55% of startups are failing during the first five years. Reihnold Karner addressed the difficulty in starting businesses due to lack of preparing business models and their entrepreneurship design. They limit their research which leads to misunderstanding the market and undermining their clients’ needs. These aspects along with price, must be matched with the product or a product must be made to fit such criteria. This communicates the importance of filling the gap in the market and gaining high market share. Simon Azzopardi shares such thoughts and expands on finding people that are interested or appealed by the product and eventually filtering investments. Gareth Genner comments about how product credibility and product market fit are essential for startups to attract investors. Such attractiveness differs at each stage of the startup life. There are many startups that thought about an idea where at that time nobody was interested, thus this creates the importance of entering the market when it is ready for that specific product. Additionally, he comments about the importance of investors not only aiding with finances, but also assisting with business.
Katarina Strandberg brings about the topic of female founders in the startup scene. She remarks statistics showing that they are more financially sound and more careful with their budget. She does this with the aim to bring more awareness about how they can also bring additional value.
Furthermore, Reinhold expresses his gratitude towards Malta Enterprise for their support towards startups. He thinks, “these schemes are even better that compared to the many of the European Union countries.” This financial aid is very beneficial however he notes how startups should clearly establish their business plan and product before accepting such funds. Neville Gatt asks about whether the market research carried out with regards to giving government funds to startups, is fair. Reinhold addresses the difficulty in evaluating such criteria for startups to receive grants due to limited resources. Every startup should team up with a specialized body with experience in their field or industry to help with such company positioning. For this, Malta Enterprise has brought in the world’s largest accelerator program, Plug and Play.