Workshop by the Founders of Ambasada: How to Prepare Your Startup for Funding

On Thursday, February 13, the Bizz.Club Constanța community gathered at GAO Restaurant for a new edition dedicated to the exchange of ideas, valuable connections, and practical learning. The meeting offered both a refined culinary experience and the opportunity to discover essential insights for startup development.

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How to Prepare Your Startup for Funding – Key Insights from Teodora Moraru and Cătălin Cenac

The special guests of the session were Teodora Moraru and Cătălin Cenac co-founders of the Ambasada HUB community — the first entrepreneurial hub in Constanța created to support local startups and SMEs.

Ambasada operates as an ecosystem dedicated to business development, connecting entrepreneurs with mentors, investors, and essential resources for growth.

"A startup is not just a brilliant idea; it represents a real problem, an innovative solution, and a scalable market."
— Teodora Moraru

This is how the educational session during the meeting began, quickly capturing the attention of the entrepreneurs present.

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From Idea to Validation – Fundamental Steps

Everything starts with identifying a real need in the market.

"If the problem is just yours and your friends', it's just a hobby, not a startup."
— Teodora Moraru

Participants worked on a fictional case study — CrewBees, an intelligent recruitment platform that uses biometric data to build psychological profiles. The goal: learning the correct way to structure a convincing business proposal.

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What Makes the Difference Between a Strong Pitch and a Weak One?

Weak pitch:
"FreshBite is a healthy food delivery service."

Strong pitch:
"FreshBite delivers calorie-personalized healthy meals in just 30 minutes, using an AI algorithm for route optimization."

The conclusion? Clear differentiation matters. If you can't highlight what makes you unique in 30 seconds, you've lost the investor's attention.

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How Do Investors Think? What Are They Looking For?

Cătălin Cenac explained in simple terms the types of investors that exist and how they can be approached:

"Investors don't invest in ideas; they invest in people and the scalability potential of the business."
— Cătălin Cenac

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Types of Investors:

• FFF (Family, Friends & Fools) – those who invest emotionally, based on trust in the person.
• Business Angels – experienced investors who bring not only money but also know-how and valuable connections.
• Crowdfunding – collective financing through small contributions from many people.
• Venture Capital (VC) – large funds focused on rapid scaling.
  "If a VC invests, you gain a partner, but you also face enormous pressure to deliver results."
  — Cătălin Cenac
• Strategic Investors – companies that invest in startups complementing their portfolio of products or services.

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How Do You Determine Your Startup's Valuation?

Teodora and Cătălin presented the methods commonly used by investors to evaluate a startup:

• Scorecard – comparison with other similar businesses in the industry.

• Berkus – assigning scores based on factors such as the team, technology, and market size.

• Revenue Multiple – a multiplier applied to estimated revenues, depending on the industry.

Key Insight:
"Investors look for traction, not just projections. A simple test is to launch a smoke test: create a web page that promises the product and see how many people sign up for the waiting list."

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How Do You Prepare a Pitch That Convinces?

Teodora Moraru emphasized that a pitch must be clear, coherent, and emotional.

"A good pitch tells a story, moves through the problem, solution, market, business model, and team. But above all, it conveys emotion and clarity."
— Teodora Moraru

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Recommended Structure:

• Identified Problem
• Proposed Solution
• Target Market
• Monetization Model
• Founding Team

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Recommended Tools for Entrepreneurs

For greater efficiency in the startup-building process, the two entrepreneurs recommended the following tools:

• Canva – accessible and fast graphic design
• Perplexity AI – advanced search engine for research
• Trickle / Virtono AI Website Builder – intuitive platform for building websites

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Ambasada – Where Innovation Meets Opportunity

An important part of the meeting was dedicated to presenting Ambasada HUB, a modern hub in Constanța located on Tomis Boulevard, 3rd floor, offering flexible workspaces, mentorship sessions, and access to investors.

"𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲."
— Teodora Moraru

What you can find on ambasada.pro:

• Educational events and pitching sessions
• Modern, flexible coworking space
• Access to networks of entrepreneurs and investors

"At Ambasada, ideas come to life more easily because you have close access to people who have already faced your challenges."
— Cătălin Cenac

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Conclusion: Your Startup, Your Responsibility!

The event ended with a direct challenge launched by Cătălin Cenac:

"Who among you will create the next Romanian unicorn?"

The meeting was more than just a workshop — it was a hands-on experience, filled with energy, learning, and motivation for everyone who believes in Romanian entrepreneurship.

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