It was a glorious evening with views all across the city when we sat down with Alexander Chacon, the founder of Startup my Rooftop and Anastasiia Ponomareva – the company’s Event Project Manager.
The pair are fully plugged in to the Barcelona startup scene, running Startup my Rooftop, Pick&Pow Events, as well as TechTribe BCN. So what did they have to say?
Lightning pitch:
We are a monthly networking sessions on the best rooftops in Barcelona. With us you will find a relaxing ambience to network with live music, delicious food, companies talks, fireside chats, expert talks, and of course the best views of the city. Come & have fun after work, discover great projects while enlarging your network.
You can receive 20% off the next Startup My Rooftop event on October 4th with the code: Hubbub_SMR
Down to business
When and why did you decide to start organising events in Barcelona?
It was about 3 years ago, while I was building my first digital project, called Pick & Pow. It was a hub for startups to sell their products with a discount in exchange of social sharing. Although we were getting a good number of foreign startups in, it wasn’t the same situation for the local market. So, we decided to organise our own afterwork for local startups & entrepreneurs, and of course we had to give it a twist.
What were your biggest challenges starting out and what have you done to overcome them?
It definitely was to get out there and spread the word with a very basic budget and a small team. Fortunately, since the very first events, we saw a positive response on the local scene. There are a lot of expats living here, a growing entrepreneur & startup ecosystem, nomads passing by, patatas bravas, the beach… A suitable city for events 🙂
What’s your advice to any startups that want to run their own event?
Put focus on the concept or the objective you want to achieve.
Barcelona Insight
What are your top three tips for networking at Barcelona startup events?
Know who you are, have your pitch & business cards prepared, use these connections in the future.
We heard you are quite the DJ – but what’s your favourite place to dance in Barcelona?
The Bunkers with Silent FCKN Disco 🙂
What’s the future for Startup my Rooftop and TechTribe?
A big and joyful community that learns and shares the knowledge gathered at our events, and creates connections and possibilities. We want to scale our events to bring more value to a bigger number of people. We will also keep innovating in each aspect of our gatherings, bringing better content, experiences, venues…
Find them on:
Facebook: Startup my Rooftop
Instagram: techtribebcn
Linkedin: TechTribe BCN
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Interested in hearing about other entrepreneurs and startups? Head over to Barna Hub, a new series of blog posts, interviewing some of the most inspiring entrepreneurs, startup founders and CEOs in Barcelona.
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