First, how was it?
Dmytro: ‘A really amazing experience with a group of not only students, but also start-ups from the Twente region. It stayed amazing from the beginning to the end, when we flew back on Saturday. After arriving on Tuesday, Novel-T and Golden Egg Check made sure we immersed ourselves in a podcast session, where a representative of Microsoft and leading VCs discussed the current state of entrepreneurship in Europe.
On Wednesday we visited the city of Helsinki and Novel-T organized a trip to the University of Aalto. They also have a DesignLab over there by the way, called the Design Factory. It was more spacious and it had more equipment, but I honestly prefer the cosiness of the DesignLab here in Twente. At the Slush event itself there were so many good speakers, it was quite overwhelming to be honest. In the airplane on the way back, I could finally think of what to focus on with my own business, by finally calmly writing everything down.’
What was your main take-away message?
‘To have a unique value proposition and to bring value to society. Which starts by believing in your own product. It’s kind of an obvious message, but you need to hear that confirmation by eminent speakers and leaders in their field. Also, with networking, you have to be stubborn and competitive. If you get the chance to talk to someone, you must be persistent and just go for it. If it doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t matter. You still tried to get connected to someone that can help you with your business.’
Do you think your experience at Slush will help you with your own business?
‘I think so. Together with my business partner and fellow UT student Andrei Nagaev, I’m working on an idea that uses blockchain technology, to improve the safety of video conferencing. This could for instance benefit lawyers who need to speak to their clients, but we haven’t found a market yet. A major event like Slush helps you to see the current state of technology. As a start-up, you’re doing something new and you want to know if both your company and the technology are on track. For now, I think we are. And being there, it helped me to better think of a unique value proposition. I’m very thankful to Novel-T and NIKOS for organizing everything.’
And now you’re back at the UT, to study?
‘It was a tough transition. The one moment, you’re speaking with and listening to people who generate millions or even billions of revenues. The other moment, you’re back in class. So you could say I fell off a pink cloud and it was a hard landing. To add insult to injury, I know I have an exam coming up this Friday.’
