Thailand Startup Week : Startup studio as part of the ecosystem

A month ago, Thailand Startup Week was just a name.Today, we can say it was a success composed of 40+ free events in more than 8 locations during 5 days around town, with around 300 people in attendance !

As a startup studio, it is important for Santora Nakama to be part of the entrepreneur ecosystem in Bangkok.

So when we were asked by Hubba to help support Thailand Startup Week, it was natural for us to accept the invitation. We didn’t really realize the challenge in organizing and promoting 50 events in 3 weeks. But we are glad we took it.

We had the objective to create a diverse array of events, that could address to students, young entrepreneurs, and late corporate employees. We had both fresh grad founders, as well as seasoned entrepreneurs from the Silicon Valley. Events where covering very different topics:

• Gordon gave us great insights about “Design for non-designer”
• Nick (Santora Nakama) told us about his “Year of entrepreneurship” back in San Francisco
• Rémi (Kyklo) explained to us “Why you should join a startup”
• Young entrepreneurs told us about their experience of being “Founders fresh of the Boat”
• Geir (Santora Nakama), Tiwa (Kaidee), Andreas (MAQE) and Jakob (Playlab) couldn’t stop talking about how to “Build your startup culture”, maybe especially because beers were involved for this last panel

… But to put it short: I think we had very inspirational talks… and a great time.

Contrary to the main startup forums that were held in Bangkok, Thailand startup week was free and made for non-tech, non-startup people.

It was quite a big bet, as we didn’t know if people would be interested in such events; But they were! People came, asked questions, and were inspired to move into innovation. More importantly, it shows that startup ecosystem is changing here in Thailand.

We hope that Thailand Startup Week helped educate the ecosystem. As event organizers, we learned a lot; By hosting such an event in our space, by moderating panel for the first time, and by learning how to promote it.

Thanks to all the volunteer team, all the speakers, and all the people who showed up. We hope we managed convinced some of them to join the startup scene !