Join us for Poland's Tech Pitch Night

Join us for our Tech Pitch Night with six aspiring companies from Poland taking part in the new “Polish Silicon Bridge” program.  The event will be held on Thursday, March 5th, 2015 at the beautiful offices of Reed Smith in San Francisco. Six Startups from Poland will present their four minute pitches to a panel of top VCs and Angel Investors. The event will be moderated by Jeff Snider, Executive VP Market Entry, of US MAC.

 101 SECOND STREET SUITE 1800

San Francisco, CA 94105

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Program agenda

• 5:30 - 6:00 pm – Networking, food and drinks

• 6:00 - 7:00 pm - 4 minute pitches + panel Q&A and feedback

• 7:00 – 7:30pm – Networking reception, food and drinks

Companies Pitching

Axence is a developer of software for the comprehensive management of computer networks. Our software responds not only to the needs of network administrators and IT infrastructure/security engineers, but also those of the executive staff. We have already noted more than 600 000 installations of our software worldwide, and the number is constantly growing. Axence nVision Pro is the flagship product of our company: a technologically and functionally advanced application for network and user monitoring, hardware and software inventory management, remote technical support, and protection against data leakage.

http://axence.net/en/

 

Confr "It's like WhatsApp for conference calls!" 

The company is disrupting a $5Billion market by offering the feature-less, reliable "it just works" experience.  Already used by consultants, engineers, lawyers and other professionals all over the world, Confr is growing organically since 2013. Reliable phone connection (No internet obstacles); One click scheduling; Global group calls in local call price; Everyone join on time (No ID's & PIN's) 

https://confr.com

 

Honaro is a place that combines businesses and customers based on mutual trust. For companies it is a Social CRM, creating long-term relationships where clients actively build and promote credibility, and for customers it is a platform, which in an easy and fast way to find the ideal company or deal. 

http://honaro.com/

Sentinode is a security focused systems integrator. SentiNode is a company building ContentIQ - a business process based application building platform and ecosystem. ContentIQ allows to build an internet facing website or business application in a matter of hours, using ready-made, community provided, or custom components. ContentIQ is designed to be a center of a community powered ecosystem allowing independent developers, consultants and designers to add value by building and selling their solutions on top of the ContentIQ platform.

http://sentinode.com/

Get Smarter is a product whose concept was born at the Yeslogo Company. It is a commercial platform for companies to manage and share internal knowledge (between employees). It provides a tool to quickly obtain specialized, expert knowledge in chosen topics. It fulfills the needs of those who are knowledge-hungry, and those who would like to sell their knowledge.

http://www.getsmarter.eu

CosmeticScan is a mobile application which will allow its users to test a beauty product they are planning to buy for causing skin irritation or allergic reaction. Each user will create their own profile taking into account tolerance for substances contained in cosmetics. By using CosmeticScan the user will receive a complete list of ingredients with a description of their effects, together with indication and contraindication of use. It may also be useful for producers of cosmetics by helping to better understand the needs of the target group on the cosmetics market and expand their knowledge about their clients. 

http://cosmeticscan.pl/en/about-the-project/

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About the Panelists

Mark Iwanowski - Poland Growth Fund III | A global high tech industry vet in both commercial and government space. He has held executive positions with Fortune 500 companies, including Oracle, Honeywell, Raytheon and SAIC. He has also served as principle in two successful startups. Mark is currently working with Cognizant's CEO to build out its corporate Enterprise Business Accelerator, focusing on next generation solutions. He is also the Managing Partner for the Poland Growth Fund III. Prior to that he was Managing Director at Trident Capital focusing on ICT investments.

David Emerson - Harvard Angels | An active angel investor and a member of the Harvard Angels Selection Committee.   David has been an active investor in technology companies at an angel level for a number of years.   David is also a corporate and technology lawyer, often working with early stage growth ventures on various legal matters facing fast growth ventures.   David has his BA from Harvard University and a JD from University of California, Berkeley - School of Law.

