Berlin Web Week may finish at the end of the week but the events will keep rolling on throughout May. Alex Farcet from Startupbootcamp and Christoph Raethke from Berlin Startup Academy and Battle of the Startup Bands will be hosting the very first live Term Sheet Negotiation event incorporating a live negotiation between a real investor and a real entrepreneur.
Aiming to take the mystery out of what has mostly been a closed and poorly understood process, the live negotiation will take place between Look Mommy! co-founder Magdalena Böttger as ‘The Entrepreneur’ and a yet-to-be-named VC investor, with US securities lawyer Brad Furber as ‘The Referee’ of the event. Attendees will watch on as they act out a mock term sheet negotiation, while explaining the fundamentals of investor negotiations.
As described by Christoph, the event will be a bit like chessboxing – when a critical point comes up in the negotiation, a gong will chime, the actors freeze, and the host steps up to explain what particular terms means, and what consequences there are for founders and investors.
Christoph told Silicon Allee why he and Alex chose to team up for this event: “Alex and I believe that understanding some basic fundamentals is a prerequisite for successfully starting a company. Generally, contracts and term sheets are not about fleecing the other party, but founders need to thoroughly understand term sheet mechanics to be sure about the relationship with their investors these documents codify.”
“Startupbootcamp and Berlin Startup Academy both have a mission to provide founders with the knowledge and network they need to avoid mistakes that may later cause the demise of their company… We believe that nothing demonstrates the approach and value of our programs better than showcasing how we work in terms of practical, expert help and advice on critical subjects that founders face in the real world.”
Alex added: “The Term Sheet Battle is an eye opener. Most entrepreneurs have no idea about how little they actually know and understand of the key terms found in term sheets. And the balance is in favor of the investors who have in some cases done hundreds of deals. So this event is about leveling the playing field and making sure both sides of the table have the knowledge to get to a good deal which is win-win.”
The free event will also feature a Q&A session as well as ample opportunities for networking. It will be held at HomeBase on May 23. Tickets to the event have already sold out, but you can add yourself to the waitlist for a chance to attend here.