BeLoud

📉 Seeing a stock picture of a factory on a pptx slide — boring, uninspiring ⏲️ Getting to visit the factory, touch and smell things — much, much better! We’re reflecting on one of the our favourite things we’ve organized in 2024: Aerones factory visit with Enterpreneurship students⚡️Aerones is a Latvian Cleantech scaleup, manufacturer of robotic technologies for wind turbine care — and Endijs and Arnis showed us around their Riga premises where the magic is made. Grateful to Aerones for supporting the initiative, and here’s to more practical learning for young enterpreneurs — we badly crave it ⚒️

ICYMI: BeLoud has TWO newsletter issues dedicated to ideation 💡 If you've enjoyed this, good chance you'll enjoy the new issue coming out tomorrow... Follow along, don't miss a beat: https://lnkd.in/dxcr4vMp

Doing our small part to bring together scientists and commercializers in Latvia ⚔️ Please welcome the pilot of a new format — a rountable talk — at the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, where we mixed people with science and business backgrounds to talk about the future of life sciences and ask each other all silly questions! To warm us up there was a power duo: Gatis Mozolevskis from Cellbox Labs and Emil Syundyukov from Longenesis — those who mastered both languages 📈🧫 Key points we wrote down in our notebooks: - Just dropping business people from helicopter at the research institute won't work 🚁 Scientists should prepare to trust an external party to take and validate their discovery - At the same time, business people should be prepared to learn more than ever before, since sharply separating areas of expertise in a small company won't work - Creating technology transfer offices and other infrastructure that streamlines commercialization is a must, before anything else can happen - Precision financing: with limited funds, especially in a small market like Latvia, efforts should be concentrated in particular segments of science with outlier expertise - no vague focus on everything and anything Our resolution for the next year(s)? A huge local DeepTech success story 🎇

It takes two to tango 👯 Ever wanted to become a part of innovations that are changing the way we live? With a business background, it often feels like you might not be up for this task. Good news is that scientists can often feel the same, seems that there is something to solve here 🤔 Join BeLoud and Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis on December 13th as we aim to connect scientists and business people and turn potential energy into kinetic 🙌 The event will explore the intersection of biology, technology, and business. We will host a panel on communication between science and business, followed by roundtable discussions where you'll be able to take a stab at predicting the future of food, on-demand treatments, and the impact of AI on drug discovery 🧬 Sign up and be a part of designing the future: https://lu.ma/eqxid0t8 Snacks will be provided.

Today, we had the pleasure of welcoming final-year students from the Riga Stockholm School of Economics to our manufacturing facility. Engaging with young talented, and curious minds is always inspiring—they represent the leaders and changemakers of tomorrow. We're proud to contribute to their journey and look forward to the impact they’ll make on the future. 🌟

This week’s newsletter edition is about 💜 Teamwork - because "Team Trumps All", and team dynamics makes or breaks the startup’s success. But in the fast-moving work setting (and there is none more fast-moving than startups), it can be easily overlooked... So buckle in and let's get inspired to tackle conflicts head-on 🤝 Also in the 🤝 Teamwork issue: - your biweekly catch of jobs & startup opportunities in the Baltics, including from Xolo, Relev8, Pipedrive, Montonio and others - register interest in looking for your perfect co-founder or employer Read this week's edition - and subscribe to join the coolest & driven youth community: https://lnkd.in/dkTA2C-w 📣 All Baltics startups, this is your call to action - send your freshest job offers to the BeLoud !Newsletter to directly target the pool of engaged applicants we can vouch for 🤗 #entrepreneurship #startups #baltics

Jokūbas Vaičiulis joined a 🎤 panel at Rīgas Ekonomikas augstskola - Stockholm School of Economics in Riga with Arta Beinat (Buildit VC), Zane Kampa (Change Ventures), and Jahid Sakhi (Fiedler Capital) to talk to 3rd-year entrepreneurship students about the VC world and startup game, fundraising, and the new era of AI. Here are 3️⃣ takeaways from their talk: 🟣 Team trumps all. Yeah, your product, market, and competition matter, but if your squad isn’t up to par? 🚩 Game over. It's like trying to win a relay race with one guy who can’t run and another who forgot his shoes. 🟣 Going global is cool… until you realize the price tag. Everyone dreams of conquering the 🇺🇸 USA market, but spoiler alert: you actually have to live there. Scaling without boots on the ground? Nice try, but it’s giving “long-distance relationship energy.” 🟣 Breaking into VC: It’s like getting into a 🗝️ secret club where the password changes daily. You’ll need perfect timing and an endless supply of grit. The panel delivered a reality check students love 🫠 — because nothing says “welcome to the real world” like finding out everything is 10x harder than it seems. #FIRSTPICK #vc #funding #startups #AI