Manny Fernandez - SF Angels | A serial entrepreneur and an active angel investor in angel group such as SF Angels & TiE Angels. He is a partner of a seed & early-stage VC fund that is making investments in San Francisco/ Silicon Valley startups. Manny is a frequent speaker/ judge at SV startup pitch events.www.sfangelsgroup.com

Allan Young - Serial entrepreneur, founder of TopLine & Runway incubators | Currently the founder of TopLine, the biggest technology and startup incubator in the East Bay, and the only one in existence with a built-in marketing and sales accelerator. Runway is one of the biggest technology co-working and incubation spaces in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was most recently a founder at a Y Combinator company called LaunchHear. He used to run a venture fund which achieved three large IPOs.

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About the Moderator 

Jeff Snider - Executive VP Market Entry, USMAC | Jeff builds and runs the US Market Access Center’s programs for companies entering the US Market through Silicon Valley. He is an entrepreneur, speaker and mentor. Jeff is the creator of the Lean Market Entry Program for International Entrepreneurs at US Market Access Inc. He is a seasoned international entrepreneur, co-founder and executive at two Euro-/Silicon Valley startups – TouchWave acquired by Ericsson and Adomo acquired by Avaya. Prior to that, Jeff set up 3rd party distribution channels for Apple and its partners in Europe. He designed and built the 3rd party developers program in Nordic, which later became the model for Apple Europe. Jeff’s focus is to adapt and apply Lean Startup and Customer Development methodologies to international companies entering the US market through Silicon Valley. His specialties include: Market entry, business model validation, business development and venture capital.

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About the Sponsor

Reed Smith LLP is a global relationship law firm with more than 1,800 lawyers in 25 offices throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses, from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises.

RSVP HERE!

Thank you for reading another one of my posts done just for you!  If you liked what you read please share it by using one of the buttons up top and check out other posts in this blog.  I don’t want you to miss out on future posts so please follow me on Twitter @Eurodude23.  If you haven’t done it already, please like my fan page by clicking here!  See you next time!

It’s official! Marvin Liao joins our speakers, Aulery will be announced at Bitspiration!

Nothing interesting happens at the office.
It all happens at Bitspiration!

Bitspiration Festival is approaching fast! Get ready to meet the greatest Star Speakers ever and learn from the best!  And more big news - Aulery prizes will be announced at our conference!

Marvin Liao, a big star in the international startup world, has  just joined the ranks of our speakers! He is a venture partner at global venture capital firm and startup accelerator500 startups, based in Silicon Valley. He invests in digital media, adtech, marketing cloud, e-commerce and mobile startups across the globe. Marvin has worked in various departments – sales, business development, advertising operations and marketing. Don’t miss the opportunity to meet him in person!

And the Auler goes to....

We are very excited to announce that the Aulery - prizes awarded for the best Polish startups - will be given out during our event! The top CEOs and their crews will appear at Bitspiration - we hope you will join them and celebrate that event with us!

Join us today!

Bitspiration Festival is one of the most energetic and hip tech events in Europe! You have until March 1st to buy your ticket at the lower price of 125 EUR! Join us andregister right away - be a part of this awesome community!

See you in Warsaw!

Where to find us? 

http://festival.bitspiration.com/
contact@bitspiration.com 
facebook: /bitspiration
twitter: @bitspiration

Thank you for reading another one of my posts done just for you!  If you liked what you read please share it by using one of the buttons up top and check out other posts in this blog.  I don’t want you to miss out on future posts so please follow me on Twitter @Eurodude23.  If you haven’t done it already, please like my fan page by clicking here!  See you next time!

Disclaimer: KSUP.co is a media partner of Bitspiration.  

9 reasons why you should locate your startup in Krakow (Poland)

Marcin Szelag

Few weeks ago Jakub Krzych, CEO and cofounder of Estimote Inc. gave a great presentation at Stanford on the startup ecosystem in Krakow (Poland). I asked Jakub if I could use some of his slides in my presentation at Pirates on Shore in Stockholm. Some people found it very interesting, as they didn’t know that Krakow has become such a vibrant tech hub.

I decided to share with you some of the slides from the presentation and outline 9 reason why you should locate you startup in Krakow.

