Last week, Daniel was invited to discuss his ideas and ventures at the STARTup Lounge, a side-event of the prestigious Forum Alpbach in Tirol, Austria. The STARTup Lounge is a organization to “activate and foster entrepreneurial thinking and to bridge the gap between different disciplines.” Well said!
Daniel joined a panel of successful entrepeneurs (Markus Wagner, President of i5invest with portfolio companies like Tripwolf, Tupalo and Dealhamster, Reshma Sohoni, CEO of Seedcamp and Christopher Kahler, Founder of Qriously) from Austria to illuminate his stratgey to build a lucrative Internet start-up. A creative idea is a start, but also a sober, analytical approach to defining what you want to do to change the world for the better is a completely valid strategy. (Read up on how Daniel decided on Jumio in this previous blog post.) A smart team and a bit of luck is obviously needed, but even more so a strong sense of courage and Ignore-the-naysayers attitude is of essential to develop a clear understanding of what can and cannot be done.
Especially Austria is a twisted ground for start-ups. On one hand, Austria has an incredibly high number of creative talent. All across the country, disruptive ideas are born every day, and countless congresses, events and informal get-togethers are mushrooming everywhere. Functions like the STARTup Lounge are a brilliant opportunity, for young start-ups to channel and combine their creative energy. On the other hand, innovators need to look beyond the Austrian borders to get financial and institutional support. In regards to leveraging their potential, Austria is, unfortunately, still lagging behind. Ironically so, since Austria is a very important and representative test market for many big players, especially in the telecom industry. The future does look bright, though.
Picture (c) Markus Prantl
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