Field Forward Episode #4: The role of investment and the startups in industrial organizations

Welcome to Episode 4 of Field Forward!

🎙️ Host: Cihat Kahraman, CEO and Co-Founder of VSight

In this episode, we explore the pivotal role of investment and startups in shaping the future of industrial organizations. Learn how digital transformation and startup-driven solutions are helping companies adopt innovative tools, such as connected worker platforms, digital work instructions, and AR remote assistance to enhance productivity and stay competitive.

What’s Covered in Episode 4

✅ Investment Trends in Industrial Technology:
Discover the latest trends in industrial tech investment and their transformative impact.

✅ How Startups Drive Industrial Innovation:
Explore how startups introduce agile, cutting-edge solutions that boost productivity and streamline workflows.

✅ Integrating Digital Workflows and AR Remote Support:
Learn the benefits of implementing tools like digital work instructions, SOPs, and AR remote assistance for training and process optimization.

✅ Case Studies of Industry-Startup Partnerships:
Hear real-world examples of how industrial organizations are collaborating with startups to accelerate transformation and achieve meaningful results.

Why Listen?

💡 This episode is ideal for:

• Industrial Leaders: Discover how to leverage tech investments and startup partnerships for a competitive edge.
• Field Operations Professionals: Gain insights into adopting digital tools to streamline operations.
• Tech Enthusiasts: Learn about the latest connected worker platforms and AR applications.

Get Involved!

📣 Share your thoughts or questions! Submit them via the link below to be featured in future episodes.

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➡️ https://www.speakpipe.com/vsight

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🔗 #FieldForwardPodcast #IndustrialInnovation #ARRemoteSupport #DigitalTransformation #StartupCollaboration #ConnectedWorker #TechInvestments #SOPOptimization

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🌐 VSight Workflow: https://vsight.io/vsight-workflow/
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Transcript

