Key Takeaways
- • Techstart Ventures, an inception to pre-seed venture capital firm, has launched a weekly "pressure test" programme called Pre-Sig for founders with unproven ideas.
- • The pilot begins November 18 and runs every Wednesday from 5pm to 9pm in Edinburgh, with a structured challenge session from 6pm to 7pm.
- • Pre-Sig targets "smart, possibly exceptional" individuals whose ideas could be large but who have not yet tested them quickly or received candid feedback.
- • Robert Gelb, a pre-seed investor at Techstart, says the firm passes on businesses that are not suited to its scale of opportunity, ideas that are not unique, hard or valuable, and people who have not yet started testing and iterating fast.
Summary
Techstart Ventures, an inception to pre-seed venture capital firm, has launched a new weekly "pressure test" for founders with unproven ideas, according to Scottish Financial News. The pilot programme, called Pre-Sig, will run from November 18 in Edinburgh every Wednesday from 5pm to 9pm.
The session includes an hour of "structured challenge" from 6pm to 7pm, designed to help participants test their ideas and decide either to "drop it and move on" or to "move at pace." According to the firm's LinkedIn announcement, the structured challenge may include a hot seat on an idea, a teardown of a company or market, or a discussion of how VCs assess size, defensibility, and timing. The remainder of the evening is open working time for participants.
The programme is aimed at people with ideas that could be big but who have not had the opportunity to test them rapidly or obtain honest feedback. Techstart is seeking participants who are open to challenge, useful to others, and serious about making progress, and it says it will ask those who do not meet these criteria to stop attending.
Robert Gelb, one of the firm's pre-seed investors, explained the rationale in the LinkedIn post. He identified three types of opportunities venture capitalists currently do not back: decent businesses that do not fit the scale of opportunity the firm seeks, ideas that are not unique, hard or valuable, and exceptional people who have not yet started testing and iterating quickly. Gelb said that by the end of a session, attendees should either conclude that their idea is not viable or gain real conviction in what they are building.
Gelb also noted that the programme is not a general business support service. If a proposed venture does not fit the VC model, Techstart will say so and point participants toward other sources of business support in Scotland.
The session includes an hour of "structured challenge" from 6pm to 7pm, designed to help participants test their ideas and decide either to "drop it and move on" or to "move at pace." According to the firm's LinkedIn announcement, the structured challenge may include a hot seat on an idea, a teardown of a company or market, or a discussion of how VCs assess size, defensibility, and timing. The remainder of the evening is open working time for participants.
The programme is aimed at people with ideas that could be big but who have not had the opportunity to test them rapidly or obtain honest feedback. Techstart is seeking participants who are open to challenge, useful to others, and serious about making progress, and it says it will ask those who do not meet these criteria to stop attending.
Robert Gelb, one of the firm's pre-seed investors, explained the rationale in the LinkedIn post. He identified three types of opportunities venture capitalists currently do not back: decent businesses that do not fit the scale of opportunity the firm seeks, ideas that are not unique, hard or valuable, and exceptional people who have not yet started testing and iterating quickly. Gelb said that by the end of a session, attendees should either conclude that their idea is not viable or gain real conviction in what they are building.
Gelb also noted that the programme is not a general business support service. If a proposed venture does not fit the VC model, Techstart will say so and point participants toward other sources of business support in Scotland.
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