Start up bar Clarion
I consider myself being somewhat of a professional “mingler”. Put me in a room full of people and I will most likely end up talking to a bunch of them, be it superficially or actually with somewhat of a deeper connection. What´s cool about this is that you can allow yourself to be interested in what other people have to say and thereby learn, not only about them but also about yourself.
So with this personal trait I was prepared to go to the startup bar at Clarion hotel to broaden my horizon and perhaps have some interesting accouters. I was not disappointed. Stepping out of the elevator I gave a trained nod to a guy with a sticker on his chest which read “I´m looking for new partners”, an encounter was made. Being Swedish we needed alcohol in order to become friends so we headed to the bar. His name was Carl and he told me that he recently started a media bureau called “Fast Forward Media” and how being an entrepreneur was fun, rewarding and scary. I told him about my dreams of going into business for myself and what ideas I had.
A couple of minutes into the conversation a guy came up to us in a suit holding a bucket. He introduced himself and said that he was in the “health food business”. My instincts said straight away “WARNING MLM, WARNING MLM” and sure enough he was one of the, oh so many gullible people being dragged into this pyramid scheme in disguise. After having listened to his “pitch” and eventually getting rid of him we both commented the encounter as both of us had been approached by these kind of companies before. It didn’t take more than a second after mentioning “Multi Level Marketing” out loud before the next one was upon us. This time it was a fat lady with funky looking glasses trying to get us into her travel company and letting us know how her company was different and definitively not a pyramid scheme. So maybe not all encounters were rewarding, but at least they were interesting.
One of the most interesting encounters however was not with a person, but instead with a piece of paper I found on the ground. I was talking to a friend and enjoying the view from the hotel balcony, when I saw what looked suspiciously like a 500-euro bill on the ground. I reached down in excitement, but to my disappointment it was not money, but a business card with part of a bill printed on the back. I saw a guy holding a similar card and asked him about it. His name was Nils and worked at the crowdfunding site Funded By Me. He told me that the 500-euro business cards was an idea from the founder of the company. He thought that it would be a good idea to make the business cards look like money. So that if his employees didn’t meet any interesting people to give them to, or were too shy to introduce themselves, they should just wrap a few ones up and throw them on the ground in the hope that greedy people like me pick them up. I found it hilarious and a super cool way of marketing the company. I will definitely contact founded by me if I ever get to that point in my life as an entrepreneur.