0:00

[Music] welcome to field forward the ultimate A2Z podcast for field operation professionals  um in this podcast just like every week uh we explore the latest trends strategies and top  tips for optimizing productivity and efficiency in industrial organizations um not only startups not  only IND indes but also uh other pillars like uh investors for example this week is going to be uh  the first episode that we are having uh an an an investor standing point so um I'm your host Cihat  Kahraman the CEO and co-founder of [Music] VSight and today uh the head of Business Development at  startup Wise Guys our very own startup Wise Guys uh our very own Mariia Tintul is with us  uh we will be exploring the role of investment and startups in industrial organizations and  startups that are um trying to trying to crack the markets uh especially especially in XR especially  especially uh what are what are the behind behind the scene what are what are happening so joining  us Maria from Startup Wise Guys welcome Maria hello and thank you for having me sure are very  very happy to have you here uh I'm very glad I think we have met uh back in 2019 uh when we were  in the acceleration program in Vilnius in Startup Wise Guys yeah yeah yeah exactly and uh you were a  mentor back in that time there and then um but now we will learn more so yeah can you tell us about  yourself I know you very well but can you tell us about yourself and how you got involved with  Startup Wise Guys uh and what was your kind of inspiration what is the behind scene sure happy to  uh first off thank you so much I think it's super important to have podcasts like yours and uh I'm  hoping that you gain your audience uh I know it's not easy to look for it in the beginning but guys  uh do reach out to others who might be interested in this podcast now about me so yes my name is  Maria I am Ukrainian and I work with International sales uh it feels like all my life but uh in fact  it's only 10 years so I've started a while ago uh from very simple sales position in like it company  and from that moment on I started learning more and more and more about business development about  International expansion what does it mean to have an international business how to enter new markets  why do you need to care about your positioning and branding and messaging and and all of these  fancy names and things so I have worked in it Outsourcing for quite a while and my last gig was  with very specific niched company like agency that was doing arvr development so I'm in the field  for five years I worked with various Brands and businesses all around the world from funny things  like creating an insta filter for blacke piece to serious things like launching the first 5G Network  in Norway using augmented reality case so you know the experiences you get in life you never know  what it where it gets you um but yeah well I think uh when we met with you I was still just a mentor  in h the Startup Wise Guys so I've been in this status for two years and I have been mentoring  on well mainly sales International Business Development and a little bit of networking because  I was also quite a traveler on all the business conferences or start startup conferences all  around the world so that was also in my pocket and then at some point I don't know it just happened  you know Cristo our CEO reached out to me saying that there will be this new program and he would  really like it if I could join and maybe lead it as the main coach I felt it's an interesting  challenge to have so I joined and I didn't even finish that first batch but I was promoted to  head of Business Development so I started working with him on business expansion looking for new  opportunities opening new verticals for example XR that we opened just last year in the Wise Guys I  might have had a couple of things to do with it and yeah so if you don't mind I will just  talk a little about the Startup Wise Guys we're an international investor absolutely absolutely  we're an international investor we have uh quite a number of portfolio companies in our Investment  Portfolio and we're an accelerator so we work with preed stages and startups from all over the globe amazing but when you were talking about uh your journey with startup Wise Guys I I heard  this story like a lot like not story but I heard this starting point a lot like yeah we met with  Christobal and this happened or yeah we were just like there with Christobal and that happened so I  I heard this a lot of times so this is crazy yeah yeah fun saying that uh you need to have a coffee  with Christo like everyone has that coffee with Christobal moment where they were like okay I'm  getting hired exactly exactly but uh yeah we are sending our greetings to Christobal from  here so yeah very loud one um anyways but yeah speaking of Startup Wise Guys I want to ask  you more actually that like the thing is I mean since 2019 Startup Wise Guys also uh grow grew  um enormously like currently as far as I know you have like around 400 right 400 active Investments  uh and uh it is obvious that there there must be a deliberate approach in your investment uh  focus in terms of Industries Etc like and could you please elaborate on on the strategy back  in back in the stage like how do you go to the selecting specific sectors for your portfolio or  you don't have any any specific um kind of kind of focus uh you're just like getting everything  like how how does it happen what is the strategy behind it we're actually quite detailed in terms  of where we invest although hear in the number of 400 Investments you would think that that's  maybe not the case but no all 400 are in B2B that's the Ser lining that's our expertise  that's how we differentiate on the market so all of the startups in our portfolio are B2B focused  and then look we're on the market for 11 years so of course there has has been an evolution to the  investment thesis right all along the way so back in 2012 when we just started it was B2B  SaaS and back then it was already super detailed right because like wow SaaS companies are only  just starting so you know but now it's every second business out there especially like in  the digital field it's like almost uh every eight in a 10 uh startup room so just like  what's going to happen with I'm sorry just like what's going to happen with AI startups I think  in five six years it's going to be exactly the same exactly yeah yeah yeah so of course  we had to like differentiate and uh the first vertical that we opened specifically was fch  then we went into cyber security sustainability extended reality we've tried a couple of things  around industry 4.0 but I wouldn't say that we found our approach for it to become a separate  vertical just yet so it's still under our general B2B sauce um what else this year I'm opening a VB  Tre program and next year we will have our very first property and construction tag uh vertical batch very interesting uh very very interesting great I