As you might know, soundz.fm team has been selected and took part at the Mini Seedcamp Prague a year ago. And since our friends over at touchqode were lucky to be selected for the upcoming Mini Seedcamp in Berlin, I wanted to help them with some tips and tricks how to get the most of this wonderful event. I decided this information might be valuable to other startups as well, so here are a few key points we’ve learned, mostly from the mistakes:)

Don’t be lazy, do your homework

The Seedcamp team provides everyone with a guide and directory of every mentor and startup present at the event a few days before it starts. This guide has to become your bible for at least one day. Go through every mentor, use google, check their expertise. There are many questions you’ll want to ask during the mentoring sessions, so make sure in advance that you’re asking the right people.

The pitch is more important than the product

I think this was one of the biggest mistakes we made. We spent the last days before Mini Seedcamp working round the clock to launch our product, just to have it ready for the event. The truth is, we didn’t have the opportunity to demo it to anyone there, not to mention that most of the mentors usually don’t have time to thoroughly examine every single detail of every startup that’s selected.

Prepare your pitch. Make it those 5 minutes tops ( trust me, you WILL be stopped after the time runs out, no matter how great the pitch is). Rehearse it MILLION times. In front of your grandma. Make sure she understands what the hell are you doing, how are you going to make money and what do you need to make it happen. You’re not done until your testing audience smiles, laughs or applauds when you finish. Be a purple cow, swear if you need to, just make them never forget it. I still remember a few great pitches from last year.

Squeeze the most of every session

Besides the pitch, prepare and memorize two short sentences that describe your product and make them simple and clear. This is important in the beginning of the mentoring session, to remind your mentors what you’re about. Some of them arrive just after the pitches, some of them have bad short memory (especially if your pitch sucks). We didn’t do this and left the first mentors very uncertain of what the hell are we actually doing. We got better with every session and eventually at the last one it was great, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t prepare upfront.

The sessions are not as long as you would like them to be, so make good use of the time you have. We’ve been divided into groups of two startups for every session, and if this is the case, make arrangements with the other guys on how to divide the time you have and stick to it. Gently remind your startup mates if they are out of time and suggest to continue the conversation after the sessions. If the time is up for you, do the same.

Network, network, network

One of the most important points – it’s a networking event. You’re there to get to know people, so get to know them! Make sure your pocket is fat with business cards (and don’t forget your own:). If you’re after an investment, go talk to investors. If you’re facing a problem some other startup has solved, talk to them. And there’s usually some afterparty being thrown after the event, so if you’re not rushing home, attend. The best discussions come usually over a pint of beer. We regret we didn’t go till today.

Time doesn’t stop at Mini Seedcamp

When you get back home, make sure you get in touch with the valuable connections you made. Add everyone on LinkedIn, write follow-up emails. Continue your conversations and nurture those relationships, you never know when they might come in handy.

Mini Seedcamp is a wonderful and unique event in Europe so it’d be a pity not to make it a great opportunity to jumpstart your business. And don’t forget to thank Reshma and the rest of the great seedcamp team.

@mhrescak / @soundz_fm