Startup weekend at sea

Mihail Stan is part of the organiser team behind Startup Weekend Oresund. Photo: Cphbusiness

On Friday the 24th of October, the ferry Tycho Brahe is going to have an unusual group of passengers onboard, when it leaves the port of Helsingør. Entrepreneurs will be flocking the upper levels of the ferry throughout the weekend. For 54 hours, they'll be meeting other entrepreneurs and creating startups.

Cphbusiness is one of the sponsors, and seven students from the business academy is part of the organiser team. Among them, Mihail Stan, sponsorship manager for the Startup Weekend Oresund and marketing management student at Cphbusiness Lyngby.

- We are dealing with every aspect of the event like sponsorships, logistics, food and beverages, prizes, coaches and facilitators, he says.

An interest in startups

Mihail Stan got involved in the planning when Rune Meyer, teacher at Cphbusiness Lyngby and previous Startup Weekend organiser, called out for volunteers.

- I’m very interested in startups and I have a few ideas myself. I thought, even if I’m not ready to try my ideas yet, why not take part in the event? I felt that I needed to be part of the community, it’s a great place to be, Mihail Stan says.

He has experience with planning small scale events but never anything as big as Startup Weekend Oresund.

- Volunteering for Startup Weekend gives me a lot of responsibility. As sponsor manager, it is my responsibility to talk to big companies to get various sponsorships for the event. It is more responsibility than I am used to, but it develops you to perform better in the business community, Mihail Stan says.

Cphbusiness supports startup community 

Supporting Startup Weekend Oresund makes sense for Kirsten Ringgaard, Head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Cphbusiness.

- Our focus is to develop the entrepreneurial skills of our students, and we believe that these skills are best developed in a diverse environment, she says.

Cphbusiness and a startup event like Startup Weekend Oresund share both a common goal and have a common value, she says.

- It is the value of getting a good idea. Our students must develop skills that are in demand. Among these skills is the ability to create your own job.