20 in 2020 🚀
My personal startup watch-list
The potential fame, freedom, excitement, joy as well as struggles are just some of the many aspects of life as an entrepreneur or freelancer. When we talk about starting and growing our own business it is often with both relative fear and excitement. Although what is likely to be a greater number of us that are working as freelancers than ever before, those of us that make it to become entrepreneurs are few. Often discouraged by numbers such as ‘90% of startups fail’….
[interesting article: Why 90% of Startups Fail, and What to Do About It by Bram Krommenhoek on the The Startup]
….or simply because someone finds out that in order to get from zero to one a lot of exiting your comfort zone is required. The growth and success of those entrepreneurs in the spotlight are often seen as insurmountable statuses yet some of the ‘blitzscaled’ startups have shown us in 2019 that growth at all cost (usually) is unsustainable. While among hard working entrepreneurs bootstrapping has always been a popular concept, the projected trend for 2020 of ‘purpose driven and sustainable business growth’ will likely see this form of starting and growing a business become highly popular. For this, focus is required, bearing in mind that there is a right time to scale and….
‘The [wo]man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones’
Phil Knight in Shoe Dog
We all have different views on business, purpose and happiness in life. However, the fact entrepreneurship as well as the gig economy, digital nomads and freelancers have become so mainstream is because we live in an ever evolving, digital and hyper-connected world in which we actually wish to disconnect and find true meaning. Purpose being crucial, it takes passion and the addressing of a real societal (niche) issue with any given proposition. We need to balance out our thoughts when it comes to staying focused. I sincerely believe hearing about fuck-ups can balance the entrepreneurial mind. We truly learn and grow through our own and the hearing about other people’s mistakes.
Fuck ups aside, in this post I would like to focus on what I perceive to be 20 amazing and successful startups, in a cross country randomised list. Although many lists exist, such as country based ‘startups to watch’ lists published by Sifted or the lists compiled by Gonzalo Sánchez on Seedtable. I have a lot of individual conversations in which I mention one or the other startup that is on my own personal watchlist.
All of the startups in this list are part of the ecosystem in Europe. Although some say it still trails behind its US counterpart, blitzscaling has taken a very different form here with a lot more sustainable growth practices already in place. Plus the ecosystem across Europe possesses great culturally diversity. As the machine learning bias proves us, diversity is essential for truly harmonised and purposeful growth for businesses and society alike. I hope and somewhat foresee the European startup ecosystem to grow exponentially in the next decade.
My personal watch-list (click for higher resolution view) including details:
To view the list in higher resolution please download it via this link. Due to living in the UK there might be a slight bias towards British startups 😅
Please do like and/or comment with the startups you’ll be watching in 2020 and beyond!
List with links + Medium Account (if any)
1. Freetrade > Freetrade Team
2. Etergo
5. Yena
6. Mogul News
7. Crowdcube
10. JustPark
11. Nutmeg > The Nutmeg Team
12. Pavegen
13. Notpla
14. Sono Motors
15. Curve
16. Cowboy
18. Upcircle
19. Bluebella
20. Fullgreen
Tags: UK fintech, Tech, Amsterdam Startups, Startups, Paris, Berlin, London
