A Week in Warsaw
with Bitspiration
At the tail end of June 2015 I found myself wondering the streets of Warsaw in a large group of geeks. Headed towards the heart of town, Vahe Amirbekian, formerly of PayPal and a fellow traveler was telling stories. He was recounting the details of Kim Kardashian’s recent visit to Armenia, a land normally known for its love of chess. This was my second time in Poland as a Bitspiration speaker.
Bitspiration is a tech conference with an international perspective that embeds mini rock concerts in its program. This year Bitspiration was held in Warsaw, a city which contrasts starkly to Krakow, home of the previous rendition. The venue was the Palace of Culture and Science, an imposing and intimidating relic of the Soviet era.
The first day of the conference opened with a ceremony that included Andrzej Targosz the mastermind behind Bitspiration and Eventory. The gracious hosts Paul Papadimitriou and Alex Barerra smoothly ushered speakers through the scheduled program. I particularly enjoyed a talk by Jakub Krzych, the CEO of Estimote, one of Poland’s startup success stories. Jakub talked about product management at tech startups.
The Saturday Tea played a set during lunch. Here’s one of their songs.
Sadly I was severely jet lagged and not able to enjoy the afternoon program. In the evening there was a massive afterparty at the Palace of Culture and Science to conclude the first day. At one point I stepped outside and serendipitously found a beautiful opera performance on the steps of the adjoining wing of the Palace while catching up with Anna Spysz (Anna is definitely one to watch).
My presentation took place on the morning of the second day.
Afterwards, I caught an excellent talk by Navid Nathoo on tips for startup marketing and sales. The afternoon program included a talk by Tahmina Watson who quite literally wrote the book on The Startup Visa.
As an ardent foodie I judge a city by its food. Naturally, I found myself in Warsaw Old Town tasting pierogi (huge thanks to Wojtek of Visuu for dinner). I was not disappointed!
The next day I presented a workshop on the Lean Startup. Apparently it was notable enough that it made it into press.
I wrapped up my last day by exploring the city on my own, peering into its corners.
Huge thanks to Jakub Kozioł, Andrzej Targosz, Daria Drzewiecka, Maja Łapuszyńska and Joanna Kaplon for another amazing year in Poland.
