You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretzky
Dear friend,
My recent trip to Paris became a story of resilience and perseverance
This past week, I journeyed to Viva Tech in Paris, one of the largest Tech/Startup conferences, via a surprisingly smooth train ride.
The goal? Engage with approximately 15 new potential investors for my startup. With 1,700 investors attending sounds simple, right?
The reality, however, was quite the contrary.
I came alone and needed to start conversations with people I don’t know throughout the day, all while struggling with sweltering heat and surviving on less-than-ideal meals (on Wednesday I ate nothing more than 3 chocolate cookies until the evening).
The app was meant to be a great networking tool where you could message everyone before and during the event. But wifi and cellular internet connection was not working.
The worst part: Cold approaching people was highly inefficient. It was not possible to differentiate founders, students, corporates, investors, and other attendees.
I planned to stay about 28 hours in Paris (arriving Wednesday morning and departing Thursday afternoon). On Wednesday evening I seriously considered canceling the trip and driving back.
So, how did I remain resilient and made the best out of this trip?
By framing this endeavor as a learning experience.
Elaborating new ways and iterating my approach to reach more people.
Constant reminders of my goal and its significance.
Sprinkling in a bit of fun, by shit-talking with fellow founders about our experience and asking them to introduce me to potential investors.
