We’re sitting here in the Edinburgh Business School and really lucky to be listening to Jesse Draper (aka The Valley Girl). She is currently interviewing Ralf from Funky Moves. Here is our transcript…
Jesse: What are your best tips for bootstrapping?
Ralf: Be honest and don’t spend any money.
Jesse: What are the benefits of bootstrapping?
Ralf: You develop intimate knowledge of your product and market. It forces you to network in some ways. The more you can achieve by no money. More equity and increased control.
Jesse: Tell me about Dragons’ Den?
Ralf: The BBC called me because they were looking for something in the activities and health space. They called and asked me whether I knew the show and whether I would consider applying. I copied and pasted my exec summary and then I was asked to do a half-hour telephone interview. Next thing, I got an audition and had to prepare a three minute pitch. Then I needed to get together a long term plan and how much money I needed. But when I started doing that, I looked at how much I had achieved. Two weeks later, I got it and got £120k
Jesse: Are you a non-profit?
Ralf: I hope not, no. But so far we are (laughs)
Jesse: Who is the biggest dragon? I mean, who is the most dragon-like?
Ralf: Peter Jones is definitely the biggest dragon. He must be 6′ 4″.
Jesse: Who was the scariest?
Ralf: Duncan Bannatyne. He was not happy about what he saw.
Jesse: You mentioned something about money – how did you determine how much you needed?
Ralf: You make a plan, then you put in how much you think you need to realise that plan. Then you cost it. That’s it. You make a guess with insufficient information.
Jesse: You don’t want to ask for too much money, right?
Ralf: In that scenario, is that I looked at lots of episodes and looked at the money – and pitched it where I thought there might be a high chance of suceeding. 120k is very nice as a number to divide.
Jesse: So you’re focused on sales and marketing right now, is that something that you recommend CEOs to do?
Ralf: Yes. As an entrepreneur, you must be good at selling: your product, your company, your career. Selling for me, is about listening.
Jesse: Yes, they say that 70% of it is listening.
Ralf: Yes, our technology uses interactivity for kids to engage them. And then there is a PE lesson in a box.
Jesse then gets us to ‘butt bump’
Jesse: How can you help your neighbour? Think about that. Now, is there one person that really took a risk to help you out?
Ralf: First and foremost, the shareholders. They believed in the concept and hopefully me as well considering I had no sales and no product.
Jesse: What do you look for in a shareholder?
Ralf: Shareholders should come with money with a brain. At the same time, there is room to just part with cash and that’s it.
Jesse: Did you have any advisors?
Ralf: Lots. There is a balance between how much advice you should seek. I thought I needed a lot of advice. But you know what, they don’t really have too much knowledge either.
Jesse: What is the plan from 5 years time?
Ralf: A tropical island. And you visiting. Is that detail enough?
Then Jess, Kate and Hilary all get up for the demo.
Jesse talks about startupcafe in her most recent blogpost:
http://valleyloop.com/2010/11/14/the-scots-of-tech-valley-girls-trip-through-edinburghs-entrepreneurial-world/
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