This blog post is by Douglas Bell, Founder of Hideout. Douglas is also the entrepreneur in residence at Launch Pad Labs.
The purpose of The European Youth Entrepreneurship Conference (#EYEC2014) was to bring young entrepreneurs from across Europe together to mix with investors and political powers. Our host city was Athens; – Greece is, of course under intense pressure to reform, and to build on it’s burgeoning startup scene.
Two headline challenges were being addressed at the conference:
• Overcoming the fragmentation barrier in Europe
• Creating a European entrepreneurial identity
The conference involved a series of speeches & panel discussions over 3 days… helping entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and political forces to respond to those two challenges. Inspiring people like Candice Johnson (legendary entrepreneur & president of EBAN), Neelie Kroes (VP of The European Commission), Maria Pinelli (VP at E&Y, who was instrumental at both Google & Amazon at the very early stages), Pano Kroko (legendary entrepreneur, investor in Twitter/Skype), and a whole series of others geniuses were there to connect with European startup founders. It was an opportunity to discuss the big issues, and take away action points to push things forwards on a European level.
The biggest take-aways for me were that brilliant people are now advocating on behalf of startups, in many serious ways. And that there is massive political buy-in on a European level. Among others, The European Commission were there, asking how to design an incredible new venture fund called ‘H2020’ (Horizon 2020). ‘How can we invest €79 BILLION in ICT innovation?’ They’re serious. I have to say, the people leading this program are exactly the kind of people who should be doing it – they really do understand enterprise and innovation.
I was lucky enough to be there representing the UK as an entrepreneur delegate, with global ambitions for my startup Hideout. It was incredibly helpful. The networking value is impossible to quantify, so I’m privileged to have been a part of it. Many of the most valuable connections at these events happen informally, between talks, over drinks, and at random moments. EYEC was a very social conference, with drinking going on until sunrise, 3 days in a row – such was the level of energy between us as a group. Yuong entrepreneurs like to drink; a few world records may have been broken during these inspiring few days in Athens. The view from other founders echoes my own – this was a brilliant conference. We have all been inspired and energised by it. I’d also expect a huge number of cross pollination happening between delegates, investors and change-makers. If you get a chance to go yourself, snap it up. It will be an excellent investment of your time.