1. It is a fairly big country

With close to 40 million citizens, Poland is the 9th (out of 58) biggest country in Europe. With its population it makes up close to 5% of the total European population of 850M. Poland has a central location and bridges the gap between Western and Eastern Europe.

2. Decent number of Internet users

Although Internet penetration is only 65%, Poland has 25 million Internet users. This ranks it as the 22nd country in the world. There is still plenty of room to grow in the coming years. There is a high penetration of broadband. In most of the major cities there is access to high speed cable Internet.

3. Poles like their smartphones and mobile Internet

Poland has 22 million smartphone users. Most of the country is covered by 3G and 4G (LTE) networks. Cost of mobile Internet is pretty low. For around $15 per month, you get 2GB of data and a decent number of free calls.

4. Strong and stable economic growth

Poland is one of the few European countries with a growing economy. Thanks to the support from the European Union, the country is investing billions into tech and innovation.

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The startup ecosystem in Poland is spread around few major cities. One of them is Krakow, which is also the second largest city in Poland.

Each city is unique and different in terms of the tech/startup community both in the number and quality of startups. Krakow is considered to be the most vibrant community. Below you will find some reasons why.

5. Krakow has talent

Krakow is home to many good universities with more than 200 000 students living in the city. Besides students there is a large number of skilled IT workers thanks to many international and local tech companies.

6. Krakow is one of the most important outsourcing hubs in the world

Since the early nineties, international companies have been setting up their outsourcing centers in Krakow. This hes led to a steady growth in the number of jobs both in advanced business services and technology outsourcing. This creates many opportunities for finding talented people to work in startups.

7. Cost of living is relatively low

Krakow is definitely less expensive than London, Berlin or Stockholm. The city offers the same quality of amenities as other European capitals, but at a fraction of the cost.

8. Thanks to a major airport, Krakow is well connected

Thanks to RyanAir, Krakow is well connected to many other European cities. The airport itself is expanding to cater for increased traffic. In 2015 it will get a direct train connection to the city center.

9. Booming startup scene

In the recent months startups in Krakow raised funding in the millions of dollars from both local and international investors. Krakow is strong in hardware (IoT) startups, especially in the iBeacon space. With many events it is easy to get connected.

Marcin Szelag is a partner of Innovation Nest VC Group in Krakow.

Thank you for reading another one of my posts done just for you!  If you liked what you read please share it by using one of the buttons up top and check out other posts in this blog.  I don’t want you to miss out on future posts so please follow me on Twitter @Eurodude23.  If you haven’t done it already, please like my fan page by clicking here!  See you next time!

Come to Bitspiration 2015 in Warsaw this June!

Paul Chen

It's Festival season again in the startup world. There are so many great events this spring, how are you going to choose which one to go to? In San Francisco, there is Launch, In Hannover there is CeBit.  In Barcelona there is Mobile World Congress.  That is all happening in March. In May there is Pioneers Festival in Vienna.  However, one of the most overlooked and underrated tech events in the startup world is Bitspiration Festival.

This year will be the fourth edition of the event.  And it is going to be legen.... wait for it...dary! Bitspiration will take place in the Palace of Culture and Science in the heart of the Polish capital of Warsaw from June 22nd to the 23rd.  

The Inspirational Venue

The organizers wants to make the experience memorable, as a result, each year they try to choose some venue that is extraordinary.   The previous editions had been held in Krakow.   In 2013 it was held at the Engineering Museum in Kazimierz district of Krakow, known for its rich Jewish history and surviving synagogues.  Last year, it was held at the Forum Hotel on the banks of the Vistula River.  This popular venue, with its bohemian decor, is known to locals as a place to be seen and network with the cool.  This year it is no different.  They have gotten access to a large amount of space in the historical landmark.  It is quite symbolic because the venue is located at the most well known intersection in the country.  They are saying, Poland is at the intersection of history and the future, and there is no looking back.

