up for as you mark the stages you are hitting.
It is clear we had such an insightful chat with Jason Kraus on the Gamers Change Lives Podcast where he speaks on 'Navigating the Startup Ecosystem'. Listen to the full podcast episode with Jason on all major podcast streaming platforms. The episode is also live on our website. Don't move a muscle, listen here!
Esports has helped create jobs for lots of people. Interested in knowing about the business side of esports? Listen to the Gamers Change Lives Podcast!
Written By Jeffrey Osei-Agyeman
