This is an article long overdue. I am happy I finally found the time to write it down.

As every year I joined Lisbon Challenge for their new batch of companies. The list was impressive with teams coming from all around the world including “the usual suspects” Brazil, Portugal and … Bulgaria (recalling Eventyard in 2013).

The selection increases in quality every year and for me this participation is no work but pure pleasure. The organizing team has not changed much and they do an incredible job. Kudos to @Pedro, @Ricardo, Bashara, Sofia and all the other great people there that make a difference – I am your fan since 2013!

Not surprisingly I took part in the last two stages of the programme – Product and Scalability. The companies made an even more mature impression than last year – founders openly discussed their idea, business model and growth plans. The businesses mostly had first clients and a clear idea what works and what does not in their field. Problems were being discussed openly and options seemed to have been weighted well before talking them over. Even my brainstorming skills did not have to come in use (which is a good sign!). In sum, could feel the pleasant breeze of my favorite no-nonsense culture.

The businesses I met included the extreme sports community Leap,  pet caretaker marketplace BauBNB and the smart pic web monetization service ClinkPic. It would be unfair to pinpoint what we discussed with each startup but the long list included performance benchmarking, industry metrics, customer acquisition, retention strategy, internationalization, perceived loyalty, behavioral patterns, product virality.

Wishing luck to all! Godspeed.