Contents
In the new episode of the podcast “What has changed?” together with experts, we found out how a startup does not fail at the hypothesis testing stage, why it is not worth avoiding the international market and where to look for funding now
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Conversation timeline
1:51 — What will happen to startups in our country
6:30 — Where startups should look for investments now
10:36 — What should technology startups do if there are not enough components
13:23 — Which countries founders should pay attention to
26:23 — Is it possible to divide the business: partially stay in our country, partially go to the market of another country
Edition guests:
- Sergey Romantsev is a podcast host and tech blogger.
- Dmitry Kurin is MTS Director for Innovations and Investments.
- Sergey Gostevskikh is the CEO of the Varwin technology development company.
Release Highlights
Where do startups look for investment?
According to estimates, in 2021, 217 transactions were concluded in the Russian venture operations market. The figure seems small, but Dmitry said that this is a record figure for our country, and added that all over the world there is now a tendency for a multiple decrease in startup valuations, and hence investments in them.
Sources of funding, despite the general trend, can still be found. There are three ways to do this:
Why some startups fail
Sergey Gostevskikh explained that the term “pilot project with a corporation” is used incorrectly. Founders must understand that conducting a pilot means confirming the hypothesis of a finished project. Dmitry Kurin noted that developers should strive to become partners of the company that invests in them, and not just use its platform as a field for experiments.
Should companies enter foreign markets?
Experts say that, theoretically, companies can split the business and enter several markets at once. However, this will require large resource and financial investments. In addition, not everyone takes into account that there is a different consumption model abroad, so first you need to study the niche. Kurin said that at the moment, companies are looking to the side:
- Latin America (Brazil),
- Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Singapore),
- Africa,
- Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia).
If there are opportunities, you should not be afraid to scale the idea: in order to become a “unicorn”, at some point the company will still have to take its place in the international arena. In the history of startups with Russian roots, there are successful examples of such a solution – for example, Revolut, inDriver and Miro.