Our Appearance on 2 Minutes 2 Million

We had been contemplating whether to apply for 2 Minutes 2 Million for quite some time, but there were also some doubts. After all, there are companies where this move didn't go so well - that's why we hesitated.

In 2018, we decided to give it a try. After all, we were and still are completely convinced of our product and wanted to present it to as many people as possible. So, we submitted our application documents, and it didn't take long before we were invited to a pre-casting. Following that, there was a phone casting before we found out that we were among the 96 startups (out of over 700 applicants) that made it to this season! That was a huge success!

Shortly after, we were informed of our recording date.

Now it was time to prepare! 2 minutes are indeed quite short to present a product that - like ours - is something entirely new and, moreover, needs some explanation. In this show, not only do you have to excite the investors about your product, but you also don't want to bore the audience. So, we wrote the pitch and tried it out repeatedly to ensure we could fit all the important information into those 2 minutes. It wasn't easy, but in the end, we believe we did quite well.

Additionally, we had to consider what props to bring to the studio - we had free rein on that.

We are often asked how we prepared for the recording, and we can only say: we didn't. We know and live our product, and we know what questions to expect and how to answer them.

In October 2018, the time had come, and we traveled to Vienna for the recording. We were really nervous because we had no idea what to expect.

So, we arrived at Puls4 at half past ten, and it started right away. Setting things up, makeup, interviews, ... Apart from us, there were more than 10 candidates there for the recording on that day - so it was quite busy. But the atmosphere was really good!

It wasn't until half past six in the evening when it was our turn to pitch and face the questions from the investors. Perhaps you can imagine how we felt as we stood behind the door, waiting for it to open, knowing there was no turning back. Our nerves were on edge. You see, you really only have one chance to deliver the pitch, and even the investors don't know what to expect beforehand.

So, we went in, presented the Powerinsole, and the investors grilled us for at least half an hour, asking everything they wanted to know about the product and our company. We had a lot of fun during this time and felt very comfortable because everyone was genuinely nice.

We were offered 2 investments. One from Mr. Haselsteiner, which we declined because we found his valuation too low and didn't want to give away too many shares. The other was from Katharina Schneider, which we accepted. However, just to clarify - the investment was never executed. Nonetheless, we still collaborate with Katharina Schneider and Mediashop.

When we drove home that evening, our mood was fantastic because the whole day was just great!

The broadcast of the season began in February 2019, and we didn't know for a long time when our episode would air, and especially we couldn't tell anyone anything. About a month before, we found out our airing date - it was on May 7, 2019.

Gradually, we could start promoting it and preparing for the day and the aftermath. This included not only things like preparing enough stock and everything necessary for shipping but also things like increasing server capacity, and so on.

So, on Tuesday, May 7th, we sat in front of the TV and were nervous once again. We didn't know how the edited version would turn out since we were seeing it for the first time on the day of the broadcast. We were especially curious about how we and our product would be received by the viewers.

By the way, at this point, we still had no idea when exactly in the show our segment would be, and we turned out to be the last startup featured that night.

Around 9:45 PM, it was time, and our segment began. What followed was incredible! Honestly, we didn't really get to see our appearance that night because so many people were calling and messaging us that we couldn't keep up with responding. It's truly unbelievable how many people watch this show! Everyone congratulated us on our great performance - the positive feedback we received was amazing. We had hoped that participating in the show would bring us something, but we really didn't expect what happened afterward.

The next day, the real work began, and we could hardly keep up with answering emails, taking calls, printing invoices, packing orders, ... Since we still handle everything as a team of two from our home, our living room was in complete chaos. Even our kids had to help us manage the influx.

This initial hype has naturally subsided a bit, but things are still going very well. Our appearance allowed us to reach so many people - something that wouldn't have been possible as a startup otherwise. What pleases us the most, however, is the numerous positive feedback we receive daily from our customers. So many people are feeling better with the Powerinsole! That is truly the most rewarding and shows us that the sometimes challenging journey and our hard work have paid off.

In summary, we can definitely say: It was the right decision for us to go on '2 Minutes 2 Million!