How we got ꜰᴏᴜʀ universities to become exclusive partners as first-time founders with no track record and no fancy brands on our CVs.
Chapter 1 of the fainin journey: working with universities
Why?
The timing seems right and we needed to find the ᴍᴏꜱᴛ ᴇꜰꜰɪᴄɪᴇɴᴛ way to onboard users and improve our product. We already had early signs of product-market fit but lacked the right unit economics.
Timeline 2023:
- August: Start the outreach to ᴅᴏᴢᴇɴꜱ of potential partners aka. online coffee dates
- September & October: Keep everyone updated & execute like crazy
- November: Start onboarding conversations & plans
- End of November: Sign term sheet
- December: Start signing contracts
Phase 1: Online Coffee Dates
As we were nobodies in the startup scene and had never talked to insitutional partners, we started talking to our existing universities. We got declined first, but the convinced our president to support us. We went on 40-50 coffee dates, having authentic and friendly conversations to get to know each other.
Phase 2: Keep Everyone Updated & Execute Like Crazy
After each coffee date, I asked if I could keep them updated on fainin's progress. Everyone said yes. Our goal was to build trust and conviction by delivering results over the next 2-3 months
Kevin worked 24/7 on building the product with Abbas and Rizwan. I was meeting with our legendary expert Marvin and multiple interns (those days our good friend Mika), making cold calls to close our first customers with our MVP. It was tough but energizing.
ꜱʜᴏᴜᴛᴏᴜᴛ ᴛᴏ Freie Universität Berlin & Kiel University ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴀᴄᴛɪᴠᴇɴᴇꜱꜱ
I sent an update email every 4 weeks, covering different areas, listing accomplishments, setting goals for the next four weeks, and always trying to overdeliver. These emails built trust and sparked interest. After my November update, we received so much interest that we decided to start the process.
Phase 3: Start contract Conversations
We created an LOI in three days and sent it to everyone we had talked to before. We had calls from 8 am to 8 pm, trying to keep everyone in the loop. I probably could write 10 LinkedIn posts just about this phase, it was intense, a constant up and down, the rollercoaster was rolling very fast.
Some Learnings:
- Keep the energy high in every call!
- Be transparent with your weaknesses
- Set a timeline and keep everyone on the same page
- Tell a compelling story & build trust - make it a conversation.
- Always be nice & never take anything personally, everybody is just doing their job.
Key Learning: Execution is everything. Your traction is more important than your CV.
Chapter 2: Scaling the public marketplace to +10k MRRs through SEO & backlink building
