Welcome to the startup jungle | The Economist

[Music] over the past two decades startups have changed the world multi-billion dollar companies like Google Facebook and uber have shown the transformative power of entrepreneurship today innovators dream of their idea becoming the next big thing but the odds are stacked against them in America alone 80% of startups will fail founding a startup isn't for everyone otherwise everyone would be doing it in start-up hubs around the world young entrepreneurs are desperate to prove they have what it takes to succeed but what does it really take to survive in the hub this is janosh Amstutz we want to do two takes of that a former commodities trader he's given up her six-figure salary and a comfortable life in Switzerland to try and make it as an entrepreneur in London would you like to stand here that way I'm out of the spotlight this is our first professional project that's very exciting today yeah no she's directing his first photo shoot that lighting looks great but it's not the world of fashion where he hopes to strike it rich so we'll have her as a hologram in the real world it's the world of augmented reality where janosh believes he could revolutionize the way that humans communicate are you trying to reach an audience in a way that's different or engaging well with our technology we can bring you to them anywhere anytime into their surroundings Janusz is big idea is hollow me an augmented reality application designed to beam hologram like images through a mobile phone and ultimately to supplant video calling or even face-to-face meetings why be here or there when you could be everywhere all right let's do one more but yeah no she's plans for world domination begin in front of a green screen in southeast London filming images his software can then cut out and project into any environment fantastic [Music] follow me is one of half a million companies to start up in Britain every year the nation's capital is a leading hub of innovation inspiration and creative energy in London and in cities worldwide it's the age of the entrepreneur startups are championed by governments who see them as key to building a dynamic economy but the competition is cutthroat to succeed you've got to really believe in your product it's not a good idea to put high-end fashion next to garbage counts a week on from the photoshoot yeah no she's footage is ready to test the virtual catwalk on the street anywhere on demand this is extremely exciting for fashion retailers as a new way to showcase their wares there's my height and there's the dress the blood sweat and tears that we put into this project are really starting to pay off and that's very exciting for me I don't know where to look now you reach a milestone er then what's the next step where do we go from here how do we get bigger how do we grow faster how do we become more exciting for the world smartphone technology has reached the place where our tech is fully possible and applicable to everybody the rise of the smartphone has brought a wave of global startup successes and inspired endless possibilities for new products with the proliferation of digital technology and digital services it's become easier than ever to set up a business and to gamble everything on having the next big idea [Music] San Paolo Brazil the most populous mega city in the southern hemisphere and another thriving startup hub Sandro and Isabel were childhood sweethearts they've been together for 17 years had two children and now are trying to build a business together for a year and a half Sandro and Isabel ran that company med room from their front room traveling through the same three phases swimming cobain by the way two months ago the couple took the big decision to rent office space for their growing professional family now they share a workplace with dozens of other startups all trying to make it in Brazil's growing medical technology industry [Music] here they can encourage commiserate and advised and Sandro can share his own vision of success with 18 years experience working in the video gaming industry Sandra saw the potential of virtual reality earlier than many Sandra spotted a gap in the market using VR to help train medical professionals little to nothing please publish it in Brazil one in every 20 patients will experience medical error my name is Parvati um I had some consider a Vanunu Mary Jo's match was no Sun Blasio my staff is no moldings most brass muslims devdays technology today Vinicius goose mow the company's head of marketing is at the Albert Einstein Medical University to test out med rooms product with some of the people who probably need it the most medical students 42% of failed entrepreneurs cite a lack of demand for their company's demise so it's crucial for startups like med room to establish whether their idea is a viable product and not just an expensive toy SIV to come on dude mister if anyone he's vivillon I mean questions in between doing right now this prototype may lack the cutting edge but the response from the products likely users is encouraging cambered Instagram como se I mean she's giant ranked wanted to conquer blue hair was a cinch must convince my stripper odd that we will be a second cuz I bring Jesus face MIDI monstrous sound problems alone is a key dodge the Akatsuki for your success nós temos prepare the hounds dois três mazes conseguimos computer primera vez Nokomis algunas product monitor his messages about guru virus Berg's virus problemas yeah garage chicken cig um fish back to achieve huge concern over gibberish comes to give us the optimum status online companies else anonymous primero change package targeting Brazil's universities to kick off sales of their product appears to be paying off whilst mad room may have found its market back in London janosh is just trying to find a cab I don't have a bottomless pit of money so for me the financial pressure on the company is quite strong hello we have probably until the end of the year to find financing he's embarking on a quest that is a rite of passage for thousands of entrepreneurs in Europe's biggest startup hub the search for investment 80% of startups in the UK are initially self-funded as they work towards the moment their big idea is convincing enough to snare a major investor but some have to make that move whether they're ready or not please give me six hundred thousand pounds I really don't know how to convince someone how to give me six hundred thousand pounds no one's ever given me six hundred thousand pounds before so maybe I'm doing it wrong but we'll see in the first six months of 2017 venture capitalists pumped more than 1.1 billion pounds into london's tech sector but only two companies in every thousand managed to get their hands on those funds morning janosh has landed a meeting with an investment firm that specializes in tech startups Chris Haley and his partner Corey vu receive over 100 pitches every month janosh