It’s all very well discussing performance profiles but you need to know what they are to execute them. From the looks of it they didn’t.
PC1 profiles are quite stringent on what is required in terms of pad/runway size, references, lighting, WAT etc. We sometimes can get very caught up in the ‘rules’ of aviation but as Crab and others have mentioned above, just fly the aircraft! Simple understanding of aircraft characteristics would get you through. Trim the aircraft for a nice hover, pull enough power to get a nice climb going, rotate at a sensible height to an attitude you know will accelerate (the horizon) and when at Vy trim to remain at that speed for the climb. I suspect too much haste to introduce automation to fill in for a lack of manual flying confidence in a unfamiliar situation.
LZ