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• Seed Camps (seed capital and mentorship) what do you think about?

• 
  Barbara M. Thaler    Premium Member   Group moderator

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  Seed Camps (seed capital and mentorship) what do you think about?

  hi,
  I'm very interested in seed financing.
  
  do you know the concept of seed-camps, where founders get seed capital and advice on their new product and strategy during a challenge - ensuring the best possible start for their new business (mostly in it-technology)? often such camps are organized by mentorship-driven seed stage investment funds.
  
  what do you think about this concept (coming up from the us)? is it transferable for europe?
  an innovative model for seed financing? or a financially rewarding think tank?
  etc...
  
  I'm very interested in your experience and opinions.
  thanks a lot
  kind regards, barbara
  
  • 13 Mar 2009, 10:56 pm
  Barbara M. Thaler wrote: > hi, > I'm very interested in seed financing. > > do you know the concept of seed-camps, where founders get seed > capital and advice on their new product and strategy during a > challenge - ensuring the best possible start for their new business > (mostly in it-technology)? often such camps are organized by > mentorship-driven seed stage investment funds. > > what do you think about this concept (coming up from the us)? is it > transferable for europe? > an innovative model for seed financing? or a financially rewarding > think tank? > etc... > > I'm very interested in your experience and opinions. > thanks a lot > kind regards, barbara
• 
  Feargal Byrne

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  Re: Seed Camps (seed capital and mentorship) what do you think about?

  I think seed camps are a great idea. I see a number of benefits. Firstly, there are great opportunities to negotiate down professional fees for the start-ups involved. Secondly, office space can be shared which not only has cost benefits it also gives the start-ups the opportunity to learn from each other.
  
  I think the major benefit is that the mentors actually put their money where their mouth is. This is much better than having the mentors paid on a consulting basis. I really like the Y-combinator model.
  
  In the context of Europe and speaking only from my own experience, I believe such camps could be more successful where general costs are lower.
  
  For instance, in Ireland where I live, the cash burn for start-ups is too high when compared to countries like Poland. As a result, given equal investments the Polish start-up has a much greater chance of being a success because it has more scope for failure. The Irish start-up would run out of cash.
  
  I believe that such camps should be set up in low cost European countries but be available to all Europeans. Along with the obvious cultural benefits, it also leverages the EU for what it was originally intended for.
  
  • 21 May 2009, 5:36 pm
  Feargal Byrne wrote: > I think seed camps are a great idea. I see a number of benefits. > Firstly, there are great opportunities to negotiate down professional > fees for the start-ups involved. Secondly, office space can be shared > which not only has cost benefits it also gives the start-ups the > opportunity to learn from each other. > > I think the major benefit is that the mentors actually put their > money where their mouth is. This is much better than having the > mentors paid on a consulting basis. I really like the Y-combinator > model. > > In the context of Europe and speaking only from my own experience, I > believe such camps could be more successful where general costs are > lower. > > For instance, in Ireland where I live, the cash burn for start-ups is > too high when compared to countries like Poland. As a result, given > equal investments the Polish start-up has a much greater chance of > being a success because it has more scope for failure. The Irish > start-up would run out of cash. > > I believe that such camps should be set up in low cost European > countries but be available to all Europeans. Along with the obvious > cultural benefits, it also leverages the EU for what it was > originally intended for.