Seedcamp finalists to be announced

So the 20 finalists for Seedcamp are being announced on Tuesday (has it been a year already?), I can safely say it will be a positive experience for everyone involved.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the 20 companies are working on, a few companies attending the hacker meetups have been applying and it would be good to see any get through, either way it looks like the focus will be towards more technical teams building their own solutions.

I think its important especially in the early stages to have people who understand the technical possibilities of their product. During the Seedcamp week ideas are going to be flying around and the founders need to be able to understand the implications of all these ideas to be able to react to the right ones.

I dont usually try to give tips, but I'll give it a shot, here are a few things that I think would have helped me to read before last year.

Introduce your product in the context of the problem you are solving

Investors worry about solutions looking for a problem, especially in technically focused teams. before you wow them with features make sure you can convey the problem you are solving and how people are currently working around those problems. know the products your target market currently use and certainly any competition on the horizon, Investors spend a lot of time learning about tech markets, so be prepared.

Make your audience identify with your product

All 6 of last years funded teams were solving a problem that was directly applicable to almost all of the judges, Pitches should always have an emotional hook for the viewer. If they can personally identify with a product, it makes it that much easier to get excited about it.

Use the connections

One of the aspects of startup life Seedcamp helps promote is the community, Sharing ideas and discussing technologies certainly helps you understand how your product is viewed, but also make sure you take advantage over the new connections, if you are working in a similar problem area to other companies, or think you and another company might be able to benefit each other with a partnership. go out and talk to them, A simple conversation could turn into a big opportunity.

And most of all, have fun, it will be a hectic week for anyone participating but it will certainly be worth it

p.s final tip: check out for when seedcamp update their mentor list for 2008, read the investors blogs, your going to be doing a lot of meeting and greeting, get off to a good start

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