Kerstin Bock, TonkaPR. Sebastian Rumberg at Blinkist. Nathan Williams representing StartupCamp.
Interview Transcript
Derk: But the pizzas will come of course. So to wrap it all up, two short interviews. The first of these two short interviews is with Kerstin with Sebastien. Kerstin is of Tonka PR. Super cool public ratings company. Totally in the startup scene. Are always there, super supportive, hanging around.
You also did startup media training and Sebastian was also part of that. Can you tell us in short, what is media training for startups?
Kerstin: Yeah definitely. Media training, we try to synthesis that PR is no secret, it’s more preparation. That there are very easy steps that you can learn and do on your own. You just have to know what you want to communicate to your target groups. Then be prepared for interviews and all media situations.
Derk: So Sebastien is head of communications at Blinkest [SP], received funding of [inaudible 01:04:26] right? The telecom incubator. You are so to say, a VC funded company. Is there still something to learn then about your core message, what the product is? What kind of customers you have? Is there still something to learn then?
Sebastien: Well the thing is, I started three weeks ago at the company. What I usually do is getting started talking to the founders. That’s where the fun part comes in. At the same time I sort of give in to that. I knew that it was based on PR work from experts for companies that are just getting started.
I just use it as an idea hub, just bouncing ideas back and forth with other PR media groups.
Derk: I mean, what is there when it’s so basic you know? Aren’t the basics a lot of the times the hardest things to do right?
Sebastien: When it comes to what it is all about, yes.
Derk: So do you experience this often Kerstin, you have these guys they can program super good. They are fantastic designers. Then they come to you and you ask them ‘Okay, can you explain to me in one sentence what your product is?’ And that they still struggle?
Kerstin: Yeah for sure. It’s like… they often don’t consider that to pitch a startup to the media is a different situation than pitching it a VC or anything because they know about the scene. About your business. When you pitch it to the media, you have to pitch it like it is a customer.
They don’t know anything about your startup. Yeah definitely.
Derk: So when is the next startup training for media performances? When can you announce that because people can now come over to you and subscribe right?
Kerstin: You can just check it out on our web site Google Tonka PR, we have separate media trainings. We do it like in the startups when they want us to come there.
Derk: So they go to Tonka-PR.com and there they can find the media training for startups.
Kerstin: Right.
Derk: Okay Sebastien. You have one chance to prove what you have learned during this training so I’m going to ask you a really, really tough question. No, the question is actually pretty simple. What is the thing that you love most about working at Blinkest.
Sebastien: It’s the team and it’s the idea. I know it sounds cliché, but the guys are really cool. I’ve known them for a couple of months now. The idea is even better. I read a lot of books but I stopped two years ago because of all the work.
So now combining reading and doing that meanwhile with some other stuff I’ve been busy. It’s the fun part.
Derk: Okay. Some applause for Kerstin and Sebastien, please. Because even when the audio started to sing around, he went through with his answer, which of course makes him a true professional. So Nathan Williams of Startup Camp Berlin, you’re the last person to talk on this show. Could you please come onto the stage, please?
Give it up for Nathan, ladies and gentlemen. We’re almost there, pizzas are almost there. Know your priorities. Nathan, have a seat. Okay you have one minute.
Nathan: Thank you, Derk.
Derk: Nathan, what is Startup Camp Berlin and why should people go there?
Nathan: Guys, I am really excited to tell you about Startup Camp Berlin. It’s coming up on March nth and nth. Every single person should go to it. First of all, it’s going to be the most valuable event that we have coming up this year. We have over 70 speakers.
That’s 50 hours of knowledge, wisdom, and experience that you are going to be able to take part of. In addition this year for the first time ever we are presenting the Pitch Marathon. Now I know a lot of you have heard about pitching events. This is the biggest one that Europe has to offer.
The Pitch Marathon is going to feature 80 startups that are going to be able to pitch to a room full of investors. Competing for the title of Camp Champ. The winner of Camp Champ is going to receive a prize. It’s not being announced yet, but I can tell it is worth over 70,000 Euros. So it is quite the honor to receive.
Derk: Okay, when and where?
Nathan: It’s going to be on the 15th and 16th. I didn’t write the where down. It’s going to be on the website which is S-C-B. That’s Startup Camp Berlin, S-C-B. 13 dot DE. So Startup Camp Berlin 2013.
Derk: So it’s S-C-B.
Nathan: S-C-B.
Derk: 13 dot D-E
Nathan: 13 dot D-E
Derk: Okay, and you can collect their 70,000 Euros of prize money and that is quite a big prize so if you want to go to Startup Camp Berlin. How? How do I get there.
Nathan: Well you go on the website, www.startup.scb.de and if you buy a ticket. I tell you one thing, if you use Friday at Six.
Derk: Wait…
Nathan: Friday at Six, Friday at Six as your promo code. You’ll receive a discount.
Derk: So a 50 percent discount?
Nathan: 15 percent discount.
Derk: 50?
Nathan: 15.
Derk: Okay, we have to negotiate about that later. Okay, at least 15 percent. Okay. Thank you so much, Nathan Williams of Startup Camp Berlin. Nathan: Thank you.
Derk: Okay, this is the end of the Friday at Six talk show about Berlin startups. It was a really really exciting show. Thank you so much for tuning in. We’re going to listen to one more song. Next month, the 22nd of March. We are at Tehraidmob [SP] the link to that is going to be Friday at Six40.event.bride.com so go there, follow me in event bride and you will be the first person where the event is going to be.
You can register your ticket then because it’s going to be very, very full. We only have around 200 places so today we had namely a record of people subscribing for this show. It was way about 250. I’m super happy that everybody is so engaged in this show. See you next month. Thank you for coming to Mega startup.
Thank you sponsor. My main sponsor tonight. Spreaker. The CEO Francesco Bashari is still here. Go and talk to him, he needs to get to know people in Berlin. Okay. As last part of this show, Shon Abram and his guitarist Peter Hennings.