The Startup scene has always been about being bold, having bold Ideas, daring slogans, and cool work environments. It is no wonder that a company like Nintendo used to have a slogan that says, “Work hard, play hard.” It is also very expected to find an expert like Sam Altman, previous president of YC, give startup founders advice saying: “Sound crazy, but be right.”
As a result, we see many activities in the startup scene get affected by this progressive environment. For instance, pitch style & duration have evolved from a proper in-person pitch to an elevator pitch that requires startups to explain their idea in 3 minutes maximum. Some investors went even crazier about it; for example, I remember in my college days when I was attending a big startup competition in MENA, an angel investor asked me to present my idea in 10 seconds, only 10 seconds!
Create an application form that captures the information necessary to make the right decision about applicants
Finding the right startup to invest in is a tough one. You cannot easily tell who would be the next startup to become an established company thanks to your funds or incubation cycle. So let’s have a look at the four crucial elements you need to cover thoroughly in the application form to enter your competition.
1. Idea
According to YC accelerator, more than 60% of their startups pivot their ideas before the program ends each year, a fact that makes us question the approach of those startups towards solving the world’s problems. What were they doing wrong before pivoting their ideas? Were they solving an actual problem? or just creating yet another solution that the world doesn’t need?
As we all know, entrepreneurs are about solving real challenges innovatively. Therefore, we must validate those problems and their relevant solutions, whether the solution is a painkiller or a vitamin.
Moreover, how innovative is this solution? Some startups just adopt an existing idea, manipulate it then introduce it as something new. Other startups use an idea from a particular sector applying it to another, like those pitches starting with: “It’s just like Uber but for…”.
Finally, the most underrated aspect in the startup competition application form, the entry barrier. This aspect is a crucial one as it measures three major factors, as follows:
So, to sum up, here are the takeaways from the idea section:
“You don’t invest in startups, you invest in people.”
2. Team
There is a very popular quote that says, “You don’t invest in startups, you invest in people.” Honestly, we can’t agree more with this quote; the team is definitely the most crucial factor in any startup. As we mentioned before, ideas can pivot, and the same goes for technologies, also market dynamics changes, among many other factors of a successful startup. On the contrary, the team is the only factor that stays.
So to evaluate the team parameter, you have to look at the following factors:
3. Tech
“Every company is now a software company.”
Satya Nadella, CEO at Microsoft
Yes, not all startups have to be tech startups, but no, they cannot skip using technology at all in their operations. According to Satya Nadella, CEO at Microsoft, “Every company is now a software company.” We have all witnessed and lived a revolution in using technology with the covid-19 outbreak; everyone needed technology to maintain their operations since the start of 2020. Everyone needed to work online, sell online, and sometimes manage the whole business online using different software and platforms.
In this regard, we suggest the below questions:
4. Marketplace
All three previous pillars can be in place, but if the startup is going after a dying market, it is definitely in a tough position. Let’s have a look at questions to cover the market part:
Maybe you would need to ask all of those questions, or some of them. Perhaps you need to expand on specific questions to clarify it further. Sometimes, you need to use conditional logic for different answers. For example, if the startup chooses “Yes” for institutional support, a whole section of questions needs to expand to ask about that institution type, sector…etc.
Another tip is to pick the right question type for each piece of information; if you only count on the textual paragraph, you may find your data full of non-sense that you need a tedious filter process to find the answers you are looking for. Keep in mind your target isn’t asking the questions but finding the answers. Don’t forget that your goal is for the applicant to complete and submit the application; if the application form is not smooth and easy enough, you will be losing qualified applicants.
Finally, use all question formats out there; your submission management software with a smart application form builder should help you do that. Use single line questions (For names and short answer questions) and add character limits to ensure that the answers are direct and to the point. Put most of your questions in the radio button or multi checkbox format; they help in two ways: 1. Make sure the evaluation and filtering of answers are easy. 2. Helps build reports for application data after concluding the program. Your submission platform should enable this feature. Drop-down lists save hours of data cleaning to have answers in the same format.
If you need to build an outstanding application form that saves you hours of screening, streamlines the evaluation process, and provides reports on different aspects of the application form, learn more about Untap Compete software, or schedule a demo with us!