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Alicia’s GeeknRolla Wrap-Up

Posted by Jenny on April 23, 2010 in Experiences

Coming into GeeknRolla, I thought it would be like a lot of other tech events – the same people, same content… but Mother Nature switched things up.  Due to the volcano, there were people from all over the world stuck in London attending, and there were so many last minute changes to the agenda that the event felt very fresh and was full of new faces.

My first thought when I entered was “Woah! This is much much bigger than I’d anticipated!”  The crowd was surprisingly attentive and interactive, and the quality of the speeches was incredible too – they weren’t sales pitches at all, but rather really useful content from very smart experienced people. Just the way I like it.

After the morning and early afternoon flew by, it was time for my 15-minute presentation on the ‘The Trials of the US Funding Trail by European start-ups,’ or as I preferred to call it, “Why did the chicken cross the Atlantic?”

I really wanted to explore and share the philosophical and anecdotal reasons why European startups seek big-name U.S. VCs, and to see the degree to which the answer was just “To get to the other side” or whether there was more substance to the desire.  Our recent experiences taught us so much about the real value of U.S. investment, and the reasons one should seek it, which are different from the reasons we started thinking about. It was exciting to be able to share these learnings with the great crowd at GeeknRolla.

One of the highlights of the event was the highly amusing talk by Morten Lund (he was one of the founders of Skype).  He gave a very energetic and audacious talk that had the whole room in stitches with some language that wouldn’t fly in many offices, and very entertaining clips from “Californication” and “Entourage.”  Within the hysterics, he also reminded everyone of the need to focus, to do what they do best, and to appreciate that luck plays a major part in any successful business.

I also thought Andrew Scott from Rummble.com did a fantastic well-delivered talk about the top 15 do’s and don’ts in running a startup. He is a very good friend of Skimlinks so I am a bit biased, but even so, it was a well-received talk.

You can check out the presentations of me, Morten, and Andrew at TechCrunch (it’s the last video).

I was really glad to be able to meet with my good friend James Bromley, Managing Director for the Mail Online, as well.  He is easily one of the smartest people working in online content.

Overall, GeeknRolla was great as the attendants were from all ends of the spectrum: from VCs to Angels to experienced entrepreneurs to people thinking about starting a startup. I loved the diversity and energy.

What did you think of GeeknRolla?

Alicia is Skimlinks’ CEO and Co-Founder and you can find her on Twitter: @alicianavarro