mean yeah like but like overall how do  you identify the startups to invest in like what are the criterias to consider because I want this  episode I mean I got a lot of inquiries from from startups that you know about like get to  know startup Wise Guys also that's why I wanna I want I wanna I want to address those questions  also like I mean what are the criterias uh of of startups especially what happens there what  is what is what is the promising startup for you well um to be very fair since we're playing in  the preed game which is very early we're mostly making our bets on the the founders team like uh  of course we have some uh technical criteria so the company has to have a MVP that is working the  company has to have some first attraction it can be poc's it can be Lois with potential customers  it can be payments which all also ranks you a bit higher in our pipeline in terms of selection  but generally U we're looking in the very first initial traction we just need to know that there  is someone out there needing your product so that that's how I can quantify it right  and then yes so we're preced investor our average investment ticket is usually €100,000 and we have  the follow on opportunity of 250 um what else we are working with mostly the preed startups we do  not do any direct Investments and also we give the preference to two and more founder driven  teams so solo Founders are more of exception uh from the rules for us simply because you know  you need Partners in order for you to survive on the market so uh that's also our thinking  behind it and then yeah well when we're looking into the verticals that I have named I guess the  main thing is that we have specific funds that are operating and investing in those verticals  so we have General Partners who are experts in the vertical and they are the ones doing the  assessment of what's the market opportunity for this idea how Innovative it is is it something  you know is it really an innovation to the market or are you just re accommodating let's say the  usual um pipeline or uh methods of working but maybe you're reimagining it or improving it in  a way I would say that generally for the startup Wise Guys our mission is to help Founders become  entrepreneurs and build sustainable International companies and the word sustainable here we almost  translate as the betterment of society it can be very down to earth you know helping with  operational processes I don't know Factory automatization or HR processes optimization  whatever it is or of course it can be Green Tech climate Tech and something around education so  we're quite broad because we have this B2B size program and we're running it twice a year so  that's where if you're not under any of the named specific verticals you can still go to this B2B  SAS usually bil or thain program and there we would find a place for any product from the market amazing amazing thanks when when you mentioned all the story I remembered my my  first uh first uh um kind of touch point with startup Wise Guys Christal was uh was  doing the pitch like uh introducing uh startup Wise Guys to the startups and the first slide  was we help Founders to become entrepreneurs so that that was the main motto motto back in that  time on slide so I guess it it is kind of kind of related yeah yeah yeah cool um and I want to get  a bit personal of course here and I want to ask you why did you invest in Vite in particular um  well first off the team and uh it might feel awkward for you to listen to this but we do  believe there is a great team behind the product and usually for us it's uh can these people make  it happen sometimes we look at the project or the product or technology whatever it is you guys are  creating and we're thinking oh my God that's so bad like you will have to Pivot so many times  on on your way but if we see that the people people behind it can make it happen and have  the drive have the fun in it have the you know the the will to actually make the most out of  it that's where we invest so I think with you guys it was super interesting because you were  already thinking about how to approach this more industrial type of audience which needs a lot of  help like uh for us it's also always a question can we actually help this team and do they need  us like where can we push them so that it makes sense and for them it's also a very um useful  time that they would be investing because in the end of the day you're with us for at least three  months and now we're sometimes doing five months programs with the breaks in between so it's quite  an investment right and you want to spend this time not just learning basics of the business  but getting introductions speaking to investors getting some unique experiences that you would  not otherwise find on udmi or somewhere else so yeah I think with you guys it was simple  we believed that this team can deliver and then we just needed to figure out how can we help very happy to be part of it since then so thanks a lot great um I want to kind of  elaborate further and ask you like are there any other startups in the same domain like  either manufacturing Etc like I know fractory uh in the similar but can you can you give us  a bit of like more ins about rational behind it and what specific factors and opportunities do  you find compelling when investing in the in the manufacturing scene for example I  would say it's difficult because you guys are fcing facing a very conventional business in  front of you so bringing Innovation especially back in 2019 uh speaking about XR technology  is I'm pretty sure that was quite a KN for you to crack right so uh I would say that  over these oh my God it's been four years over these four years there has been more and more  openness to the XR Technologies overall so I think larger corporates are you know getting  there they are understanding that hey okay it seems like it's inevitable for me to try at  least so they would be more open but I guess you're the one to tell all the experiences  about how it's difficult to actually open the door especially when you guys were starting oh my oh my like like don't don't like I can't I can I can just speak until the morning  about this I mean I remember like we would bring some some Exar tools or smart glasses  to the meetings with big with big corporations and the big guys would come and just like look  at it and take selfies with it and they would just go you know like okay guys like we are  here for the meeting would you like to hear more and stuff so no like so it's the same I  can talk about talk about this until the morning I think yeah yeah yeah but I guess like in four  years also a lot of things happened you know so I mean with metaverse uh with apple I mean it is it  is obviously kind of opening new doors uh people knows about it and I guess Co especially for our  industry for remote work and for more digital work I think uh like even though maybe the pandemic is  over but I guess uh the the the the perception and the sea level especially in manufacturing  companies is completely dramatically changed so I guess that is the biggest impact in that four  years that happened because now the barriers are much lower I would say uh comparing to 2019 like  the beginning time so I would say it is it is much more different so you well I would even say that  probably even from the structural perspective the companies have changed because they now have the  innovation managers then I have have a different approach to actually running poc's and working  with different um startups right so they have the vehicle to actually Implement absolutely and they  don't see XR as just seam park right but they actually see that there are so many competitors  using it so potentially we need to implement it but back to your question from our portfolio we  do have more investments in Industry 4.0 or just general you know Manufacturing and like  this heavy uh Industries uh background we have such investments in our sustainability  uh on that very first program when I joined I had two teams from Latin America doing autom  automatization of the manufacturing floor is one of them and then another one was doing more like  logistical chains and a digital dashboard for you to see all the processes all throughout  the um Manufacturing facil facility Z because they had actually more and they could combine  it all into One dashboard so I think why we're investing in this industry well it's obviously  necessary we all see how this world works and there could be so much Innovation implemented  and then uh of course on the other side it's also a very difficult field so we want to try  to give New Perspective and new resources to the startups that are trying to enter it interesting one interesting one yeah yeah uh but overall I think it is also still very  hard I mean nothing changed uh with like working with big corporations as a startup especially in  the Exar or manufacturing like for example like do you have any tips for startups that are kind  of uh trying to collaborate uh with established Industries uh to make them more Innovative make  them more like digital uh enhance their efficiency uh do you do you have any tips on your side have  you what are what are the key things that you would suggest for a startup that is trying to  crack a very very very very conservative market like ours uh what what are what are  the key things for you yeah I'll put my sales head on um I would say you need to find your  Champions that would actually bring you uh to the table so you either need to find an interesting  for example consultant or integrator or you know somebody who is already working with these people  and then you need to sell to them the idea of how how much better the world would have been if your  Innovation have been implemented uh with their customers or their Partners so if it's kind of  I don't know uh when you're very early stage and you're just starting it has to be charity from  their side but then they have to believe in the idea and maybe you can take them as an Advisory  Board member or you know maybe you can give them even I don't know 1% of your business but they  would become your Advocate on the serious level not just somebody saying oh wow yeah that's so  cute that's really nice good luck in your Market entry but actually do this with you and Champion  with you uh and then you can do the same in the organizations especially with more like more  open-minded positions like Innovations managers or you know people that work on implementing new  methodologies and uh processes into the company day day-to-day routine um so I would say that yeah  the first steps are always looking for a trusted respected voice that could speak on your behalf  or that could introduce you to the grown-ups table so that you can enter and start your conversation very nice one and I would totally agree I would totally agree for us also that is  that is the main strategy overall uh but I would I would totally agree with everything that you said  so you cool um also I know that especially for XR you you you like as far as I know you you've run  two exr batch in startup Wise Guys right and uh also that was the first acceleration uh investing  in Exar in Europe as far as I know that's also what I know um so um how do you see the current  status of the market I mean a lot of things have changed uh since uh since since those batches  also like metaverse was whoop and then like apple Vision Pro since like we were waiting for since  2017 I I guess so what is going to happen like what is the current status and how do you see  the next two three years in the market what what do you see here oh that's a good one thanks well  uh so I will start from the beginning uh yes basically we have opened the first investing  program in Europe that is working with uh XR startups specifically and is not focused on only  educating them about XR if you know what I mean but actually bringing them to the general business  perspective entering doors or opening doors for them and so on there are there are a couple of  programs of course in the European level uh around uh different initiatives on XR field most of them  are Mentor driven not investment driven um and I think actually the numbers behind our applications  funnel have obviously shown that there was such a need for a business acceleration program with  invest M involved in this field so we started last year and actually when I was drafting the program  it was super funny because uh we were right after the meta have renamed so we have been seriously  considering whether we should name it startup Wise Guys XR or startup Wise Guys metaverse  and we decided towards XR because we think it's more serious and if we just called it metaverse  we were so afraid to receive tons of [ __ ] uh as applications and like businesses that are applying  but yeah um and now of course I think there is a new Spike towards it thanks to Apple uh so the  Vision Pro uh release it has sparked some eyes on the market I don't know how to even explain  it it's like my previous experiences have also been around um working with creative agencies  like branding agencies in Ukraine and from 2018 I have been trying to do as many lectures about  XR as I could so I would enter the room full of salespeople in The Branding or creative agency  and I would give like one hour of examples of how different brands are using XR in their marketing  campaigns because I thought it's one of the drivers and now I know one of the directors  of the creative agency out of Ukraine that you know he was like oh my God this apple Vision  Pro is actually finally telling me that we can do something in XR so I think maybe not in our field  because we're we're geeking out about XR for a while now right but I think it has involved well  not yet because it's not out on the market but it will involve quite a broader audience to actually  look towards XR not only in terms of buying a plus PlayStation