#si2016

Jud Valeski – Speaker Profile – SI2016

Wow, less than a week until Startup Iceland 2016. Another speaker and mentor announcement that I am excited about. Jud Valeski co-founded Gnip and was the first startup to aggregate social data way back in the days when people were still thinking that Facebook was just another fad. Jud is also an avid photographer and you can find his blog, pictures and his reflection here. Gnip was acquired by…

Magnus Bjornsson will be a speaker at Startup Iceland 2016. Read more about his journey

I take chance meetings all the time. That is how I got to know and meet Magnus Bjornsson, thank you Daniel for making the connection. Magnus was very generous to change his travel plans to participate in Startup Iceland as a speaker. Magnus is Icelandic but has been living and working in the US for almost 13 years. He and his family have decided to move back to Iceland. You can ask him why when…

Xiaochen Tian – Speaker Profile – SI2016

I am really happy to announce Xiaochen Tian as one of the speakers in Startup Iceland 2016. I got to know Xiaochen through Guide to Iceland. This is a company which launched its travel marketplace software in August 2014, less than two years ago. Ingolfur Shahin, the Co-founder of Guide to Iceland told me about how Xiaochen was working with our team from Singapore. I was very happy when she moved…

Why startups and founders should take the time to participate in competitions and awards

Why should a startup founder or entrepreneur spend time and energy to apply to a competition or an award? One simple word Traction. Competition allows you to think about traction. I think it is important for Startup Founders to take part in these competition, because it gives you a platform to be heard amongst all the noise. I have been thinking about how we scale startups from Iceland and that…

Technology is the foundation

… of every business. There I have said it. Technology has been creeping into every business for sometime now and if you have not noticed, I think it is time you did because the fundamental transformation that is coming in the next decade is going to be stuff that you have only seen in science fiction movies. It baffles me to watch people who are in business ignore this trend. Technology is the…