An award-winning Slovenian ABC Accelerator program for startups and scaleups, focusing on traction, revenue, and next investment, invited me for a round of online workshops that I attended this December.
B2B Accelerator – optimize your sales processes
This workshop was led by Žiga Komac, an engineer who advises companies of all sizes on the implementation of digitalization and new technology solutions, the optimization and redesign of business processes, and the development of marketing and growth strategies. In recent years, he has advised more than 50 companies in the sales area and has implemented numerous digital tools and platforms (e.g. Salesforce) for complex forms of sales.
Žiga presented us with best practices from successful companies, especially on more complex topics such as sales processes, their implementation, and organization. The workshop was designed to be interactive and the speaker posed some of the sales “challenges” (e.g. lead generation) that many companies often face. We looked at how to introduce digital tools into sales and how we can take our sales performance to the next level by using modern tools. We also looked at individual skills, which are very important for salespeople today.
How did I like the workshop and lecturer?
I give a 10 out of 10 grade to the way how the workshop was structured and presented. Those who knew very little about the topic were able to follow the presentation and use it as a very solid starting point for future learning and working. The lecturer, Žiga Komac left an impression of an expert who is quite knowledgeable in the area of sales processes, especially in the ex-yu countries and other Eastern-European countries. Personally, should an opportunity arise, I would definitely hire him to help with the design and implementation of sales processes in my own company. Very good lecturer. Thank you Žiga for all the valuable information you shared!
Premature Growth: Finding your market fit before growth
This workshop was led by Jon Butterfield, Head of Platform at Venture Capital firm Speedinvest, VC of the year 2022, with 650M EUR under management.
The purpose of the workshop was to show attendees why trying to grow your company isn’t always the best thing, guide us through the market-fit mindset over a growth mindset, and show us ways you can safeguard your company through discussing and teaching us about:
- What is Product Market Fit?
- What is Growth?
- How to measure and track market fit
- Creating value for your customers
- Preparing yourself for Growth
How did I like the workshop and lecturer?
This was my favorite workshop out of the three I attended. Another great lecturer presented the topic in a very structured and easy-to-understand way. The lessons and discussions on a product-market-fit mindset over a growth mindset will come in more than handy should I come to a point of starting a business and launching a product. The topics we covered and discussed in a detailed manner are one of the most important lessons everyone thinking about starting a business should learn more about, before anything else. As Jon is the head of a very big VC firm, sharing his thoughts on startups and what he looks for when presented with projects and deciding if they are worthy of investment or not will be of immense help when designing my next pitch deck. Even more so, when developing an idea, finding my market fit, and pivoting.
Product analytics and data-driven product development
This workshop was led by Simon Belak who helped dozens of companies to become data-driven and set up and level up their data departments and infrastructure. He is a sought-after international speaker and mentor.
The workshop was aimed at teams who have a digital product and are looking to set up or level up their product analytics. Product owners, engineers, and data people would all find the workshop useful in moving the company towards data-driven decision-making and product-led growth.
How did I like the workshop and lecturer?
This workshop I could not follow because I found it hard to understand so I left it earlier than expected. Not the fault of the lecturer. It’s simply that it was designed for more advanced and experienced attendees who are already acquainted with the topic and already have a hands-on experience with product analytics and data-driven product development.
The event is co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund. The operation is being carried out under the “Operational Program for the Implementation of the European Cohesion Policy 2014-2020”, priority axis: “3 Dynamic and competitive entrepreneurship for green economic growth”.www.eu-skladi.si
SUMMARY
I am very grateful that ABC Accelerator invited me to this series of workshops. I have learned a lot and will watch out for all the similar workshops and programs they offer in the future.