STARTUP LAUNCHER: Building the one-stop shop for early-stage ventures w/ AGORA founder Alex Balderstone

Startup Stories: Entrepreneurship Education & Startup Training by Europe’s Founders

This episode brings us together with Alex Balderstone from AGORA, a virtual start-up launcher providing all the necessary tools for entrepreneurs, no matter the stage of their journey. Starting your own venture can be a scary project with many unknowns. How do you find the idea for your startup? How can you make sure not to make too many mistakes and fail? Where can you get support in form of advice and money? These and many more questions go through the heads of every aspiring startup founder, and they are one of the reasons Alex started AGORA. His goal is to offer a one-stop shop for early-stage ventures where aspiring and active entrepreneurs can go and get the support they need. In this episode we dive into the story of AGORA, their target audience, how AGORA is different from other platforms as well as more personal topics like the importance of mindset for entrepreneurs and what Alex did especially well and not so well while working on AGORA. IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: PROBLEM - SOLUTION - FIT What’s the idea behind AGORA? What’s the business model behind AGORA? How did he test that there are people with a need for it? What were the first steps he took after he decided to do this? How does his life look like during that bootstrapping phase? CUSTOMER ACQUISITION Who’s AGORA’s target audience and where do they gather? How is the team planning to acquire your first 100 paying customers? PRODUCT Why can’t I get what AGORA is offering elsewhere? What’s your MVP going to look like? MINDSET How important is mindset in the beginning of a startup? How can you get into the right mindset, when your environment is not ideal for it? PERSONAL What’s one thing you did really well while working on your startup? What’s one thing you did really badly while working on your startup? BOOK RECOMMENDATION The Lean Startup by Eric Ries IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE