Interview With BIH Mentor Lora Kratchounova - On Addressing Challenges And Making The Most Out Of Mentorship
Strongly passionate about marketing, Lora Kratchounova worked for global companies such as Shell Oil, where she was a Marketing Director in 1994. Since then, her roles became increasingly more strategic as she worked with Modem Media (currently Digitas), Vacation Coach (now TripAdvisor), American Express, as well as a series of startups.
She now leads the consulting and marketing practice at Scratch M+M, , an integrated B2B marketing agency based in Boston. She specializes in branding, identity, and positioning, as well as product ideation, go-to-market strategies and execution. Her services include new product/service launch, adoption, and optimization, ABM and demand generation and field marketing and lead generation.
On top of her career path, Lora is also actively involved in the local community, where she takes on mentorship roles for multiple organizations in the Boston area, including the MIT Forum, The Startup Institute and Brandeis University.
What is it that first attracted you to the B2B tech industry?
Technology makes the world go round. I started my career when the Internet came out, and, while initially, everyone was wondering whether they should have a web page, I realized that it will change the world. It did for me. If it wasn’t for technology, I would be where I am today - working with some of the most innovative technologies companies. I have worked with tech industries leaders big and small - from companies like cloud computing giants VMware, EMC/ Dell, Comcast Business, and Vultr, to new technology companies in the distributed ledger/ blockchain space such as Digital Asset, artificial intelligence companies like Domino, and quantum computing companies like Zapata and QCWare.
How did you first get in contact with BIH, and what motivated you to join its mission?
I was introduced to BIH via Momchil Michailov (Memo), the former CEO of Sanbolic. My team at Scratch Marketing + Media, collaborated with Memo to grow his technology company towards its acquisition by Citrix. Memo connected with Pavlina Yanakieva. This is how I got exposed to BIH. Once I realized that BIH is focused on growing tech innovators in Bulgaria and the region, I was sold. Enabling tech innovators from my country/ region is something I always wanted to do. Being a long-standing mentor at TechStars Boston (and now also at TechStars Web3), Intel Ignite Boston, and CIC for over 10 years now, I wanted to give back to my own people.
What specific challenges do startups face when scaling to the US market, and how can they overcome them?
Like any startup, building a foothold in a new region is really tough. Most startups don’t have access to the market, need to validate their product/ market fit, and need a business plan on how they can launch and grow. Easier said than done. Startups from Bulgaria and the region usually don’t know the market here and cannot easily adapt their teams or approach to make it work in the US.
While each company’s challenges may be somewhat unique, what startup teams can do is connect with local experts (go, BIH mentors), and get practical advice on how to best launch and establish presence in the US. It is likely they would also need to raise more funding to make in a big market such as the US.
What common challenges do startups face when entering new markets, and how can they mitigate these risks?
Challenges and risks are many. The challenges I would like to focus in on how you launch and create a foothold in a new market:
Sharpen your value proposition to a specific segment of the market. While your tech may be able to solve the pains or gains of multiple segments, you need to show progress in one segment before you can expand to others.
Focus on sales, and only then build your marketing function. You need referenceable customers in the market.
Spend your GTM dollars wisely. Many startups assume they can attract prospects by developing their own content or posting on social media. Marketing is a lot more than that. Work with experts who can help you sharpen your GTM, and flex targeted marketing and sales approaches to build credibility, interest, sales and market momentum
Try to find an existing ecosystem and tap their customers. In other words, look for 1-to-many as opposed to 1-to1 motions.
What are your top recommendations for startups looking to build an effective customer acquisition strategy, especially with limited resources?
Start with your ideal customer profile based on a specific segment. Pick your lane - you are a small fish in a big pond. The market category already exists - what you are attempting to win is only a sub-segment of it.
Do your research - talk to prospects in the space, find a way to validate your assumptions about the segment’s needs - they better be important and painful for your prospects
Understand how your prospects evaluate solutions in your category. Make sure you know their top sources for keeping tabs on the space (their media consumption habits). Some folks use industry analyst firms (which means you need an AR program), some folks use online communities (which means you need to join, listen and participate).
Especially for more complex tech: remember that only ~5% of companies are actively evaluating new tech at any given time. Assuming you are past the initial market entry stage, envelope your prospects across the buyer’s journey.
What are the critical elements of a startup’s pitch that resonate most with US investors?
The most important ones to take into consideration are: market traction in the US, a team who knows the market and can show they have scaled companies in the US or similar markets, a company traction that shows a steady growth trajectory and understanding of the tech ecosystems in the US.
What recommendations do you have for founders who choose to be part of the BIH accelerator?
Reach out and connect with as many BIH mentors as you can. Be honest about your challenges, seek advice, referrals and support. Stay on them - mentors are busy but they are mentoring for a reason. We all want to help you accelerate, we just need a few nudges sometimes.
The possibility for Bulgaria Innovation Hub to achieve these milestones is achieved with the support of America for Bulgaria Foundation (ABF) - an independent, nonpartisan, and nonpolitical American grant-making foundation working in partnership with Bulgarians to strengthen the country’s private sector and related democratic institutions. For more information, please visit: https://us4bg.org/