For those relatively new to tech, it may seem the four horsemen of the tech apocalypse have arrived. For those of us who have been in tech a long time though, we’ve seen all this before. It’s a familiar tale of the tech economy evolving to a new generation as it shakes off the excesses of the previous cycle and moves on.
There is also good news amongst the gloom. The UK has overtaken China as the second largest market for inward tech investment, ranking second behind the USA. Clearly, there is still a lot of investor money out there and it’s looking for a home that will not be decimated by inflation. But those with the money are currently being a lot more careful with how much, and in whom, they invest in. Tech investing is all about maximising future opportunity and minimising the risk while scaling up. Success means delivering on both.
Right now, in the investor mindset, the race for profitability has temporarily overtaken the race for market share. But that is not to say that strategy has been subverted by tactics. A clearly articulated and compelling strategic vision is still the best start when raising the sums you will need to achieve the growth and make a difference in the global stock market. It also of course helps retain engineers, motivate sales teams and attract talent.
The journey to success has a starting point and quarter-by-quarter markers along the way. The biggest markers of the progress tech scaleups are making are typically funding rounds.
The process of Category creation can increase both your chances of commercial and funding success. If you can prove your team are en route to Category dominance, you are more likely to achieve a higher valuation. This, in turn, generates the financial firepower you need to grow further. Do this right and it will do so without diluting out of sight the equity which rewards the hard work you’ve put in.
An example of just such a situation is in play at Berlin-based commerce platform, Productsup, where the team has just raised $70m in Series B funding. Here is the deck that they used to do it [Business Insider login or trial required]
This pitch deck is a masterpiece of brevity with each word, statistic, and piece of supporting evidence carefully chosen. But, most of all, it is a compelling narrative and taxonomy of a problem; `Commerce Anarchy’; a solution, `Product Information Value Chain management`, in an emerging, yet already validated, Category, P2C.
This triumvirate of fresh thinking encapsulates the nature, extent, and value of the opportunity presented for Productsup and their potential investors and is exemplified in the company’s purpose, vision and mission.
Powerful stuff. We love it, not least because we worked with the management team to define their Category as exemplified in the deck and are helping deliver their Strikes. Could we help you navigate your way to success in the coming years?