Early 2008, as I’ve diven into the startup world, I often heard that there were too few events for entrepreneurs in Switzerland. There were almost only the venture ideas and venture aperos organized by the pioneer organization venturelab. People were talking about Silicon Valley as a place where you can go to 5 interesting events every day, or almost. In 2014, the Swiss startup scene has completely matured and there are many events to attend to, if you consider Switzerland as one place (the distances are small in international comparison). There is a big offer of events. And of course, as a person interested by innovation and startups, you sometimes have the feeling you must attend as many as possible. It’s true if you’d like to meet as many people as possible… But you can’t attend every event, otherwise you’re never making real progress on your startup. So you have to make a choice… Here’s my selection of events I recommend you to attend in Switzerland until end of 2014!
Startup Day @Forum EPFL, October 8th, Lausanne
The student association Forum EPFL is organizing its traditional recruitment fair, with many big companies inviting young graduates to discover why they should apply for a job in their company. There’s also
one day dedicated to startups (beware: it’s happening on Wednesday this year), as already reported here. There will be no less than 60 startups in the brand new building Swiss Tech Convention Center, what makes the Startup Day a unique opportunity in Western Switzerland to network among entrepreneurs, meet entrepreneurial-minded students, but also investors (the audience is broader than « just » students looking for a job!). Don’t hesitate to stop by at my booth to say hello! I’m keen to explain you what we are up to at Coteries…
The 11th edition of widely known CEO Day is happening again. More than 500 entrepreneurs are already registered and it simply represents the best networking event of the year to get the pulse of the scene. Workshops, pitching battles, 1-to-1 meeting, etc. Great learning to collect, a unique opportunity to shake hands and update people you do not meet on a regular basis (= building relationship over time). You can only attend upon registration and unfortunately, it’s no more free for entrepreneurs. The ticket price is however decent (CHF 59.-) and worth the price.
Don’t wait, register! And see you there!
NipConf, October 24th, Lausanne Launched by the entrepreneur and ex-Googler Benoit Curdy, NipConf is a brand new conference aiming at making people understand, test and share the upcoming technology changes.
There will be an experience zone, where you’ll be able to test new cool technologies, from artificial intelligence to 3D printing, and from bitcoins to wearable technologies. Benoit also succeeded to invite my old friend
Roxanne Varza, who is someone who counts on the European startup scene. If you were still hesitating, Roxanne is a reason to get your ticket right now ;-)! And of course… I’ve managed to get you a discount: use the code « Startupolic » or
register directly here to get your CHF 50.- price reduction.
Swiss Mobicamp, November 6th, Bern Martin Coul successfully launched this one day event in 2012 and it has now become a must-attend event for every person active in the mobile industry. Alongside networking time with speakers coming from abroad (if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know how much I care about building international bridges as early as possible in your venture), you’ll be able to learn about the latest mobile stats, discover some new usages of mobile and attend some workshops (on PR, customer experience, etc.). Don’t wait to register, seats are limited! And use the discount code “Startupolic” to get 15% off!
You know that the Swiss Berlin (aka Biel/Bienne) is coming back on the Swiss startup map,
as I’ve written about it before. On November 19th, I’m organizing an event on how to finance your startup by the crowd. We will have Julien Pache (from investing platform pioneer investiere) and Marie-Sophie Pocha, who was responsible of the successful crowd-funding campaign of Dacuda (raised 10x the initial target!).
Secure your seat right now to learn about their experiences (and it’s free)!
EPFL Entrepreneurship Days, 19-21 November, Lausanne Since years, the Global Entrepreneurship Week happens in November in many cities around the world. Finally, EPFL joins the movement and there will be some cool events in Lausanne. Spread on 3 days, there will be among other ones presentations on startup culture (Wednesday), a Demo Day from coworking space La Forge and a Fail Conference (with famous speakers, to be announced soon!).
Discover the full program here and don’t not forget to register (even if it is free).
