Track: Entrepreneurship

As developers we love having our hobby projects that we work on in our spare time at home. We get to try the technologies that are too new to be used at work, and we can build things that we would like to have ourselves instead of just working off someone else's backlog. What if you could make these projects your main business? On this track you will hear and learn from people who have taken this journey. Learn about startups and how to succeed by focusing on your users.

Thursday

10:00-10:50

How a Dutch rapper ends up in Swedish startup - lessons learned

Drawing upon his background in media and entertainment management, first as a rapper and a with a background in TV production, Frank will be sharing insights from his experiences as a serial entrepreneur. Co-founding several award winning start-ups including IRL, Verbeterdebuurt, and now his current career passion, taking Swedish based, Qubulus international. A session sure to be filled with real life example of lessons learned as well as vibrant and inspiring.

Frank Schuil

Frank has founded several companies in the location-based services area: IRL Connect, Verbeterdebuurt and Qubulus. He is focused on the practical use cases for new technologies and their long- and short-term implications for consumers and business. His latest venture Qubulus has developed a software-only indoor positioning solution that can both locate mobile devices horizontally (~3m accurate) and vertically (~1m).

11:10-12:00

What stirreth a VC's Heart

If you have a great idea, one that commands your attention and eclipsesall else, but misses that one slippery element- backing- you want toarrive early to this session. Christian, who has taken in the view (andfrom that, developed a few of his own) from every angle ofentrepreneurship, will be touching upon the 4 essentials for the ambitiousand committed entrepreneur:What a VC looks for, and especially Sunstone capital in this caseLayout of the processes around financing, including selectionThe Do's and Don'ts when approaching a VCLessons learned from the VC viewpoint

Christian Lindegård Jepsen

Christian brings a combination of international start-up, technology and media experience spanning more than 12 years in four countries. His background includes experience from founding start-ups, international fund raising, strategic & operational planning, negotiations, and media strategy. Christian has founded three technology companies in the areas of web production, telecommunications, and digital TV. Two of these were Danish companies, while the third - Pangea - was founded in the US with an operational base in Europe. At Pangea, Christian was part of a team that raised approximately $450 million in debt and equity. Christian has lived and worked in Copenhagen, Washington DC, New York, Amsterdam and London.

13:00-13:50

Going For It: From Side Project to Startup - Building a Company One Evening at a Time

Location-based platform Geoloqi was born out of a year of bootstrapping while co-founders Aaron Parecki and Amber Case worked full-time. This session will tell the story of Geoloqi's transition from side project to startup, highlighting the technology, decisions, difficulties, triumphs and struggles along the way.

Aaron Parecki

Aaron Parecki has been a GPS enthusiast since the age of six, when he first discovered the art of programming. Today he is a Portland-based iPhone and PHP developer interested in solving practical problems with technology. In his free time, he enjoys geolocation, linguistics, and building home automation systems and IRC bots with a sense of humor. For the past 2½ years, he has been tracking and visualizing his location at 6 second intervals. He created Geoloqi.com with Amber Case in an effort to help people connect in the real world. He has 11 years experience in web app development, database design, and server administration.

14:20-15:10

From Småland's woods to silicon valley. A modern Wilhelm Moberg story

A company is like a baby. And it takes as long to allow it to grow. Don't fool yourself and be prepared for a journey from Påskallavik to Menlo Park. It takes a village to raise a child, and a community to grow a company.

Peter Neubauer

Peter has been a founding member of several Open Source Efforts like www.neo4j.org, www.ops4j.org and www.qi4j.org. Right now, Peter is focusing on turning Open Source Projects into profitable companies. Also, Peter is helping technology and mobile startups and organizing events like ThoughtMade and TEDx Öresund. If you want brainstorming, feed him a Latte and you are in business :)

15:40-16:30

Start(ing)up! Opportunities, Threats and Support (in Sweden)

An inspirational journey on how to build sustainable business and help it grow. Also discussed will be support the entrepreneur can expect to receive when wanting to realize his/her idea of a start-up in Sweden.

Marianne Larsson

I work as a Business Advisor but am also the Director of Mobile Heights Business Center (MHBC). My background includes an engineering degree and 15 years’ experience from high-level marketing and product and business development in international industrial companies. I have also worked as a management consultant and run change and development projects in a wide range of organisations and companies.

17:00-17:50

Launching your product or startup: a framework

Launch. The process is vital to any product or startup's success, but it's difficult to get information from founders who've lived through it. Get answers to your questions, from the co-founder of a funded startup that recently had to answer all these questions: When should you launch? Should you launch a "lean MVP", or "wait till it’s perfect"? No generalized advice here - this talk will address common startup/product archetypes and help you apply direct learning to your product and your team.

Colin Young

Colin Young is co-founder of Cloudbot, which makes mobile apps for everyone that needs to simplify their cloud data -- everything from your contacts to your pictures to your real-world experiences. Cloudbot is a venture-funded startup whose backers include the Groupon co-founders and is based in Chicago, USA. Before Cloudbot, Colin worked as an iPhone and web developer for several companies in the Chicago area. He studied Computer Science and Interactive Media at DePaul University, Chicago.