VR headset or Oculus VR headset  for you to just play I don't know um some of the VR games but actually do something uh business  related and um yeah so we have run two buches uh we have invested in 10 teams in the first one nine  teams in the second one and we will definitely do the next one uh next year I don't know the  dates yet probably second part of the year and it's super exciting I'm super have we're doing this cool cool cool glad to hear but also like for us also kind of like it was the same  we never used uh meta or meta wor in uh in our marketing campaigns or anywhere on the documents  Etc so it was completely out we didn't want it to get involved but uh this time this spike is  kind of different I see it different and having having such a device and in every Market such a  complicated device and made simple uh I would say with the with the with the with the user  experience also uh I would expect uh something big so let's see we are I'm stay tuned I'm I'm  very excited so let's see let's see um speaking of the startups uh and Exar startups specifically um  I want to also ask you that's one of the questions that we got a lot uh and actually it's also going  to kind of put some put some light on our startups also so comparing to other startups what are what  are the differences uh regarding the investment process coaching uh and what is the difference  especially from the founders perspective I want to ask you that thanks um investing perspective  I think because of how wide the angle of our investment is we of course see differences  between uh various verticals and I would say xar is coming out of development agencies mostly um  we have seen a lot of like creative teams that have been working as subcontractors for different  VR um tools or projects uh uh are now coming up with their own products and it's uh interesting  but also challenging because they are used to the business model where you're always  self-sufficient meaning as an agency you kind of need to run your cash flow so that you can  pay salaries and you're almost never looking for investors for such type of business and  when you're switching to the product I think some of them are getting caught up with still having  an ageny as a side business and trying to pay for the development of this product in like in  the cost of the agency which is bad like don't do that it's just it's two different businesses they  have to have their own separate unit economics and if you want the agency to pay for something  qualify them as your investor and actually make it properly because if the investor comes in and they  see that this is not your focus business or that you're still running M majority of your operations  in the agency business they will get doubts or they will simply not invest because it's not a  scalable idea when the founder has to operate in between two different businesses so I would say  it's one of the tendencies that we saw with the two budgets and scouting Seasons we had and trust  me we've seen number of applications because for the first cohort I had 160 applications for the  second cohort we got 360 applications already so um um we've looked through the market yeah yeah  and uh another thing is actually that I think the startups are uh a little bit higher uh the  valuations are a little bit higher than in more generic B2B uh business specters I don't have an  answer as to why exactly but uh that's something that we see I I would ask that actually like why  why it is like that why I'm I think because of how specific the technology is and how specific  the business cases are and usually it's kind of a little bit easier for you to get your first PC  so Lois with businesses that are looking for XR if you know what I mean like um I don't know if  you work with qualcom if you work with meta if you get the uh grants from apple or HTC for you  to start developing your business then all of a sudden you're validated by a big corporate right  but it doesn't mean that you got your traction on the market and I think that's a big misconception  with XR people like we're so nerdy in our own crowd like I see XR events and there's always  the same people sometimes we attract somebody from the outside who's like curious but most  most of it is the same XR personalities speakers influencers just going from one XR meeting to  another and I think it's cool like you have your own comfy Zone where you know everyone and they  fully understand your problems but then it doesn't reflect your business perspective meaning almost  none of the XR businesses are actually XR like the the audience for them is XR maybe in deep  deck when you're working with I don't know 3D generation or optimization of VR experiences  or creation of haptics hand tracking and so on then yeah sure you need to go to XR places  because that's your audience but for many of us like you're not the one supposed to be hanging  out at XR meetups because you need to be at the manufacturing uh congresses you need to  be at exhibition floors of all the Innovation for I don't know Factory management and so on  right um so that's the biggest get the hands dirt yeah I know yeah but that's the biggest  mistake that I see XR Founders are doing because of how comfortable it is to stay  in this line you do not even recognize yourself as Medtech startup or industry 4.0 startup no no  I'm in exr I'm here is fine no it's not go out there and find your group because you need to  be where your customers are if you want to whine about Technologies about Apple taking to loan or  something else you can go every once in a while for the XR crowd stuff but otherwise it's not the place good one good one good one um cool Maria uh it was an AB Absol pleasure to  have you here uh and I I I think it would be it would be amazing for the for the audience also  especially for the startups uh and other investors that wants to wants to uh wants  to get involved with the startups in Exar I think that could be that could be something  very very very important also but I would like to thank you very much uh for joining us today  and sharing your insights um making this show uh much more compelling so thanks a lot it has been  it has been absolute pleasure uh pleasure is mine dear audience don't forget to react don't  forget to like subscribe share all the per things that these platforms need please do that amazing thank you very much Maria and also from the audience we would love to have  have your feedback please leave us a comment and like subscribe just like Maria said so  please do everything that's possible and last note if you have any question question please  please send us record and send us through the link below and we will we will we will  definitely include this on the on the next shows uh as a question to um to our guests  so um thank you for listening um you just listen field forward the ultimate A2Z podcast  for field operation professionals my name is Cihat Kahraman CEO and co-founder of [Music] VSight [Music]