The Forward Summer Accelerator ’24 journey for Warm
The Forward Summer Accelerator ’24 has been an incredible journey for Warm. When we started, we were full of energy and had high expectations. I (Kristian) had a bit of an idea of what was coming since I participated in the one-week-long Forward in the autumn, but for Jere and Miika, it was all new. Originally, our team also included Anusha, Vidya, and Alexa, but in the end, it was just Miika and me who continued. Luckily, Jere joined us, and we were off to the races.
Forward is idea accelerator program that gives you a chance to develop your business idea as first-time founder. It is organised by LUTES 1–2 times a year.
We kicked things off with a deep dive into entrepreneurship. Learning about turning an idea into a business really got us pumped. Then, we dove into understanding our customers and building our MVP. We aimed for 100 MVP testers and got 63. We also started planning a test event and began brainstorming our brand colors. Stepping out of our comfort zones to connect with people was a big focus this week.
Next, we tackled marketing and branding. We started creating our brand guidelines and worked on our logo and colors. Miika and Jere improved the code, and Samuli helped us with the built-in map. We also worked on the initial functionality of our MVP UI. This week was all about figuring out how to market our idea effectively and build a strong brand presence.
Then came pitching and selling. We completed the logical parts of our code for the MVP, though the map functionality still needed work. Our starting questions were ready but needed final tweaking. We practiced pitching our idea and learned how to sell it efficiently, getting valuable feedback from mentors.
We explored the legal steps for starting a company in Finland and looked into different funding options. An excursion to Tallinn and Helsinki gave us insights into the startup ecosystem and the entrepreneurial mindset. This was crucial for understanding the formalities of running a business and getting inspiration.
Facing our insecurities as entrepreneurs was a big theme. We learned how to grow our company and team and realized the practical challenges of running a business. We made significant progress in developing our MVP, though some goals, like VC contacts, were still in progress.
The highlight was definitely winning the demo day pitch! Perfecting our pitch and making valuable connections made all the hard work worth it. This win gave us the energy and visibility we needed to keep pushing forward.
Throughout the program, we had some main goals: getting our MVP out, planning our test event, launching a marketing campaign, scaling our MVP, and preparing for market entry. While we didn’t hit every goal, we made significant strides. Our MVP is shaping up, our brand identity is clear, and we’re confident we can pull this off.
Forward Summer Accelerator ’24 has been an amazing ride. Each week brought new challenges and achievements. We’re excited about the future and committed to bringing genuine connections and lasting relationships to our users. Stay tuned as we continue to develop and launch Warm, revolutionizing the dating experience one step at a time.
Written by Kristian Boström, COO at Warm and active LUTES community member.