It’s that time of the year again when Helsinki is cold, dark and damp and people are roaming the streets in silence, trying to avoid human contact by any possible means. Except if you happen to be in Pasila on 30.11.-1.12. where there’s almost 20 000 attendees, over 2600 startups and 1500 venture capitalists joining together to preach the gospel of entrepreneurship around the firesides. Welcome to SLUSH 2017.
We will also be there networking and conducting a survey about startups and their recruitment needs in co-operation with SLUSH, so we might need a few minutes of your precious time at the event. Follow our Twitter (@aTalentr) where we are live tweeting about Slush and those interesting keynotes and from our Instagram Stories (@atalentrecruiting) you can see what happens on the floor!
THE GRIPPING KEYNOTES TO CHECK OUT
There are a lot of interesting keynotes and speakers at the event this year, from Al Gore to Cal Henderson, but there’s only so little time! We wanted to give you a heads up on some gripping keynotes about e.g. work, company culture and team building that we are excited to hear:
THURSDAY
Opening Keynotes by Al Gore @ Founder Stage 10:15am – 10:40am
Slush stage program focuses on how entrepreneurs can solve the most pressing challenges on Earth with the help of technology so who would be more appropriate to open this year’s event than Al Gore.
Back to the Future of Work @ Central Stage 12:40pm – 2:05pm
Jerome Ternynck from Smartrecruiters, Karoli Hindriks from Jobbatical, Sofie Quidenus from SearchInk Casey Fenton from Mastly and CouchSurfing and Jyri Engeström from True Ventures are talking about the future direction of work.
Can Self-Organization Work or is it Just a Myth? @ Fireside Stage 1:05pm – 1:30pm
Especially the new generation of entrepreneurs is deeply invested with a question: What is the best way to organize your company? What kind of structure and company culture embody the purpose of the company while being the most efficient one? From Blinklist, co-founder Niklas Jansen will tell us how they have established their own way of working called Blinkcracy . Vishal Vasisth, co-founder of Obvious Ventures on the other hand has a take on functional hierarchies. On the stage will be also Founder and CEO of Smartly.io, Kristo Ovaska, who has his own war stories to share and leading the discussion is the CEO of Slush, Marianne Vikkula.
Putting Your Culture and Values into Action @ Founder Stage 2:40pm – 3:00pm
Nicolas Dessaigne, co-founder and CEO of Algolia, and Adam Fridman, founder of Mabbly and ProHabits, are both deeply invested in creating purpose-driven organizations. Adam is currently researching how to inspire engagement in organizations, and together they will explore what it takes to build a culture-first company and how to measure the impact of putting your values into practice.
How Best to Create a World-Conquering Team? @ Fireside Stage 3:15pm – 3:40pm
Should team building happen artificially or organically? How do succesful teams organize their decision-making and is there a right way of parting ways if things don’t work out? Toby Coppel from Mosaic Ventures leads the discussion on what kind of teams thrive. On stage with him are Kat Manalac and Alice Bentick from two leading accelerators: Y-Combinator and Entrepreneur First.
The Good, Bad and Ugly of Running a Startup with a Big Vision @ Fireside Stage 4:50pm – 5:10pm
David Helgason and Jussi Laakkonen from Unity Technologies tell us stories from the trenches of trying to change an industry, and letting yourself be captive to your promises.
FRIDAY
Performing under Pressure: Tips from FI Driver Mika Häkkinen @ Fireside Stage 2:10pm – 2:30pm
Talking about making crucial decisions under pressure in a split second? Well this “flying finn” has a world winning track record to show, so he probably knows one or two things about performing under pressure.
Preparing Our Kids for Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet @ Fireside Stage 3:55pm – 4:15pm
Kids nowadays might be better at recognizing TV show or game characters than actual animals. How do we reinstall the link between nature and children? Then again, even if many of the millenial’s hobbies might seem pointless or like a waste of time for us, they can actually act as a seed or a spark in the future skill set needed. Linda Liukas, founder of Rails Girls and author of Hello Ruby will lead the discussion on nurturing childhood creativity and curiosity with Zach Klein, co-founder of both Vimeo and DIY.
SLUSH 100: Finals @ Founder Stage 4:35pm – 5:20pm
The Slush 100 Pitching Competition finals will present the top three companies of the competition.
SLUSH 100: Announcing the Winners @ Founder Stage 5:50pm – 6:10pm
Announcing the winner of Slush 100 showcase.
If you want to see the whole agenda, go and check their website www.slush.org/agenda and choose your own favorites.
And of course, don’t forget the legendary SLUSH AfterParty! The place to be, to meet and greet and to forget the stereotype of Finnish people being unsocial.