has just weeks before he runs out of cash tell us a little bit about yourself and follow me and where the tax at and give us the story I'm Swiss but I grew up in Australia so my English is relatively okay and understandable to convince these investors entrepreneurs like janosh need to know their business plan back to front so tell us a bit more about the funding and how much you looking for I'm looking for say four thousand pounds and the figures better be rock solid because in this room there's nowhere to hide you're projecting monthly sales of 30,000 yeah pretty much right off the bat yeah do you have a qualified pipeline that verifies that amount I can show you one I have a in the past three weeks well that's so you've got 20,000 for next month yep it's gonna take you more than a month I suspect to reach that so I assume you have been selling up to this point we haven't started with what's the timeline for the funding process you mean you stopped people now when you need it but now it looks like he's planning October October been and I'm being realistic a bit tight yeah no she's dreams are in danger of remaining just that if he can't convince these tech savvy investors that his product is worth backing one of the biggest problems with holography is that it's very hard to do the whole Star Trek holiday thing how much depth of field is captured in your day off so I think yeah please do I'm gonna probably project it there okay well without technology we can bring you to come anyway any time so it's it's kind of hard to tell that he's only two leaving because of because of the quality of quality of holograms mm-hmm we can also simply simulate shadows which helps for a moving a moving person we put fake shadows on the Holograms for yeah for we have a dancer as well but she needs a bit more space than in here yeah it is shadowing but I don't play shy they won the screams yeah chattering yeah she is floating yes yes exactly yeah yeah so that's that's the tech we're pursuing I showed the investors an old demo by accident what they saw was actually an old version of a technology which is why I didn't show them for too long because I didn't want them to see the the errors that we had in it but I think they were still impressed which is a good sign janosh faces an anxious wait to see whether the old demo was impressive enough [Music] at the med room office in San Paolo Sandro is putting a brave face on things keeping the team happy is vital because the one thing every startup is guaranteed to face is a setback as you prepare all the to watch more maize an osprey minister also in Campinas to the 4-cylinder perf a system known as the browser I just go for the moustaches the pain is cassava in fast-moving startup hubs like San Paolo adaptability is crucial for any would-be entrepreneur a new day a new opportunity med room has been given a chance to present its vision of the future to big health industry players but it means taking another gamble by racing to finish a new more impressive version of its virtual reality software they work on late into the night with hours to go to the presentation Sandro and the team are finally done but the new software is yet to be tested the next morning Sandro is nowhere to be seen Sandro Norah Cosentino a gelatinous catalpa so I know it's Allah with internal surveillance problems represent astonishing I wish nós temos madam an American city has a vase problem in the next room representatives of Brazil's leading med tech firms are gathered to discuss the future of health technology thinks I think the pieces are here totally listen leave the disdain to those in places on Zylstra Bali the pace med room is one of only three startups invited to demo their products after the meeting it's an amazing networking opportunity which they're about to blow Vinicius has less than an hour to download install and test the new software before the meeting breaks up on those her premier - no interesting three minutes follow mark where's professor coke where's the key and if a local director fate so the NEBOSH a god thing native African with my on a frigid winters in places you guys I take for the meeting of industry players is about to end sync represent plants Sandra taco hand abraca we know ecology that back up they make it with moments to spare and so finally does their best salesman Sandro today's autism I am the top of stupid on they had my age cause of you I'm saving for us also because I found out those claims cases resolve calamita to the solidedge talk about toys even once per channels compare myself yeah it was a nice ecology in terms of you know sometimes just getting through the day can be chalked up as a win for a weary entrepreneur [Music] eight weeks after pitching hallo me to the venture capitalists janosh has yet to hear from them so he's been stepping up his search for paying customers we gotta get that contract signed off as well cool alright this might not seem like the obvious place to find them but today the British Museum is hosting a digital design event and janosh has I had an opportunity it's very nerve-wracking to be able to show my tech for the first time he wants to show big retail firms what they could do with his product which is why he's been photographing fashion models it's part of a collaboration with fashion label Rick so demonstrating how hollow me can bring merchandise off the shelf and into the room janosh is counting on this kind of commercial application to start driving sales we use augmented reality to display them so cool that's pretty incredible with video yeah we believe by one of the first zone I've never seen it before today's conference went really well we had a lot of interest in our technology we had a lot of connections lots of business cards and lots of requests for follow-up meetings janosh looks set to be kept busy chasing down leads following up contacts and sniffing out fresh opportunities this may be the age of the entrepreneur but for many it's a thankless task a life of sacrifice and worry with the odds stacked heavily against them I'm hoping this technology will be the platform for me to realize you know the next stages in my big dreams which I'm not going to tell you about because they're my little secret they'll need more than inspiration and hard graft a good deal of luck could make the difference between surviving and thriving in the hub [Music] [Music] you you

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Keywords: The Economist, Economist, Economist Films, Economist Videos, Politics, News, short-documentary, startup, entrepreneur, the hub, new business, start-up, lean startup, tech startup, business pitch, business plan, business investment, investors, angel investors, VC, venture capital, Sau Paolo, London, virtual reality, VR, holome, holome interview, holome showcase, medroom, medroom interview

Id: MTnAQ8ftGjc

Length: 21min 23sec (1283 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 23 2017