Startup Fest Europe

The Netherlands continues to amaze me...

This March I stumbled upon the New Dutch Wave at SXSW, and now even more of the magic of this innovative country is unfolding. This week's adventures included attending New Materials for Building a Sustainable World hosted at Plant One in Rotterdam and EnergyFest hosted at the Shell Technology Centre in Amsterdam.

It's interesting to observe how corporates and government are helping connect emerging companies with investors. I heard several really good pitches at the New Energy Challenge segment of EnergyFest, which was coincidentally narrated by Josh Baer (an Austin startup scene celebrity).

I was also blown away by Eva Gladek, an American who is making waves here in Amsterdam with her firm Metabolic. Willemijn Peets was another inspiring character I had the pleasure of meeting in person; she was a former UT student who founded a company called Searious Business that helps find innovative uses for plastic waste.

Prince Constantijn van Oranje giving a keynote at new Materials.

Clear solar panel design by wellsun. 

Hydrogen car by BMW.

Peter Schwartz, business strategist at Salesforce, sharing his futurist viewpoints.

NetWORKing . . .

Amsterdam is full of networking opportunities! 

I've been using MeetUp to scout out events related to my interests and professional goals. So far I've learned that the startup scene is thriving in this city. Ford hosted a "Make it Drivable" at Merkspace, a startup hub, and I also attended a discussion on Design Thinking at Rockstart, another incubator. 

The infographic below seems like it will come in handy for sales developments:

I was also really inspired by Rockstart's Smart Energy Accelerator Demo Day and plan to keep in touch with its Program Director, Freerk Bisschop. 

Next week marks StartupFest 2017 in the Netherlands. More to come...

Rollercoaster... of Love.

This week had its downs and ups... 

My divorce is finalized. It's a bittersweet feeling. I still love my ex-husband very much, but we weren't in a healthy relationship. He was also ready to settle down and start a family, and quite frankly I'm terrified of reproducing at this phase in my life. I learned so many lessons from the rise and fall of our love, including what I need to do to be a better person and partner. To quote my mantra, "I will treat my mistakes as learning opportunities, and I will not dwell."

On the upside, I accepted a contract with IRECKONU, which means my Dutch visa will be sponsored.  I'm incredibly excited to be working under the wing of the VP of Business Development, who I can tell is an amazing force from my handful of interactions with her. I am also going to be learning so much about the hospitality industry and sales for software development services. Plus, I'll be part of a very global team, which comes with the benefits of cultural understanding. 

I also met my running tribe this week! 

Now six weeks into Dutch life:

[ x ] Living Accommodations

[ x ] Social Group

[ x ] Bicycle

[ x ] Job 

Fulfilling a promise to myself, I bought myself flowers upon receiving a job offer.