We get a lot of founders applying to our Studio Open Day, and we’re always happy to read what people are building.
So today, we’re writing this blog for someone like you, someone planning to apply to Studio Open Day.
Studio Open Day is one of our important phases before deciding whether we want to build a startup with a founder. This is a day where we spend 30 minutes to learn as much as we can about you and what you want to build.
If you’re called back after Studio Open Day, you’re invited to the Prospect Program, where you’ll build close to us for up to 3 months, with mentorship and a desk with The Delta Team at our campus in Berlin.
That’s why it’s important you’re prepared: because the more you know about us, we can spend more time discussing what you’ve done, and how we could possibly build together.
Building a company is a partnership. And it’s long term. We have to work together through the ups and downs.
With that said, here are some tips before you join our Studio Open Day.
1. Please read the investment memo and our investment thesis!
In general, when you apply to any investor, you should always read their investment thesis. The investment thesis is the scope of investment, such as geography, business model, software / hardware, industries, stages (early / late).
This is usually connected to the strengths of the investors: their experience, network, knowledge, etc. So in our case, it’s important you read our investment thesis.
If the investment thesis doesn’t fit, you can still join our network, and apply to Founders Club.
In our network, we’ll let you know once there is an opportunity, or if we open a new fund that matches the thesis.
2. Stop sending us AI copy and paste text
We read a lot of text, and as a reader / heavy AI user, it’s pretty easy to read over-inflated text. I’m not saying don’t use AI: but still read what you are answering.
Be concise.
Don’t use 3 different adjectives to make the sentence sound fancy.
If you don’t know how to explain what you are doing in a tweet, you need to work on your pitch.
3. Customer Validations > lovable link
If you have a good prompt, it can take about 5 minutes to create a working MVP with lovable / replit.
Having a prototype is a good starting point, but it’s not a “game changer” anymore. You need to know how to execute. To sell. To talk to clients.
That’s why we’d rather hear what you’ve validated with possible clients. How many people have you spoken to? Are you building something people need?
4. Double Check your Market Value Calculation
We often see pitches where the “TAM” is the entire market of the industry. Let’s be realistic. It doesn’t work that way. For example, if you are building a solution to repair electric vehicle batteries, your TAM should NOT be the global EV market. Not even the global EV Battery market.
If you’re building an AI workspace for restaurants, your TAM is not the entire gastronomy market.
5. Please don’t say “I don’t have competitors”
We’ve seen this a lot: and this usually means 3 things.
- You didn’t do your homework (You didn’t do proper research)
- There really isn’t a competitor because there is NO market
- You don’t know / You don’t understand your market
Your competitor doesn’t have to be someone building exactly the same thing.
There should be solutions and alternatives that people use to solve a problem.
You should know your competitor inside and out.
Because you don’t want to arrive at an investor and have them tell you “well… we know XX and YY and ZZ”.
When you’re building a company, you want to impress people, and we get it. The “fake it till you make it” mentality is necessary sometimes. And usually a good hook and an engaging story will definitely open the first door.
But if you haven’t actually taken the time to research, to validate your problem, to get out of your comfort zone to speak to clients, a lot of times, you won’t get a good reply from investors.
As experienced founders, we know that the idea is as good as the person executing it.
If you don’t know how to execute, or if you are giving excuses on why you haven’t tried, it’s pretty much a red flag.
Because capital doesn’t change whether you are an executor or not.
No matter how much you raise, you still have to put in the time and effort. You still have to go after clients. Maybe do some cold calls. You still have to execute a marketing plan. You will still have to do things you don’t want to do, including the time consuming administrative work, to scrappy things that you wouldn’t have imagined a “CEO” to do.
So we invite founders to shift their energy.
Yes, spend time on your application. Yes, answer the questions well. But don’t spend so much time refining the words with the more bubblier word. Be concise, and answer in a language anyone can understand. And most importantly, focus your energy on speaking to clients. Getting your product in front of them. Because at the end of the day, that is much more valuable than a pitch deck, and it shows us that you’re willing to actually deliver.
Written by Kazuna Yamamoto
Head of Studio Operations
