Erika Noponen gave a breakfast seminar at Demos Helsinki on August 26th, 2015 about the Aalto startup ecosystem. She discussed how the Startup Sauna accelerator program supports early-stage startups and how Startup Life sends promising students to intern at Silicon Valley startups. The key lessons from her talk were that startup culture is about more than just startups, backgrounds and pasts do not define people, and that shipping products fast and hustling are important aspects of startup culture.

1. Aalto startup ecosystem
Breakfast seminar @ Demos Helsinki 26.8.2015
Erika Noponen

2. 2

4. Startup Sauna accelerator program supports early-
stage startups
Northern Europe’s largest startup conference
Startup Life send the most promising students to
intern at startups in Silicon Valley

9. 71 in Silicon Valley and New York
127 interns all together, out of which
52 in Helsinki
5 in other countries

10. Lessons from
Otaniemi to Silicon
Valley

11. Startup culture is not
really about startups.

12. What can we do for
each other?

13. Your background
doesn’t limit you…

14. …And your past
doesn’t define you

15. People = everything

16. Ship fast and hustle.