Tags: business VC Funding Startups
Website: ewor.com
What is EWOR
EWOR is a VC fund, more specifically an accelerator.
the main thing that EWOR does is give you money and help you in your next round hit it big. they are great at generating hype around your startup. and hype is what you need to trigger FOMO among the investors and that will lead to good evaluation. they also connect you to investors and organize casual events with investors to foster relationsships (while writing this I am flying to Hawaii for their yearly EWOR connect event)
on top of that they have now also started programs to help you hire and find customers, although I don’t have any experience
Should you apply to EWOR?
EWOR has two tracks: the traction path and the ideation path. for the traction path you need a startup that already has some traction. for the ideation path you only need an idea.
this is the theory. but in reality it is more like: there is a better deal and there is a worse deal. you can get both deals at any stage it just really depends on you, the founder, and your startup.
from my feeling they are preferring to do a traction deal with a startup that has already taken the first steps in comparison to an ideation deal with a startup that is fully at the beginning.
So, should you apply and if yes in what stage?
Let’s keep it simple: You need to be a Top G. You need to at least have a well thought out idea. You should have already come up with some kind of prototype or MVP. You or your idea must have massive potential. Unicorn must be possible (if your idea is not big enough but you are the real deal, they will take you but force you to work on another idea; so be open for that especially in the ideation stage)
If you check all of these boxes and are not someone who has done a startup before and has experience fundraising, go apply. If you already know the VC game I wouldn’t apply. In that case just raise on your own. You will get better terms.
How to get into EWOR
I am asked this a ton, that is also why I took the time to write this up :D
FIRST: read Should you apply to EWOR?
EWOR generally looks for outlier people. Lot’s of fellows fit into at least one of the following groups:
- Academic weapon
- Competitive Athlete
- Extreme Nerd
- Serial Founder
So make sure to always emphasize your outlier traits. But don’t force yourself into one of these buckets. Be you!
Focus on yourself, not on your startup. You can pivot your startup three times, but you can’t pivot yourself. EWOR knows that.
Be a giver.
Application & Selection Process
For the initial written application, here are my answers as reference: EWOR - Application Form - Answers
For the partner interview I’d recommend to prepare the following topics & questions. And you need to actively try to cover as many points as possible. Do now wait until they ask you!
- Quick Introduction
- What drives you?
- Entrepreneurial drive?
- Why are you going to be successful as a founder?
- Rebel thinking (unpopular opinions, world views etc.)
- Quick startup / idea introduction?
- Why is this going to be massive? Why you?
- What do you want to achieve in 5-10 years time
The technical challenge was with the super annoying programming language Brainfuck. This was my submission: https://github.com/0xFC3/brainfuck
if you think you belong at EWOR, contact me, then I can recommend you internally. This way you skip the automated screening of your application and go directly to partner screening.