Past guests of the Festival includes the likes of:

• Keith Teare - Founder of TechCrunch
• Ralf Wenzel - Global MD of Foodpanda
• Don Dodge - Developer Advocate of Google
• Vitaly Golomb - Mentor 500 Startups
• Dan Bragiel - Partner I\O Ventures
• Jakub Krzych - Founder of Estimote
• Ashvin Navin - Co-founder of BitTorrent
• Max Niederhoffer - Partner of Sunstone Capital
• Liz Wald - Head of International Operations at Indiegogo
• Ben Dressler - Head of User Research at Spotify

Unprecedented access

One of the unique selling points of Bitspiration is the access that you get to the speakers and industry experts.  They do not lock their valued guests inside some back stage VIP area.  The organizers want the attendees to network with as many people as possible.  Therefore, as a startup or just an entrepreneur with an idea, it is possible to pitch to the heads of Onet, Google, Warner Music, or Intel over an impromptu coffee.  

If you want press coverage of your startup, there are plenty of tech journalists there.  You can pitch to John Biggs of TechCrunch as well as other major publications.

If you are looking for funding or mentoring in accelerators, there will be representatives from Google, Deutsche Telekom and other European ventures there. Looking for legal advice? This year, you will have access to the lawyer who represented Estimote, Brainly, and Seed Labs in Augie Rakow of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in Silicon Valley.  If he is busy, perhaps you might want to talk to Tytus Cytowski of Cytowski LLC who was involved in the Kontakt.io and Sunstone Capital deal worth millions of dollars.

More Value for your Dollar

To get that level of access in other events, you might have to spend hundreds to thousands of Euros.  In the Mobile World Congress, you would have to spend over 4,000 Euros for VIP level access.  In Bitspiration, that level of VIP access will cost you only 300 euros.  It even includes a dinner with the speakers.   Before March 1st, prices are 125 Euros, and 150 Euros after March 1st.  So get your early bird tickets before your time runs out.  The organizers told me that they are shooting for 1000 guests.  I like the more modest numbers as you are able to make more meaningful connections while networking.  In a big Festival of over 10,000 guests, FOMO sets in and you are only able to make superficial contacts with other attendees.  

If this wasn't convincing enough, have a look at this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZejJ1kAPpo

Warsaw's main airport, Frederic Chopin, is 10km south of the centre. LOT Polish Airways (www.lot.com) has nonstop flights from Kennedy Airport to Warsaw; British Airways  ( ba.com) fly from Heathrow, while Wizz Air ( wizzair.com) flies from Doncaster, Glasgow, Liverpool and Luton. Lufthansa flies there from most European cities.

Taxis are plentiful and cheap, though rates are unregulated, so it’s a good idea to ask before getting in.

Hotels in Warsaw tend to cater to business travelers, so expect room rates to drop on weekends.

For aerial views, a great location and modern rooms, the InterContinental Warsaw (Ulica Emilii Plater 49; 48-22-328-88-88; www.warszawa.intercontinental.com) rises to the occasion. The three-legged skyscraper has 404 spacious rooms, a sparkling pool on the 43rd floor and several good restaurants. Rooms typically start at 105 euros, about $154 at $1.47 to the euro, but have been as low as 48 euros ($70) online.

With a reputation as Warsaw's best budget option, the Hotel Campanile (8) has free Wi-Fi, a good buffet breakfast and a relatively central location at 2 Towarowa (campanile.com). Doubles from 153 PLN (40 Euro) room only.

Thank you for reading another one of my posts done just for you!  If you liked what you read please share it by using one of the buttons up top and check out other posts in this blog.  I don’t want you to miss out on future posts so please follow me on Twitter @Eurodude23.  If you haven’t done it already, please like my fan page by clicking here!  See you next time!

Disclaimer: KSUP.co is a media partner of Bitspiration.  

There is more to Kazimierz in Krakow than Jewish History and Zapiekankas

Paul Chen

The Kazimierz district in Krakow is known for its Jewish history and the tasty Zapiekankas from Plac Nowy.  However from May 23, 2015, which happens to be my birthday, it will be known for a new thing.  Do you want to be inspired? Are you looking to better your life in some capacity? Then come help me celebrate my birthday by attending TEDxKazimierz on May 23rd, my friends!

TEDxKazimierz is led by local entrepreneur and investor, Richard Lucas.  Krakow is no stranger to TED talks.  They already have hosted a few editions of TEDxKrakow, one each of TEDxYouth@Krakow and TEDxPodgorze.  

We had a chance to sit down with Richard Lucas to discuss the upcoming event:

Hello Richard, how did you decide to have a TEDx event in Kazimierz?

 The TED mission of “ideas worth spreading” is close to my heart.  I’ve been involved in the TEDx movement in Poland since the start in 2009/10, in many capacities: helping organise, being a speaker, sponsor, doing icebreaker activities before events, setting up facebook groups like the TED and TEDx Fans in Poland and the TEDSurfing Group hosting meetups I sometimes interview TEDx- ers from my blog here. It’s is an important part of my life and I felt I had  something to contribute as a leader of an initiative under my own license. I am not doing this alone - I'm being supported by a fantastic team who are doing a huge amount of work

Krakow already have other TEDx events, why another?

TEDxKrakow has done an incredible job in the city already - Paul Klipp in 2010 and Ewa Spohn from then on, and got two speakers onto the TED.com platform, A very unusual achieivement.  I did consider doing a TEDxKrakow Salon as a sub license. After discussions with Ewa Spohn of TEDxKraków, and with TED headquarters, I went down the route of applying for a licence directly to do a smaller event by and for the historic Kazimierz district of Kraków.   TEDxKazimerz does not have the ambition to be on the scale of TEDxKraków. It is a small but historically important district within the city. I considered that this TEDx could not only serve the local community but also perhaps be instrumental in strengthening it. sometimes the “TEDx Community” is more the community of organisers than participants.  I also wanted to spread the world about TED and TEDx events, Our TEDx Kazimierz  events are meant to be as inclusive and focussed on community building as possible. I wrote a blog post about community building at events here. It is important to me. 

What is the theme of the event?

Age is no limit

Why did you choose that particular theme?

Because I am a great believer in the idea that age is often used as an excuse and that really there is no time like now for doing something, no matter what age you are

What is your idea of a successful event?

That the people who attend feel at the end of the day that it was the right thing  to do with those hours of their lives, they feel inspired, excited, moved and that they get the “TED and TEDx” virus”

What kind of speakers and performers have you got in the lineup already?

 

Edward Lucas of the Economist who happens to be my big brother, who I admire greatly and is often a keynote speaker at international conferences Jonathan Ornstein of the Jewish Community Centre, MC Silk the famous rapper who has had a viral hit on Youtube, and hopefully Professor Narębski who survived two years in the Soviet camps and has led an inspiring life..      

Are you still looking for speakers and talent?

Yes. Submit them thoruhg our web site

Have you got a venue?

We have a wonderful venue. It's a stunning setting:
The Galicia Jewish Museum on Dajwor 18 in the heart of Kazimierz

How can the Krakow community help?

We need help raising money, Please volunteeer to get involved, submit your speaker nominations, We have a generous grant from the Urzad Maszałkowski- but this is not enough to pay our cost. TEDx projects are entirely non profit, and no one at all, speakers, volunteers, team members, are paid for their involvement.

What else would you like to tell our readers?

TED and TEDx can change your life for the better. Watch "Why I translate TEDTalks" by the wonderful TED Open Translation Project. Take some time to watch some TED talks , and talks about the project. For example June Cohen’ s talk about TED here, Benjamin Zander and Don Tapsworthy;s talks, and the "What is TEDx" official introduction video.

Thank you Mr. Lucas for your time.  We wish you the best of luck!

You are welcome

The event is TEDxKazimierz

Date:  Saturday, May 23, 2015

Venue: The Galicia Jewish Museum on Dajwor 18 in Krakow
Here is the official Website: www.tedxkazimierz.com

Stay up to date by following the @TEDxKazimierz Twitter account and be sure to like their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/TEDxKazimierz

Thank you for reading another one of my posts done just for you!  If you liked what you read please share it by using one of the buttons up top and check out other posts in this blog.  I don’t want you to miss out on future posts so please follow me on Twitter @Eurodude23.  If you haven’t done it already, please like my fan page by clicking here!  See you next time!