Pitching is like glimpsing into your startup’s future.

SET University is carving out a space for students to develop and realize their startup ideas. Among the university’s numerous instructors, Alexa Sinyachova—co-founder of Moeco, mentor at Techstars, lecturer in the master’s program at SET University, and bootcamp WE.Brave, organized by SET University with the support of the USAID Competitive Economy Program in Ukraine — also lends her expertise in idea crash-testing.

In an interview for the SET University blog, Alexa shares the challenging journey of the Moeco startup and the lessons that can be drawn from it by those just starting to develop their idea. She also discusses why it’s crucial to test the idea in real life before beginning development.

Currently, all students have startup ideas in their minds. Moeco also started from a concept once. How did you come up with the startup and the first version of the product?

I met Moeco’s co-founder, Mitya Gorilovsky, at the CES (International CES or International Consumer Electronics Show). We exchanged ideas, and he proposed a platform technology that aggregated data from the entire Internet of Things infrastructure. For instance, you enter a restaurant online, place your orders online, and your order is automatically sent to the kitchen and then delivered to you by a robot. The entire process can be tracked on a single platform.

This technology would eventually become Moeco’s first product.

For the first six months, we searched for an efficient business model that fit our idea and would allow the company to earn steadily. Then we applied to the Plug and Play accelerator — a reverse pitch accelerator. At it, large Fortune 500 companies pitch their goals and look for startups to work with.

At one of the pitches, we offered to digitalize a client’s infrastructure with our startup, and we gained a lot of contacts and began working with them, digitizing processes at their enterprises.

However, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, one of our clients wanted to track processes between his enterprises, not just at one. He had several enterprises in Europe and needed to monitor the logistics between them. We adapted our technology and developed a disposable sensor for cargo. The sensor collects real-time data via mobile communication: cargo movement, temperature, humidity, cargo condition, whether the cargo has been opened, or if there are damages. It gathers data from “magic dust.” The dust provides the sensor with data about all indicators.

It’s important to understand that we track the cargo itself — not the container it’s transported in. Our competitors track containers, unlike us.

How many times have you changed your product since its debut?

Initially, our sensors were designed to be reusable. However, after discussing with a client, we realized it was difficult for them to collect the sensors at the end of the route and send them back. So, the startup’s co-founder came up with the idea to make the sensor disposable. After that, it went through two or three iterations of changes, and now we’ve reached a point where we don’t want to change it anymore.

With each iteration of our products, we actively talked to clients and analyzed case studies. It’s very important to talk to clients a lot and draw conclusions — it helps improve the product.

Based on your experience, what are the common mistakes startups make on their way to successfully implementing their product?

Most often, it’s not forming a development strategy. It should be created in advance and will help not to get lost in case business circumstances change. For example, you do this if something happens, or something else if the situation is different.

The strategy should be flexible, with market analysis and several options for change. To test its reliability, you can actually ask just a few questions:

1. Who is your client?
2. What problem do they have?
3. Are they solving this problem without you? If so, how?
4. Tell a story about your client. Then go and ask them if this story is real and if it needs to be changed.

Imagine there’s Bob, who works at a factory. He doesn’t understand how to purchase a new batch of equipment and only uses Excel for this. But if he had a cool interface, he could track the wear and tear of equipment in real-time and order new equipment only when absolutely necessary, saving the company money in the process.

Customer interviews are also part of the training at SET University. We teach students what questions to ask and how to listen correctly. It’s crucial to ask the client the right questions and do it continuously, after each project iteration.

Do you notice these mistakes in SET University students you teach?

Students often fail to “ground their ideas.” And that’s normal; I’ve been there too, and there’s nothing shameful about it. How does this happen? Founders come up with an idea, and it sounds so cool — you want to start working on it right away without asking questions or crafting stories. But it’s important to go through the mentioned stages — they test the idea for realism and prevent early mistakes.

We also discuss contracts between co-founders during our sessions with students. This is formalizing your collaboration on paper — a contract also helps outline the specific work and role of each co-founder in the startup. The contract is not a fixed quantity; it can change depending on any changes in the collaboration between founders.

It might seem like unnecessary bureaucracy, but a contract allows you to understand your interaction most effectively. You need to be honest with each other, and say what you want and don’t want to do. Maybe, besides co-founders, advisors need to be involved. But the details need to be discussed with everyone.

It never happens that co-founders argue, and the company thrives.

Tell us about the pitches of SET University graduates.

Students prepare their startup project throughout the course and then pitch it at the final presentation. The pitch goes through all stages, and it’s the best way to check: do you want to bring this idea to life or not?

I think about 50% of our course attendees will continue to develop their ideas. Every time, people who wanted to work on their project, listen to feedback, and share came to the theoretical classes. They wanted to hear other people, what was happening to them. They honestly asked about their fears.

When students pitch, they immerse themselves in the atmosphere of their future startup. And it gives an understanding of whether to proceed with the project. It’s like looking into the future and thinking: do I like myself there, do I not like myself, do I like this company, do I want to work there? The final pitch provides the final answers to the questions.