U
D

Conversation

the

06/05/09 | Uncategorized

Women 2.0 Visits Barcelona! June 18th Startup Meetup

Join the Women 2.0 Startup Meetup on the heals of Mobile 2.0, Hit Barcelona, and 22@Barcelona. Are you going to these conferences? Tweet at Women 2.0 (@women2) if you are attending.


Women 2.0 Visits Barcelona – Startup Meetup Goes EURO!
Thursday, June 18th, 2009, 7pm – 9pm
At GranFoc in Barcelona, Spain (get directions)
This is a FREE event for women & men, aspiring & current tech entrepreneurs.

Who says we can only have Women 2.0 networking events only in Silicon Valley? We are coming to you! In a partnership with Gild International to connect entrepreneurs in Barcelona, join Women 2.0 for a Barcelona Startup Meetup and hear about the innovation happening in Silicon Valley and Barcelona. Come learn about Women 2.0, our annual Pitch Startup Competition, and more to help you launch your startup. Bring your innovative ideas and business cards to meet local and visiting entrepreneurs.

Meet such esteemed entrepreneurs as Maria Sipka from Linqia and Shaherose Charania from Women 2.0! Karen Reith, co-founder of Gild, will be joining as well.

Women 2.0 Co-Founder & CEO Shaherose Charania is speaking at the 22@Barcelona Update Breakfast on Thursday, June 18th at 8am. 22@Update Breakfast is the new meeting and exchange point of innovative ideas which is hold every month in the innovative district — an opportunity to know the last trends in innovation and to exchange experiences with professionals and managers related to knowledge-based economy.

UPDATE: Shaherose shares her experience in Barcelona below
Bustling Barcelona Brings Entrepreneurial Energy
Thursday, July 9, 2009 (San Francisco, CA) — My visit to Barcelona was a perfect balance of meeting old friends and exploring the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. The twisting streets, savory tapas, cafe con leches, and comforting energy remained unchanged from when I lived in Spain five years ago. But I also discovered a *new* Barcelona this visit — a bustling one bringing in entrepreneurial energy from all corners of the globe.

I met with the new Barcelona: a mix of local, British, German, French, Portuguese, Australian technology entrepreneurs. It was interesting to hear their thoughts on our backyard, including a local Spanish entrepreneur: “I’ll be moving to Silicon Valley now that my product is ready, and I have thousands of users here in Europe” and a visiting British entrepreneur: “I hope to move to Silicon Valley one day, what is it like?”.

During my talk at 22@ I highlighted the differences between what I call a “Lifestyle 2.0” company; the kind of startup that investors always look at me and say “They don’t need funding, tell them to bootstrap, build, release, iterate and make money from day-one.” Content heavy sites, social networking sites, mobile applications often fall into this category and are big part of the Women 2.0 community. Then you find the disruptive innovations, development heavy startups, often light on the business model, much fewer these days. Then of course there is that needle in the haystack, the next Google, *needing* VC money to scale operations and truly innovate on their current product and/or go global.

While at 22@Barcelona, Mobile 2.0 and HIT Barcelona, I shared my experience here in the Silicon Valley, including when and why a VC is the right fit or when to strongly consider bootstrapping depending on the type of startup.

After visiting various government-funded incubators and meeting with some startups…I’d go back to Barcelona! Why?

Incubate quietly, save on costs
Barcelona Activa, 22@Barcelona, and other government funded incubators welcome international entrepreneurs! With less Silicon Valley hype, it’s a great place to build, create and incubate your startup while keeping costs low. Office space is offered and talented developers from Spain and around Europe are ready to create with you (lower cost than the US).

Already in the market? Reach new markets and still save on costs
The government organization and similar services such as Opinno help you set up shop in Barcelona and access new global markets for growth. Access Europe, Africa, and more. Barcelona can become your hub.

Dream and ideate in solitude
Beach, sangria and warm, beautiful people. The perfect studio for dreaming up the next big idea!
Barcelona, a personal favorite is now a realistic, low(er) cost entrepreneurial ecosystem for some. Thinking of going? Let me know, I’d be happy to share my insights. Or maybe I’ll meet you there 😉

Links

Editor

Editor

The Switch Editorial Team.

Straight to your inbox.

The best content on the future faces of tech and startups.

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

SHARE THIS STORY

NEW COHORT STARTS JANUARY 2024

Join the Angel Sessions

Develop strategic relationships, build skills, and increase your deal flow through our global angel group and investing course.

RELATED ARTICLES
[yarpp]