As London comes to terms with life after the Games, we’re taking a look back at our own contribution to an amazing Summer – the Start-Up Games. Below you can read a guest post by Afonso Santos, co-founder of Portugese advertising specialist start-up TUIZZI.com, about his experience of coming to Tech City to compete…

My co-founders and I wanted to know more about the UK outdoor advertising market but we didn’t have the money to visit the UK. However, when we heard about the “Startup Games 2012” competition we thought that it would be an ideal opportunity and maybe, just maybe, we could also win.

When we were selected to participate in the games it was really good news for us but also a problem: the trip was very expensive, so we didn’t know whether we should go or not. The fact that the competition organisers weren’t giving much away about what would happen made it a hard decision for us: go and hope for the best (at least that way we could try to arrange some meetings to find out more about the market), or don’t go and that way we could use the money for other, “more important” stuff.

Since we really need to get TUIZZI.com outside of Portugal, adding to the fact that, after all, it was a relatively small risk compared to many others that we had already taken, and also that we should give the UK more credit for the awesome work around the Olympics Games, we decided to go but send only one member of the team to London. That was the best decision we’ve made to date!

I was the one selected by the team, maybe because I’m always very active/enthusiastic, maybe because I speak too much (ehehe it’s true!), or even both. To be honest I was a bit scared to go to a different country and enter a contest which I didn’t know much about, and because I needed to make the trip really count, since I knew my partners were trusting in me a lot.

The fact that there were 120 international startups, more than 270 entrepreneurs, a lot of investors/business angels, not counting the secret judges, was great! I didn’t know what I needed to do to win but I knew I was going to need to do a hell of a job, because there was so many good ideas in the competition.

The game rules: we had access to an online platform where each player had one million pounds to invest in the other start-ups, and at the same time we could sell 100 shares in our own start-up to other players. It was a brilliant idea because it was the kind of motivation players needed to make the most out of their pitch and get to know all the other player’s ideas.

It was such a great competition, awesome environment, everyone was very easy to talk to (even the organisers) and people were really trying to help each other. I got the “Portuguese mad man” nickname and I think it was because I was always talking to someone, always pitching, enjoying the game and also because everyone noticed my passion for my start-up. I like the nickname J

While pitching I met a lot of good people, heard a lot of new ideas, even the business angels were cool guys, and by cool guys I mean we’re now new friends! For example, a mentor and a participant arranged some important meetings for me. It was hard for me to believe that it was really happening.

The best part is that now, I know for sure, that not only we (me and my partners) believe in TUIZZI.com, but a lot of mentors, investors, business angels and competitors believe too. What a day!

TUIZZI.com won two prizes: second place in the “Startup Games 2012” competition and the “Outstanding Individual Award” (where we won David Murray-Hundley’s mentorship). To be honest, the best prize we won from this competition was all those connections and new friends that really smiled in agreement with the jury’s decision. It was amazing, thank you all!

Finally, I have to say that TUIZZI.com is now trying to make Tech City its new home. The main reason is that we think London is the European “Tech Capital” (where everything happens) and we believe that now it’s the best place for us to grow faster to reach the rest of the Europe.

We are already getting help from our new mentor and from a lot of people that I really want to mention here: Emília Baptista, Andrew Humphries, Eric Van Der Kleij, Nick Berry, Alex Dunsdon, David Kent, Daniel Steeves, Gerald Walker, Jonathon Southam, Tony Hughes, Oli Barrett, Alistair Kelman, Mitch Levy, Leo Castellanos, Michael Laven, Chris Moore, Nazir Zubairi and all the other players/friends that I have met.

Special thanks to David Murray-Hundley, our new mentor and good friend.

Thanks,

TUIZZI.com team (Afonso, Álvaro and Hélder)

TUIZZI.com is a specialised outdoor advertising company which allows anyone, from anywhere in the world, to buy, sell and manage their media advertising in a free and easy way. The company was officially started in November 2011 by co-founders Afonso Santos, Álvaro Ferreira and Hélder Fernandes, who work alongside web developer Luís Peixoto. An engineer by training, Afonso also founded Cupies Taste Gourmet Lda, a gourmet store in Porto, Portugal.