Before I jump into this week’s episode I wanted to take a moment to share one of the challenges many entrepreneurs in Switzerland - including me - face when building up a team of qualified and trustful people. When you’ve built your first prototype or MVP and are ready to go all in on your idea - maybe you even received some money from family, friends or first investors - when you get to that moment when you need someone to focus on the technical side of your startup you’ll quickly realize that finding good software developers that are willing to sacrifice their high salaries to join you in your risky adventure, is going to be quite a challenge - especially in Switzerland. Why? Because you’re competing with big tech companies that have deep pockets and are willing to pay good developers a ton of money for their work. So, what can you do about that? One way I’ve found to get around this is to broaden your perspective and look for people elsewhere, for example in Lisbon. Lisbon has been called the European Silicon Valley for good reasons - Forbes Magazine says it is fast becoming a creative and tech startup hub, helped by accelerator funding, tech incubators and newly refurbished coworking spaces popping up all over the city. One company that I’ve come across and that I’m sharing with you without getting paid for it is helping startups set up their remote team in Lisbon is called Lisbon Tech Guide, they brand themselves as your partner to support you find and manage your team in Portugal. They cover everything you need from recruitment, company incorporation, budget planning, accounting, human resources management, tax advisory, co-working spaces, fiduciary topics, team building events and more. You can get a free 30-minute consultation call by visiting their website lisbontechguide.com to answer all your questions about setting up your team in Lisbon. Check them out at lisbontechguide.com and start building your remote team.
This episode brings us together with Sarah Maria Nordt, founder of Snordtmade, a startup that focuses on sophisticated ladies business fashion.
In this episode we started off by exploring the very beginnings of Snordtmade, how Sarah and her team tested the market need for her products, the first steps they took to launch the company and how they got their first customer. We then dove deeper into how they were planning to create demand for their brand in such a competitive environment, and what some of her low points were during her journey.
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We covered the following topics:
Problem - Solution Fit
How did she test that there were people with a problem / need for it?
How did she identify your perfect customer in the beginning?
What were the first steps she took after deciding to go with it?
What did her first product / MVP look like?
How did she get to your first customers?
Sales & Marketing
How did she manage to create / is she creating demand for her brand?
How much is she selling, and how does she plan to grow these numbers?
Persistence
How did she make it financially possible to start & continue with her project?
What were some emotional low points and how did she get out of them?
Personal Fashion Configurator
What is it and why does she think it will help her better solve the problem?
Other questions
What’s something she did badly while working on her startup?
What’s one thing she did really well?
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