Changing plans

Busy spring with all regional startup events, including of course Eimantas and MailerLite story. US tech scene in panic, European is trying to get a sense or just slow to react? Some large scaleups going with layoffs (now Klarna), and it's getting a little brutal. With new valuations (down to single-digit multiples) we will see unicorn production slowing down - much more revenue is suddenly needed for this fancy label.

work in progress

• Startup stats. Martynas checks LT startup database to discover median team size is pretty small.  Essentially 600 startups is 20 people or less, which looks small, but a) that's common b) plenty now get hired remote c) Instagram was acquired for $1B with 13 employees - just need to follow these examples.  
• Space. With another contract signed France might be the next base for Nanoavionics (the only revenue centre for AST SpaceMobile). Aurora (Practica portfolio) launches AuroraSat-1, also known as “The Flying Object”. Overall, the industry keeps expanding - the first UK satellite will be launched this summer. Other players in the Baltics - Astrolight, Blackswan Space, Spaceit.
• Moves. As TransferGo hires CTO from Danske, we are thinking - which of the corporates in LT is great at nurturing startup founders? Submit your view.

• Media. Great podcast with Rytis Lauris (Omnisend). Martynas and Arunas discuss lessons learned from Eimantas' MailerLite story (in LT). Andreas Helbig (Atomico) on what they are finding in the Baltics.
• Events. Startup fair - in a of couple days. Startup Ecosystem & Resources in Taiwan (May 27th). Pitching for the Change: the Impact Story (Rockit, June 2nd). RELEVATION 22 (June 29-30) - for proptech fundraising.

rounds and capital

• Civinity signs agreement with MELP employee benefits management platform and invests in the company as a business angel (looks like on-going round)
• Otherwise, activity in LT slowed down quite a bit.  On the macro, a great summary on what is happening with seed (seed VCs not sure anymore what late VCs gonna buy..). Are we possibly double-hit by having local VC funds undercapitalized? It's time for these long lists of angel investors (here and here) to show they are serious and not just opportunistic - go after founders you believe in, build syndicates and co-invest (with CoInvest), and celebrate 5 years later.

roleplay

founders' guide

• How to do multiple #1 Product of the Day Product Hunt launches
• 90+ Investors Backing Health & Fitness Startups
• Fill in - 2022 SaaS Napkin survey
• Believe in your product. Linkedin was acquired for 26 billion dollars, and yet

insights

• OODA "loop" was developed to explain why some pilots won in air combat - but also has been widely adopted as a strategic framework for startup success
• Interview with Andrej Vasilenko, on documenting Vilnius
• Good piece on why the financial system is at the core of sustainability transition (how big tech efforts are dwarfed by their cash holdings).
• Better news - Wild mammals are making a comeback in Europe thanks to conservation efforts

ecosystem

• There is a hill we were expecting a trial run, but instead having a slow climb. It's called open data, a resource that is fairly low-cost to release and has multiple positive externalities. Most importantly, it brings more trust, transparency, and efficiency to the market. Tech ecosystem can take it further - by building products and services based on open data sets, and scale these businesses once working. Data access has been a great enabler for the likes of Trafi, Okredo, no surprise Andrius Bogdanovičius (Scorify) has an opinion (in LT) about the current process.