Location Bratislava SARIO´s Slovak Start-up Development Program and Start-Up Awards competition gave them the opportunity to get into the global IT center in Silicon Valley, to center stage of action, where you can meet for example with the president of SKYPE. They can see the added value of his time in Silicon Valley mainly in expansion of their contacts with a start-up community and in obtaining important information based on which they will be able to further process their product development strategy. After a month spent in the USA in the Accelerator Program in Plug and Play Tech Center the representatives of two best ranked start-up companies in the competition Start-up Awards, held in November last year shared with us their experience. Project: Nicereply.com Company Name: Websupport Company Ltd. Statements provided by: Matej Ftáčnik Where do you see the added value of your participation in Plug and Play? It lies mainly in our contacts with people and with whole start-up community in Silicon Valley. People like our product but it has to offer even more than it does now. What differences you have noticed in business support in the U.S. and Slovakia? In the U.S. promotion of entrepreneurship and especially innovative business really works. In Slovakia we are just learning how to do it, and not always it works as we wish. Slovak entrepreneurs must learn that to fail is not bad and that they should try again. The legislation must be ready for this and also people's minds have to be changed. If you would like to know more about Silicon Valley through the eyes of representatives of Nicereply.com project, visit their blogs at: https://blog.truban.sk/or https://ftacnik.co/. Project: Coverpage.com Name of Company: MONOGRAM Interactive Statements provided by: Robert Mindžák Where do you see the added value of your participation in Plug and Play? It is feedback, mentoring, advice on product. Based on these we are able to clarify our product development and sale strategies. What would you recommend to other Slovak innovative start-ups after one month spent e in the Plug and Play? They should carefully prepare their product, make thorough market research, look for clients in the U.S. market, and create a mass of first users. And they have to know to present the product very simply and to the point. What do you think is necessary for young innovative start-up companies from Slovakia to succeed in U. S. market? The company has to be able to sell itself. They have to be the team with the idea and design, and have to be passionate about their business. And how do they present Slovakia? In their own words, except for Slovak flags on tables, at every possible occasion, they proudly present their native country, write blogs and claim that SARIO´s pavilion is one of the few where "it really lives".
