What are your first thoughts that spring to mind when I mention Timisoara, Romania? Birthplace of the 1989 revolution? Chances are that your answer would probably be something like “Huh, where?” and not “a modern tech hub with a nascent startup scene and brilliant infrastructure”.
But it’s true that Timisoara has one of the best, the fastest Internet connections in the world and has a tech hub worthy of comparison to anywhere in the world. And there seems to be no shortage of really good developers here. Even brand name US American tech companies are setting up dev shops in Romania as proof.
And what I noticed is that people here are hungry – they seize the opportunity to create value for themselves, by themselves, with glut and fervor sparked probably in no small amount by the level of unemployment and corruption still high in the country.
So I was thrilled and honored to be invited to facilitate the second Startup Weekend Timisoara and thankful for the opportunity to learn more about the region and kill some of my Western European biases for good. (Oh, and did you know Romanian is a Romance language like Italian, Spanish and French – Not Slavic?
And what a fantastic Startup Weekend organizer lead Radu Ticiu and team put on!
“I believe I can fly…” Kicking it off on a high energy note
Hunting for the last pitcher of the evening…
All work, no talk – 54 hrs to build and validate your startup
Made a new friend in the awesome Adi Pica
More WORK WORK WORK – Nobody said building a startup is easy
Stellar jury, including Bill Liao, co-founder of XING and Coder-Dojo