Slush: a lifetime experience worth repeating

December 7, 2017

A quick visit to Slush’s website and you will read that the event happens during what is the sh*ttiest weather season of the year. I have never been in Finland before so I don’t know if it can get any sh*ttier, but let me tell you: it is cold.

They claim nothing normal ever changed a damn thing and they couldn’t be more right. The moment we get there we start to think about that sentence and the truth is it reflects exactly what happens during those days in Helsinki.

The event is amazing, to be honest it is one of the best startup and tech events I’ve ever attended (and I’ve had my fair share of tech events). The energy surrounding it is contagious and the concept of the true entrepreneur is everywhere you look. You would think that such a dark space wouldn’t be cosy but you couldn’t be more wrong, in fact that darkness contributes to create the atmosphere we’re so drawn into. Plus, the disruptive ideas and the content quality make this event nothing but normal.

There is no way you’ll get bored in Slush. Everybody is there to share their experiences and make the ecosystem grow. It is extremely focused on startups and that is why they are everywhere, focused mainly on B to B and at the same time totally different from what we know as “conventional”.

It is a must go for startups and entrepreneurs and no matter what I write about it it will never truly describe what happens there, you will never be able to understand how the event’s energy works towards everybody’s feelings and emotions if you don’t actually live it. It is, without a doubt, money extremely well spent.

For those who didn’t have the opportunity to be there I leave you with some of my favourite talks from the event. Hope you enjoy them as much as me.

 

How Best to Create a World-Conquering Team (Toby Coppel,Alice Bentinck, Kat Manalac) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ9xgu4eYgk

Talk What Will Happen in Artificial Intelligence Next Year (Harri Valpola) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkRpmSld1fI

Talk Back to the Future of work (Karoli Hindriks) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-XdXkB_wxQ

Preparing our kids for jobs that don’t exist yet (Zach Klein) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3Ca4m6WLuA