From Silicon Valley to North-East Romania
Step by step, we are building a strong, collaborative startup community
Perhaps the most complex and important activity we do at Rubik Hub is not actually building startup programs but building the community! There is no reason to have 5 inspiring programs, if you don’t have the startups, mentors or investors to bring them into!
And to build a reliable, sustainable and strong startup community you simply need to…network a lot! The networking process offers you insight that you might never thought of. But it also offers you the great possibility to connect (and further partner/ collaborate) with people that you just don’t bump into the street. It is a process that you need to take for granted, as it is the one that offers you the expected results!
For Rubik Hub team, part of this process – probably the most important part – is to travel around the world to attend various startup related events. This gives us 2 perspectives: new connections and a lot of know-how taken in!
The diving in
While in San Francisco for TechCrunch Disrupt 2017, I did my best to connect with the relevant stakeholders of the US startup ecosystem. Among them, I met Paul, the General Manager of The Vault, San Francisco.
Paul Kallmes is an independent technology professional, with a focus on foreign start-ups coming to the US.
He has a specialty in the strategic management of intellectual property. His nearly 20 years of IP and technology licensing and management gave him a broad base in the nuances and complexities of developing and deploying intangible assets to the benefit of IP owners and users alike.
Paul also has extensive experience in various industries in IP management and manufacturing, but also extensive international experience working with companies in the US, Europe and Asia on patent portfolio development, market entry strategies, product development and roll-out, and early-stage fund-raising activities.
His current focus on assisting start-ups from various European and Asian countries allows him to see a wide range of opportunities that will make positive contributions to various markets in the US and around the world.
I had the pleasure of engaging with him in a nice, long conversation about the potential that Eastern Europe has, about the startup ecosystem we are trying to shape in Romania and also about the huge innovation capacity that this area has.
Not only that he is a keen listener, but also obviously an outstanding professional, putting the right questions at the right time and offering me great input about how the US startup ecosystem is build up.
Give before you get
Lucky enough, I managed to attract his attention and he actually became interested in connecting with startups from the Rubik Hub community!
The click was made after the first call he had with Book Vitals, s mature startup, that offers the users all the needed information about a book they are about to or they are thinking of reading it.
That was the moment when Paul realized that we have the proper mindset and no time to joke around!
Our big shot was to convince him to join our mission as the main speaker for Startup Spinner Makeathon, 2019.
We started pitching our programs and outlining the great mutual opportunities. It’s no easy job to cross the ocean for some persistent believers who are trying to sell you the remains of the Eastern Block!
But obviously Paul understood the spirit of our community and our stubbornness to take our mission seriously, to the moon and back!
Not only that he accepted to join in as the main speaker and mentor at Statup Spinner Makeathon, but he also thought of delivering an outstanding workshop, Become a Business Angel – The Silicon Valley Way.
The events are going to be organized in Iași – Become a business Angel – The Silicon Valley Way, on the 16th of October – and in Piatra Neamț – Startup Spinner Makeathon, 2nd edition, between 18-20th of October.
For registration, click the following links:
