Visitors from overseas and the formation of an eco-system
On January 21st Michael Klein of Canaan Partners and JT Buffmire of Plug and Play Tech Center visited Sektor 5 in Vienna and our community had the opportunity to get to know these guys.
Why should you want to? Except for being nice people they are not Austrian and are both heavily into the tech scene. These guys see and analyze tech startups for a living, probably seeing some of the coolest stuff of 2015 today. Pitching your own idea or talking about your/their view on tech, diets, photography and startups, diabetes, massive market research, how mobile can save lives, life, gaming and pets… it simply broadens your horizons and could also land you a talk with future partners or investors on the other side of the pond. O and it’s fun to throw parties.
Anyhow, it was a pleasant evening and ended early in the morning the day after.
Mike wrote a short article on the trip in his blog, Commuting VC mentioning his view on the differences between the Valley and Vienna, Austria. Takeaway: The main differentiator is the eco system. Aye, we agree. As do most entrepreneurs! There is always talk about “Something has to happen!”, “We need more…”, “the eco-system doesn’t exist!”… Love stuff like Plug And Play Center which do something about it!
As Mike also notes, things are happening in Vienna, hell, alot of things are happening here. MehrBlick, Future Lounge, Wirtschaftsbund decides to support STARTeurope, InitialFactor and us working on Startup Week…
As we see it, it starts at the grass roots level. The foundation for an innovative and entrepreneurial society starts with breaking a few rules, showing the old ways your behind and building what is needed from the bottom up – hence our dedication to the early stage of startup life. Whichever path you walk later on when it comes to financing your venture, through boot strapping, grants, investors or consulting to make ends meet – the community is always needed.
We also did some interview with the guys! Check’m out!
Interview with Michael Klein, Canaan Ventures, filmed at Sektor 5
Interview with JT, Plug and Play Tech Center, filmed at Sektor 5
Anyways, Mike and JT, thanks for popping by and see you next time around!
[...] so many requests shows that smart people get the fact that a startup communities need to start from the grass roots – with the people that actually DO stuff instead of just talking about what needs to [...]