Learning to Succeed as a Startup
A reflection on being in the SputnikATX Accelerator from a serial entrepreneur and female founder.
As we wrap our final week working with Sputnik ATX, I wanted to share some thoughts and experiences we had throughout the program. The community we stepped into has been an unparalleled resource. We not only received funding, but a clear path forged by the hard work of many previous alumni and the team at Sputnik that continues to iterate and make their program a valuable resource to its portfolio companies, and the Austin startup scene at large.
Why Sputnik?
We chose the accelerator path because we have a high-value software product that has been bootstrapped for the last 2.5 years. Our service based business was 4 years strong and gaining momentum, but it never quite met our desire to make a bigger impact. To make a full transition to a product based business we needed capital and the right support to grow quickly. Funding can be tricky to obtain, especially at an early stage with just a few customers and no real traction. The journey to an accelerator began over a year before by researching programs that cater to our stage, customers, technology and the program structure. I attended events around town hosted by many accelerators and programs including Sputnik. Each time I went to a Sputnik workshop there were great speakers and content and I received immense value from international expansion to design thinking. As we pushed further into product market fit and started gaining clients I looked for opportunities to pitch and speak with programs to find out if anyone truly understood what we were doing.
One fateful day I booked a session to speak with Joe Merrill, a partner at Sputnik. He was venturing down to South Austin to talk with companies and it seemed like a great chance to talk one-on-one with him. This day was one of the first times we had a conversation with someone that “got” us. Joe has connections in media that go well beyond our wildest dreams and he intrinsically understands the applications and power of what we have created. The takeaway here is that there is no such thing as an easy win. It is important to keep trying different angles because you won’t know when that day is the right day. Joe encouraged us to apply, but we did not have any paying clients yet, so we waited. The next time we bumped into him at a party he very much remembered us and asked how things were going and told us to apply again. This time we did.
Applying
Over Christmas break 2019 I applied to Sputnik. Our business is pretty attractive on paper, but in order to get in the door it’s all about relationships. The application is detailed and helps to clarify a lot about your business and your understanding of startups. They wanted to see we understood more than just our business’s pitch and messaging style. Sputnik wanted to see that our company’s values gelled with their core philosophy. So we did our homework and dove into their blog, YouTube and online resources to get a better idea of where they were coming from, the metrics that were important to them, and how to best address the application. We needed to discover ways to clearly convey our value and the metrics we would be looking at achieving while getting off the ground and garnering other investment opportunities.
One thing that stuck out to me during the last few years in startup land here in Austin is that the team at Sputnik is mostly female, which is a breath of fresh air in a heavily male arena of venture capital. As a female non-technical co-founder of a tech startup I appreciate and seek other strong women to balance out my perspective and ditch the self-doubt.
Getting Accepted
In February 2020 we got the email that we were selected to interview for the Winter 2020 cohort of Sputnik. Oksana Malysheva, Managing Partner, and Joe along with their team Abigail and Amanda interviewed us at their office. We began presenting our pitch deck and it naturally evolved into more of a conversation. Our tendency at the time was to speak very technically and they continued to challenge those notions. We readily shared all the information we had and were honest about anything we didn’t know or needed to learn more about. An accelerator is a massive learning opportunity that will bring growth both personally and professionally. Both myself and my cofounder welcomed the chance to be better. You may think you need to have a perfect pitch prepared, but that’s not the reality at this pre-seed stage. An open mind, a solid plan, and an unending drive will get you much further.
A few days after our interview we got a personal call from Joe to let us know we were accepted and what we needed to prepare for the following week. Sputnik is very selective. Out of more than 750 attempted applications, Mod Tech Labs was one of just four companies selected to be brought into the accelerator program. Our first order of business was to incorporate a separate entity that could accept investor capital. After processing the initial parts through Clerky and starting a bank account with Silicon Valley Bank we were off to the races.
How do you Start Up?
Along with funding, Sputnik provides a 13 weeks of curriculum. Attendance is required two days a week for a couple of hours to work with the team and your cohort peers. Starting weekly after the third week, we attended a Traction Meeting with Joe and Oksana to be accountable by the metrics we choose to track. Our approach was customers, volume of processing, and efficiency of processing. Our initial metrics were number of lead-to-client conversions, number of processes our platform was handling, and how fast each asset was being processed.
