A short recap by Veronica was summing up her experineces.
Behind the Numbers is – Dating!- Thoughts from a start-up social business
The main thing that stuck in my head after participating at SoCap was Niki Armacost saying: “The hook up between an investor and an entrepreneur is like a relationship, it requires dating”. This was echoed by angel investor Hampus Jakobsson, whose main criteria for investing is “People I want to see again”.
SOCAP was great. I met many people I want to see again, and potential investors that we are now dating… I was surprised by the banal epiphany of realizing that investors and entrepreneurs make decisions in very similar ways. It always comes down to the people, the passion, and the idea. Much more than ROI, SROI, and what have you. But you have to meet someone first before you can ask them out.
A single mom once told me that her problem was finding the venues to meet a new partner, and that she started kayaking just to meet men. Online can be difficult, because it’s hard to make your personality outshine your profile (business plan) and you easily end up in a drawer of rejections. You might not go clubbing anymore until early morning cause you have a baby to look after (or a company!), and you might not have the money to spend to go to fancy places (expensive conference gatherings where impact investors meet).
So where do you find your true love? SOCAP was definitely a good start, but even there it seemed that investors were not really on the hunt for new meat. Next time, I would say, bring more money, boost the opportunity of getting to know the entrepreneurs and put focus on match-making. Let’s make SOCAP the best dating platform for impact investors and social entrepreneurs.
By Veronica D’Souza
