SEVAN STARTUP SUMMIT 2018

Diaspora Armenian, Tatul, promoting the initiative of a local NGO

July has indeed been a busy month for AGBU, especially during its last week, marking the happening of Sevan Startup Summit 2018. The Summit is one of the many initiatives of Startup Armenia Foundation, a local Armenian NGO advancing the development of the startup ecosystem, entrepreneurship and technology in Armenia. This year Sevan Startup Summit has brought to the shores of Sevan Lake over 400 startups from different countries, 250 business experts, speakers and investors from 35 countries around the globe. They have shared together a common lifestyle and found ways for cooperation.

Over $125,000 grants have been provided to the participants.
The total volume of investments has exceeded $1,500,000.
Bridge4CSOs’ Goodwill Ambassador, Tatul Ajamyan, founder of Wakie app, travelled personally to Sevan for a couple of days to support the Summit and promote their social entrepreneurship agenda. Tatul is a Diaspora Armenian who was connected to SSS18 through AGBU and Bridge4CSOs to support their work as a Goodwill Ambassador and contribute his knowledge and skills to promote Sevan Startup Summit worldwide.

How did Tatul contribute?

Tatul challenged the participants to push their limits and set more defined strategies. Yet, one of his best piece of advice for them was to choose one path or one vertical and to start with the implementation phase as soon as possible. During his motivational talk around the campfire at night, Tatul told his journey of ups and downs, sharing his knowledge and experience with young startuppers. He even recommended books that had helped him throughout his journey of creating his own company. One of the books was “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries. This book will help them create successful startups without wasting extra time on their business planning and have shorter product development stage. Another thing he realized was the lack of the “Customer development” strategy within almost every startup. Therefore he recommended reading Steve Blank’s experiences as an entrepreneur in the Silicon Valley.
Tatul also acted as one of the jury members at the Summit, to judge the Social Enterprise startup battles and awarded a special prize to the winning startup.

Tatul’s reflections and CTA to Armenian Entrepreneurs to get more involved in Armenia.

When asked about his overall reflections regarding the startup summit, Tatul replied that the summit exceeded his expectations, in terms of organization and quality of startups. He had no idea that the Armenian startup ecosystem was that developed.
Everything was planned to perfection and he was amazed at the level of the startups in general. He also said that according to him, some of these startups were really interesting and have a high potential to grow and that he would do his best to follow up with them and help them as much as he can.
Tatul also stated that he has an irrational passion towards Armenia. A year ago, he had no idea of the entire concept of an annual startup camp in Armenia. In his turn, he now calls upon entrepreneurs and successful people from the Armenian diaspora to engage more in Armenia and be aware of similar events. Sevan startup summit for him was a great opportunity to engage and talk with young startuppers, and that helped him learn more about coaching and mentoring on a personal level.
There are so many fresh startups in Armenia from different industries and it is so important at this stage for Armenian professionals to provide their engagement, which will contribute to building a better and stronger Armenia.

Tatul’s experience as a Goodwill Ambassador is a major proof that your contribution to the Armenian civil society doesn’t necessarily imply financial contribution, but your actual presence here and sharing your skills and experience will definitely leave a larger impact on the future of the Armenian Society.

Borders are not boundaries
Become a Goodwill Ambassador for an Armenian Social Project

Contact AGBU’s Bridge4CSOs program now through:
Phone: +374 60 72 22 29
Email: bridge@agbu.am
2/2 Melik-Adamyan Street
Yerevan 0010, Armenia