The First Energy Start-up Workshop in Slovenia: From an (Energy) Idea to a Successful Company!
Date: February 26th 2018
Author: Energetika.NET
Category: Reports
Topic:
New technologies
, Economy
Last week, Montel Energetika.NET held the first “Launch Your Own (Energy) Start-up” workshop, hosting young entrepreneurial minds from different fields of study and interest at Srečna hiša (“Happy House”) in Lukovica pri Domžalah, Slovenia. The participants received guidelines on communicating new solutions, innovative products, and establishing and running a new company from the Director of Montel Energetika.NET, Alenka Lena Klopčič Klopčič, the Director and co-founder of the ABC Accelerator, Urška Jež, the Director of the successful Slovenian energy start-up DS Meritve, Dejan Lešnik, and Peter Kobal, an entrepreneur, who was the first in Slovenia to attract development capital for the company he was heading at the time, whereas now, he invests in energy start-ups.

“Failures make us stronger, but some can also be avoided”

However, substantial material resources or finances are actually not the main precondition for launching a start-up, as the key components are the right know-how and the readiness to learn – and this is exactly what start-ups get in accelerators: mentorships, contacts, and networking possibilities, which they either make use of or not. “Start-ups with a clear goal will take advantage of these opportunities, and with the right purpose in mind,” added Alenka Lena Klopčič Klopčič.
Start-ups that start off with hefty financial backing are more likely to fail

However, start-ups that are eager to get resources should be careful, added Jež. Money does not last forever and teams can expand with time, so teamwork and perseverance play a key role: “The ABC Accelerator helps start-ups go as far as possible while preventing them from selling off their shares too quickly. If a start-up really believes in the product and if the demand for it is strong, it is only a matter of time before the tables turn in favour of the product. However, the companies need to act quickly, as waiting for the right moment also means allowing more time for the idea to develop somewhere else.”
In a world of high-growth start-ups, protecting or patenting an idea is not really suitable. The most profitable thing to do is to be in tune with the consumer’s needs and to adapt the product accordingly, said Dejan Lešnik, the founder of the successful Slovenian energy start-up DS Meritve, agreeing with Jež. Lešnik explained that as he was starting out, an unfortunate mix of a lack of experience and the investors’ appetite for resources lead to him losing a large share of the company. The company’s springboard, however, was the Slovenian crowdfunding organisation Zavod ZMAG and its then Director Vladimir Milošević, who provided it with the appropriate know-how needed to ensure success in finding investors.
The investor should not meddle in the operations of the start-up, added Jež, especially if this investor is unfamiliar with its dynamics. However, the investor is welcome, and even encouraged, to expand the company’s sales network, help with production and with covering the segments which the company could not reach otherwise due to a lack of resources and channels.
Start-ups should do their own homework!


“Not only know-how – also a unique way of looking at problems will drive the team forward,” added the entrepreneur and investor, Peter Kobal, who shared some of his experiences with the young entrepreneurs, embarking on their own start-up journey – from establishing a company together with another company, to running it and contributing to a steep increase both in revenue and in profit, and finally leaving it and going on to contribute to new start-up stories.
Montel Energetika.NET’s first “Launch Your Own (Energy) Start-up” workshop was supported by the non-profit World Chicago from the U.S. and Europe’s biggest energy start-up Innoenergy.
This article is available also in Slovene.