Contrary to what many imagine, a good idea is not enough to succeed in the business world. Entrepreneurship goes far beyond that. For example, many startups that are starting, they develop brilliant products and services and demonstrate a long list of potentials that this innovation can solve. However, many times they do not do their homework well, as the first point, what we call defining a focus. Any project, be the area in which it is implemented, needs this item and the recommendation is to focus on the problem instead of the solution
The first question to ask at this ideation stage is: what important and economically relevant problem can be solved? Furthermore, how is it, what is the size of this market, what are the incoming and already established competitors that I will have to face. Here it is important to highlight that the competing solution is any "thing" that uses the money that would be used to pay for the service, but it was used to pay another.Thus thinking, the cinema competes with dinner or with the theater. This is the first understanding of this point of view, before declaring that it has no market competitors
At the jackfruit tree, jackfruit is born
It is very difficult for innovation to happen within the business itself. The programs ofVenture Builderfor example, what are organizations that develop promising projects, offering intellectual and operational resources to the startups in their portfolios, they are still a great methodological challenge. It is necessary to deconstruct everything that is known and certain to innovate, and this is difficult to achieve with hands and feet tied to the day-to-day processes of the business that is already in development. Therefore, it will always be easier to provoke innovation in a protected environment away from day-to-day relationships
In this aspect, the accelerators and Hubs, as is the case with CyKlo Agritech focused on agribusiness, have fulfilled this role of hosting innovative projects for existing companies in the market. Talking about innovation is questioning the truths of the business that already exists and pays the bills, therefore an alternative environment allows this dynamic to be carried out with less wear on the teams involved
In exactly this sense of assisting, the impact of the pandemic on the startup acceleration area was very significant. The interest in routines that involve physical presence has decreased, and it was necessary to adapt to the moment. Opting for smaller physical spaces or creating new shared uses for large areas, that once were filled with people
There was also a change in the validation processes, in the case of biotechnology and related areas, that require the accelerator team to have more specialized professionals in the supported theses to do complementary workin placeinstead of the startup's own team. Similar to when you hire a dispatcher to do something on your behalf, in this case it is this new team from the accelerator that takes on some of the tasks at the acceleration site. For example, it can be the execution of a germination protocol at a research center or monitoring the test areas on the client's farm where the solution is being tested
That's why if Muhammad doesn't go to the mountain, the mountain has to come to Muhammad. After the pandemic then, the appeal for quality of life has been causing a phenomenon with this name, Muhammad. The accelerators are opening complementary offices, next to the geographies where they are foundCidades Inteligentesurban centers focused on technology. Where are they, entrepreneurs study, they have to work there and are seduced by the possibility of developing partnerships with these accelerators that are present in their geographical area
Meanwhile, it is important to emphasize that in the case of accelerators 2.0, what are niches in accelerations of a specific vertical market, it is also necessary to maintain headquarters in the key locations of your operations. For agtechs, that focuses on agribusiness, the headquarters needs to be in cities that are experiencing this segment and activities of this business chain. In the case of Cyklo, this is reducing the space in Matopiba (company headquarters) and creating two more offices, one in São Paulo, targeted at startups in the interior of the State and another in Santa Catarina, keeping an eye on those from western Santa Catarina
Last but not least, it is worth noting that financial resources for startups in the preliminary phase of their life, are becoming scarce. The banks and traditional financial agents that work in this acceleration stage that we call the beginning of the journey, has been reducing its presence worldwide
Here in Brazil, a movement of restructuring of these actors begins to occur, that pass, for example, to unite accelerators and venture capital managers in new funding models. In the coming years, we will see several partnerships between seed money, angel capital, accelerators and hubs, reorganizing the funding offer + acceleration + smart money + post-acceleration funding + financing for a more intense operational phase, in addition to growth that will be previously agreed upon and offered as packages, reducing effort and cost of sales and negotiation