Last Friday, I joined a panel discussion on early-stage startups, AI, VC-founder relationships, and breaking into venture capital at SSE Riga as part of the Entrepreneurship Specialization course. It was a pleasure to share the stage with Jokūbas Vaičiulis (FIRSTPICK), Arta Beitāne (Buildit VC), and Jahid Sakhi (Fiedler Capital) and to engage in a thoughtful exchange of ideas. The students at SSE Riga asked insightful, well-considered questions; here are some of the key insights from our conversation: ✏ VC funding isn’t for every business (and should not be considered a norm): not every company should aim for VC funding. In many cases, organic growth and bootstrapping provide a more sustainable path to success. Founders should ask themselves, “What kind of business do I truly want to build?” before seeking external funding. ✏ Choosing the right partner matters: selecting a VC fund—or a startup as an investor—initiates a long-term relationship. Both sides must ensure alignment and set clear expectations upfront. For example, founders and investors should agree on how involved the VC will be in day-to-day operations or strategic decision-making. ✏ Balancing the AI buzz with business fundamentals: while AI is undeniably reshaping industries, it’s essential not to lose sight of core business fundamentals. Unless you’re building an AI infrastructure company, your business should stand on its value proposition independently of the AI element. I often like to refer to this article: https://lnkd.in/dBQApw-g ✏ Entering VC Is competitive and cyclical: breaking into venture capital isn’t straightforward. Timing, as well as luck, plays a significant role, especially given the cyclical nature of funding rounds and industry trends. P.S. In the picture, it might look like we are simply having a very thoughtful sit-down, but I promise there was a lively exchange of ideas! 🤞

Founders & Funders — the 2nd open meetup by BeLoud within Enterpreneurship specialization at SSE Riga 🦾 We kicked things off with a keynote on the A-to-Z of VC by Arta from Buildit VC — a hardware investor in Latvia. Next, we put four young VCs in a room together for a super bold panel — autumn viruses tried to mess with our lineup, but Jokūbas Vaičiulis saved the day! 🤗 Big thanks to Arta (Buildit VC), Zane (Change Ventures) and Jokūbas (FIRSTPICK) for this mini-debate, and, of course, to our moderator Jahid (also a VC!). ~ Our highlights: 🏆 Early-stage VCs prioritize strength of the founding team, and think of the Baltics as a testing ground for a global expansion plan. 🏆 Advice for young founders: Stay persistent! Reach out to investors as you make progress. Building relationships takes time and grit. 🏆 Startup job is an excellent segway to building own company if you’re still brainstorming *the* idea. Young founders, ready to hear your Yes-s? 🛸

💜 First newsletter issue with the new look - out! We're back with (even more) ideas... If we pull up a profile of a successful enterpreneur, most likely they had a couple years of experience in an industry in which they’re building - working hands-on as engineers, geologists, salespeople or logisticians. So, pinkie promise that after reading this issue, you’d think seriously about the industry you might enjoy changing 🤞 Also in the 💡 (Even More) Ideas issue:  - join the Founders & Funders VC meet-up feat. Arta Beitāne, Zane Kampa, Sigvards Krongorns and Artis Bisers already TOMORROW! - your biweekly catch of jobs & startup opportunities in the Baltics, including from EZIIL, Flanco, Supliful, CyberUpgrade and others - register interest in looking for your perfect co-founder or employer Read this week's edition - and subscribe to join the coolest & driven youth community: https://lnkd.in/dwxNYWQy 📣 All Baltics startups, this is your call to action - send your freshest job offers to the BeLoud !Newsletter to directly target the pool of engaged applicants we can vouch for 🤗 #entrepreneurship #startups #baltics