Following the excellent feedback from the 2016 edition, the 2017 Start & Scale Week included a second moment of the Doing Business meetings in the agenda, aiming at promoting interactions between startups and big companies.These meetings allowed startups to have access to the knowledge that big companies have to share. Eventually these companies can become customers. On the other side, companies had the opportunity to get to know the innovations these startups have, and that can increase their competitive advantage.Throughout the day, 81 meetings were held between 15 companies and 17 startups, who together explored business opportunities and business dynamics.Nelson Pereira, from Topdox, underlines the importance of these meetings: “The big plus is to be able to have meetings with big companies and identify partnership opportunities that otherwise would not be possible.”In addition,“these meetings allow us to understand how they work and test strategies to address them, learning from the feedback gained during the conversations.”Ricardo Pereira, from Helppier, who had already been part of the Doing Business dynamics in 2016, says that being here two years in a row was very important: “Our position, from one year to the next, changed due to the evolution of the startup. This time we brought a real “use case” and from the point of view of the companies, they already receive the product with other eyes, considering that they can understand its applicability, being possible to evolve the conversation to the possibility of a pilot or a more advanced business reality.”This edition of the Doing Business meetings received companies such as FC Porto, Metro do Porto, CEiiA, NOS, CUF, EDP Inovação and many others who did not want to miss the opportunity of discovering the innovation present in the city and developed by young entrepreneurs.Ana Silva, Open Innovation Manager of SONAE says that “with the rhythm of the new startups that arise, or even with the re-adaptation of all the startups we already know, it becomes difficult for companies to be aware of everything”. The personal meetings that allow you to detect connections and common details – between the company’s vision and the startup’s offer – making it easier to understand the product and the different ways the solutions can be used in.”The afternoon closed with the Masterclass “Secure Your Code”, by Philippe De Ryck, which had a full house. Soon we will have an article dedicated to the topic – stay tuned