The goal is a 10% week over week growth on one or all of the metrics. Part of these Traction Meetings were that each week one team from the cohort would be awarded as the “Traction Horse” (pictured above). This helps ignite that competitive spirit that you want to have as an entrepreneur and ensure that you are being held accountable, as well as recognized for meeting those growth expectations. Mod Tech Labs won the horse five times, we are the reigning champs of our cohort for the most wins. A little bit of friendly competition keeps you on your best game and helps as you’re trying to get the attention of other prospective venture capitalists, who are eager to see your growth throughout the process.
Sputnik’s focus on very early stage companies means that they are a huge part of your growth and story, they make themselves readily available to the chort and alumni. They are extremely open and clearly communicate their professional suggestions without being pushy. You will be told the things you’re good at or need to work on more, being willing to accept constructive criticism and take action is so crucial to proper growth. Small cohort size is a great advantage because you get great feedback from your peers and everyone is heard. The program is intensive just like entrepreneurship itself. A big element of the process is learning to be disciplined from your investor communications to metrics into culture and beyond. Access to the alumni, other investors, potential employees or vendors is a huge advantage as well.
Curriculum
Throughout the program you are expected to read books, listen to podcasts, and watch videos from experts near and far that coincide with the week’s focus. From a file room to pitching there is a clear path during the program to scale and succeed. We were given thoughtful critiques on our public speaking chops, consideration on the analytics we’d use to measure our success, wrangled in our social media and how to optimize our platforms, helped us set up important administrative elements like HR and legal, and taught us how to talk to our market and learn what’s relevant to them. During this time we’ve also solidified our company’s core values and what commitments and attitudes we wanted to bring into our work. Needless to say, the last several months have been wonderfully productive and have far exceeded our expectations.
As a founder, you are the core of your company and during one week we focused solely on personal strengths and weaknesses. Once you can clearly and confidently be yourself while conveying your idea in the way that you want to, you will attract and retain the right employees, co-founders, investors, mentors, advisors, and all the other people that support and move the needle on your business. As a startup, you need to do most things in ways that do not scale. They are hard and take time and effort, but they do not drain capital resources. Copywriting is a prime example and an invaluable skill that we learned. You know your business best and will do a far better job of conveying your message if you understand the tools and tricks that will help you.
One other element of the education is learning from other seasoned entrepreneurs, VCs, and those that have traveled relevant paths in the startup world. These events are called “Off the Record Dinners”. I felt so much relief and inspiration from hearing the tips, tricks, trials, tribulations and triumphs from the speakers that shared with us at these events. I think an overlooked part of entrepreneurship is normalizing the roller coaster ride. There are highs and lows and it is like this for anyone, no matter how glorified their public story may be.
Going Virtual
The entire Sputnik team and their Alumni network is wonderful. Since our cohort has also been at the mercy of COVID-19 lock downs we migrated classes to virtual meetings and we’ve enjoyed taking part in online training, virtual pitching done with partnering VCs, and Friday “Quarantini” virtual happy-hours so we can continue to have a social way to make connections, get to know everyone better and chat about our work. Even with the current limitations, Sputnik has been making sure to help provide at every opportunity to keep us engaged with their support.
What’s next for Mod Tech Labs?
In May, we are pitching in the first virtual Demo Day for Sputnik as a culmination of our work with them. Our focus is on growing our month over month sales. We currently have more than 90 companies signed up for our platform and are processing upwards of 72,000 assets a week.
To help relieve studios affected by the recent pandemic, we are currently giving free processing credits to alleviate some of the production budget hits due to stalled projects. We hope to positively impact their ability to recover quickly and begin producing that movie magic that has kept us going during this time. The shift to virtual production tools it happening now and we are thankful to be in a position to help and pay it forward.
Whether you are looking to apply to Sputnik or just researching your options I hope my experiences can benefit your own start-up journey. From our team to yours, we wish you the best on the road ahead!
— Alex Porter is CEO and Co-Founder of Mod Tech Labs, an Austin-based company helping production studios to bring their immersive video content to life with remarkably fast and convienientSaaS processing.
