We all know that for startups and growth companies to be successful they need to build a winning team, while scaling up their business. To help you get the most out of this year’s Slush on Dec 1-2, 2021, we collected the most interesting talks to check out to build winning teams and other tips from our talent acquisition and employer branding professionals.
Interesting keynotes to support building winning teams
Our Head of Employer Branding, Vivi Brooke is hosting the Builders’ Studio at Slush 2021. Here are some of the talks Vivi and our team are especially excited about:
- DAY 1: Founding Teams – Ilkka Paananen, Co-founder and CEO of Supercell (Builders’ Studio), who will be sharing his tips on what most successful teams have in common.
- DAY 1: Recruiting At Scale – Sarah Manning from Hopin (Builders’ Studio). Sarah is VP People at Hopin, where she leads the global People team at Hopin. The Hopin team has scaled from 9 people at the beginning of 2020 to over 900 today and the team is distributed across 47 countries.
- DAY 1: Culture with Nina Carøe from Dixa (Builders’ Studio). Nina will be enlightening founders on how they should think about culture and act on it from Day 1 onwards to enable sustainable growth.
- DAY 2: Building a Growth Team with Caroline Hjelm from Voi (Builders’ Studio). Caroline will be giving a deep dive into when, why and how founders should start thinking of establishing a growth team for their company.
- DAY 2: Talk with Sofia Dolfe at index Ventures on International Expansion (Builders’ Studio). She’ll be talking about how to go from selecting your target markets all the way to establishing an operational team in place!
- DAY 2: If you are looking to make strategic partnerships, then check out “Here to Disrupt: Spinnova and Sustainable Partnerships” by Lotta Kopra on 2nd Dec (Founders’ Stage), where she shares her insights on how to grow through strategic partnerships and by ‘befriending the cool kids’. Most likely there are others in the crowd looking for similar partnerships and networking with them after the talk can bring you good results.
How to get the most out of the Slush experience?
- Set your own goals! Before the event, decide what kind of interactions you want to have and focus on quality over quantity. Meeting the right people will make your experience more fulfilling and memorable. So try and pre-book meetings (if you want to get meetings easily you can make a pre-Slush post on LinkedIn informing your network that you will be there and available for a coffee etc), but also leave room for random encounters!
- Make an agenda for yourself. Which part of the day is for meetings (matchmaking tool is great for this)? Which for visiting stands and networking? Which for attending a talk and what point will you do social media? Plus, if possible, schedule your lunch and coffee breaks with someone you don’t know.
- Networking: Be genuinely interested and curious in your interactions – people can sense that. There are so many interesting people at Slush and you never know when you’ll have the most inspiring conversation. So don’t only hang out with your own crew but start conversations everywhere – on the booths, in toilet queues, while getting lunch, in the after party… These are some of the most passionate people in the world, so dig deeper – ask what drives them, how they see the world and where are they headed.
- Follow-up: Remember to follow up – a big part of the value of Slush happens after the actual event. Keep the conversation going, set up lunch meetings, and nurture those new connections!
Extras
- Remember to have fun! There’s a lot happening – people to meet, speakers to see, connections to make, but it’s also a very cool experience as a whole. Enjoy it!
- Bring warm clothes, a water bottle to fill up and wear comfortable shoes! You’re going to be on your feet all day, drinking fluids ensures you stay hydrated, and the big hall might be a bit chilly too.
- If possible, come well rested so you have energy for networking and the afterparty. Best resting places during the event – while watching one of the speeches, while eating lunch, grabbing a coffee or outside enjoying a brisk walk around Messukeskus. Slush can be a bit overwhelming and to guard your energy, remember to take moments just for yourself.
Follow #SeekersAtSlush and our Finders Seekers team on LinkedIn and Instagram for more insights, behind the stage content and other cool stuff from Slush.
Our winning team at Slush 2021 this year! If you see some lightbulbs 💡 – come say hi!
