11.06.2015: Startup Cities Symposium 2015

On June 11th, the 2nd edition of the Startup Cities Symposium will take place in Vienna. The Startup Cities Symposium is an annual gathering of startup ecosystem experts from all over the world to discuss global trends and exchange insights and draw parallels regarding the startup ecosystems of different regions.

“The key to the Startup City: New ways to support and attract talent!”

The recent development of startup ecosystems emerging all over the world is challenging countries and cities. They want a rising number of successful startups and to attract international ventures. Policy makers are now trying to boost their own startup ecosystems in a variety of ways gaining a competitive advantage. One of the main determinants in a knowledge-based economy is its talent, or in other words brainpower and creative capacity. The mobility of highly skilled people is a central aspect of globalization and if a startup ecoystem can’t attract and retain top talent, it won’t be able to be continously innovative and attract investment either. The symposium deals with the question of how to support and attract talents as key factor for future economic development in a vibrant startup ecosystem.

To attend please register here!

Programm:

1:30 pm                  REGISTRATION 2:00 – 2:20 pm      WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
by Gerhard Hirczi (CEO Vienna Business Agency)  and Thomas Funke (Entrepreneurship Think Tank Germany - Frankfurt) 2:20 - 3:30 pm      SESSION 1 – The ideal Talent mix!
Scaling Startups as well as large cooperates are searching for locations with access to a versatile and global talent pool. Having a rich talent pool is one of the main factors of growth, therefore investing in human resources is a must.

• The Startup Experience: Markus Müller (Number26 - Berlin)
• International Best Practice: Valerie Mocker (NESTA - London)
• Panel Discussion with Markus Müller, Valerie Mocker, Rudolf Dömötör (ECN - Vienna)

3:30 - 4:40 pm      SESSION 2 – Support Infrastructure for Talent
Whether innovation centers be incubators, accelerators or co-working spaces, these centers are points of aggregation and provide the necessary support infrastructure to turn ideas into reality.

• International Best Practice: Sebastian Schäfer (Goethe Unibator - Frankfurt)
• International Best Practice: Aaron Cohen (Director Fueled Ventures - New York)
• Panel Discussion with Gabriele Tatzberger (Vienna Business Agency), Sebastian Schäfer, Manuel Gruber (Dreama.tv - Vienna) und Aaron Cohen

4:40 - 5:00 pm     COFFEE BREAK 5:00 – 6:00 pm    SESSION 3 – Attracting new talent
One of the most important factors in creating a thriving entrepreneurial scene and self-sustainable startup ecosystem is the ability to attract talent from abroad, thus bringing diversity and a range of know-how to the local community.

• The Startup Experience: Paolo Privitera (Pick 1, Startup Chile Alumni - San Francisco)
• Panel Discussion with Andreas Tschas (pioneers - Vienna ), Ivan Debnár (thespot - Bratislava), Georg Fürlinger (Austrian Institute of Technology - Vienna) and Paolo Privitera

6:00 - 7:00 pm    CLOSING & NETWORKING