Earlier this evening, just like a bunch of classmates, I decided to take the leap and go for the very first time to one of these Start Up events: the Start Up Bar, which probably rings a bell for many of you. This event took place at the Scandic Continental, in the heart of Stockholm, and hosted, in a rather fancy and classy rooftop bar, dozens of people with different jobs, backgrounds and exceptations. Here’s a short summary of my experience there.
To be completely honest, I was not that excited about it in the first place, but I have to admit that Kevin’s recent experience at a similar event had made me kind of curious about it though. I thus went there trying to keep my mind as opened as possible, willing to discover what this meeting really had to offer.
As soon as I got in there, I noticed a first thing: it was absolutely not a “suit up” event! Everyone looked pretty relaxed, and the general mood was actually nice. So I got right into the crowd, trying to bear in mind the different pieces of advice read on previous blogposts: “being present”, “dare to stand alone”… And that’s when a second important fact struck me: it was incredibly easy to meet new people in that place! Beyond the fact that I was given a sticker basically saying “please talk to me” in Swedish, I just couldn’t stay alone for more than 1 minute without seeing a new person coming to me to introduce himself/herself. This led to several interesting meetings, among which a young entrepreneur who had just launched his website, the co-founder of a business development firm and a former KTH student who was getting ready to launch his nanotechnology-based revolutionary top secret product!
During these talks, my main goal, rather than “making friends” or pitching an idea, was to get both their professional and personal feedback on their entrepreneur experience so far. The main thing I got out of it is actually surprisingly (or maybe not) close to what Serdar has kept saying for weeks now: the idea is only 5%, execution is what matters, it’s up to us to move and make things happen… The young entrepreneur I mentionned before even talked about lean start up, something that we were discussing in class just yesterday! I actually had decided to take Serdar’s advice and to doubt everything he said even if he was the teacher, but I have to admit that I heard tonight most of the things we’ve been told in class, from several different people (which were obviously not Serdar!).
I’d like to conclude by saying that all the people I had a chat with this evening also said the same thing about their entrepreneur life: it’s not easy at all, but they’re all totally enjoying themselves. It’s only a choice that you have to make for your life: stay on the easy comforting path and take the risk of getting eventually some regrets, or just go for it!