Intro
Our founders had the chance to participate as speakers at the latest edition of the FirstMonday event series organized by Startup Hungary in April. They were invited to speak about how BrokerChooser managed to grow organically and without external financing during the pandemic.
Why was it important for us to participate at Startup Hungary’s event?
Having been part of a great community at the beginning of our journey in the incubator program of the Central European University’s Innovations Lab, we know firsthand that having a supportive community is essential to achieving our goals as a startup. That’s why we think events like this are a great opportunity to share stories and experiences, and to inspire and help other entrepreneurs along their own journeys.
One key piece of advice we gave the audience and future entrepreneurs - based on our own experience - was to always have safety reserves. You never know when an unexpected event will hit, so it’s essential to have backup plans and capital. After significant initial growth, we learned the hard way during the pandemic what it’s like to be running a loss-making company. However, as we had used our forward-looking mindset and accumulated significant safety reserves, we managed to keep our team and work even harder to improve our products. As a result, we turned the company profitable again without relying on VC fundraising.
What were our most memorable moments from FirstMonday?
It was inspiring to see how many people were drawn to the event and asked us questions. Throughout the evening, we had the chance to meet many people from other fields and with different backgrounds. We also met someone from one of our broker partners, who said that he likes BrokerChooser's idea, implementation and the stories we told at the event. Receiving such positive feedback is always encouraging, and it motivates us to push ourselves even further.
What were the key takeaways for the audience?
Perhaps the key takeaway was that there is no single magical recipe for building a startup; but planning, taking risks and building a strong team are all important. For anyone wanting to develop professionally, a good piece of advice is that it’s OK to make mistakes, because you can ultimately learn from them - so don't be afraid to take risks sometimes. It’s also normal to learn on the job, as you don’t need to be an expert in everything to create a successful business. Finally, you need to engage talented people who can contribute to your company's goals with their knowledge, experience and personality; and use them to build a strong team.
We would like to thank Startup Hungary for the invitation and look forward to the next event. Follow this link to stay up to date on future events by Startup Hungary.
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