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“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.”
While we may not be in Westeros, the sentiment still holds – especially for young startups looking to succeed in the cutthroat tech world; the difference here is that startups are playing for investments, success and long term sustainability – and only the strongest survive.
So what can you do to win the game of enterprise PoC?
1. Sign up for prooV
If you are playing the PoC game, you already know that you are operating in a highly competitive and ever-changing world. Only those startups that successfully complete a PoC with a large-scale enterprise can look towards the ultimate goal of long-term sustainability and growth (and eventually becoming an enterprise themselves).
ProoV is a revolutionary Pilot-as-a-Service platform that brings together startups and enterprises in order to simplify the PoC process by reducing the need for middlemen and networking tod put the focus back on the technology. As a startup looking to make a difference and win enterprise PoC’s, the prooV platform is the most cost effective and ROI-focused solution there is.
With prooV, you just have to integrate once with their secure cloud system in order to gain access to dozens of open calls for PoC’s by globally recognized enterprises. This advantage is offered both to startups and to enterprises, making it a win-win solution for all parties involved. Since enterprises can run dozens of PoC’s with hundreds of startups at the same time and without any additional integrations, they love the idea of the prooV marketplace, for startups this is the optimal solution since it brings the startup decision makers one step closer to PoC success.
2. Understand your product limitations
Signing up for prooV is only half the battle; if you want to win the PoC game and successfully prove your products capabilities on a real enterprise ecosystem, you need to first understand your product’s limitations. It will do you no good to try your hand at a PoC when your product cannot meet the PoC demands.
When signing up for the prooV platform, it’s easy to get swept away by the ease of joining a PoC and try to offer your product for every open call out there. If you are truly looking to win enterprise-level PoC’s, you need to understand your product’s limitations in order to assess what PoC’s will be relevant for you to participate in then focus your energy there. Not understanding your product and the ins-and-outs that make it unique will lead to countless wasted hours and resources.
3. Participate in as many (relevant) PoC’s as you can
That being said, if you want to successfully complete a PoC with an enterprise, you have to leverage the numbers in your favor. To do that, you should participate in as many relevant PoC’s as you can. prooV simplifies this for you by bringing enterprises to their platform and letting you see at a glance what they need, but if you want to win a PoC, you have to be proactive.
What does this mean? It means, stay updated and pay attention to every call for a PoC that goes live; it means pinpointing the ones that your product could be a good fit for and working hard to meet the enterprise’s needs; it means getting up from an unsuccessful PoC and starting the process all over again!
4. Communicate with the Enterprises launching the PoC
Part of the problem with PoC’s is the lack of communication between the enterprises and the startups. Without truly understanding (and internalizing) the enterprises needs, you will never be able to meet them. If you want to complete a successful PoC and win this game of startups, you need to do everything you can to improve communication channels with the enterprises.
Once again, the prooV platform simplifies this for you with the easy-to-use PoC dashboard and messaging functionality, but it is your job to ask the questions, get the additional information you need and ensure the PoC specifications are met.
5. Constantly implement feedback from unsuccessful PoC’s
Like any relationship, even the bad ones can bring you some good in the long run. If you participate in a PoC and do not win, you should always look at it as a learning experience. Take the time to examine what your product offered and what was needed by the enterprise, and see what enhancements and developments could have improved your chances of winning the PoC. If possible, ask for feedback on your product and try to address the functionalities that may help you win an enterprise startup in the future.
