Announcing startupdelta.org – the whole Dutch startup ecosystem connected on IBM Bluemix!

Today I’m excited to announce a partnership with StartupDelta, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and other partners from the Dutch entrepreneurial ecosystem, on the startupdelta.org digital platform. It connects 10+ innovation hubs in the Netherlands, which together form one of the largest and best-connected startup ecosystems in Europe, built by our developers at IBM Groningen on IBM Bluemix.

startup delta

From today, startups from all over the world have easy access to everything the Netherlands has to offer.

This StartupDelta announcement is an addition to IBM's partnership with local government teams like Digital.NYC, Tech.London, Tech.Berlin and more!   The goal is to encourage the local ecosystem in their mission and to accelerate entrepreneurs growth in the market.

 

With StartupDelta, the Netherlands will attract entrepreneurs and investors, build an all-inclusive community, and offer the tools and services startups need to start strong and scale up in the Netherlands. Through this partnership, visitors to StartupDelta.org may access comprehensive information about startups, news, jobs, workspaces, events, meetups and much more.

This is an exciting event, as it’s the first time we’re seeing an entire country band together with such ambition in the tech realm. The Netherlands seeks to become the “west coast of Europe for awesome startups,” and we at IBM want to help them achieve that goal! While this is our first time partnering with a countrywide community, it confirms our strategy to help build and take part in entrepreneurial communities in leading cities and areas around the world.

Startups from all over the world will have easy access to everything the Netherlands has to offer. To that end, we’ve brought our best tools and services to the table, from our premier development platform, IBM Bluemix, to our IBM Global Entrepreneur Program for Cloud, which provides up to $120 in cloud credit to startups. And who can forget about our amazing Innovation Space located in B.Amsterdam, one of the largest startup communities in Amsterdam.

So welcome, startups, investors, and everyone in-between, to StartupDelta.org!


TieCon Explodes for IBM Cloud!

I love attending the TieCon conferece every year.   It is the world's largest Enterpreneur Conference with over 4300 attendees, 35% women, and this year 20% women speakers.

The TieCon 50 are the top 50 Entrepreneurs who this year each received up to $120K of the IBM Cloud!   The results for these chosen few are amazing .. with over the past years over 114 successful exits!

tiecon stats

They focused on 8 tracks: 

  • Internet of Things
  • Data Economy
  • Cloud & Security
  • Healthcare
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Oil and Gas
  • Online Education
  • Youth

I wanted to share many of the great moments from our Global Entrepreneurs!

Kick Sim:

GT Systems - a TieCon Power 50 Entrepreneur!

Airosense:

And the interest in the IBM Cloud was a long long line!   Thanks to all the entrepreneurs for your interest!  We will do our best to help you be successful!

 

the crowds

 


Top 5 Personal Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs!

I was reading a few articles on entrepreneurship and the secrets of success of the entrepreneur themselves, vs just the company. Here's the Top 5 Personal habits that I found in common across all the articles in both first time entrepreneurs and serial entrepreneurs as well!

  1. Prioritize!   81% of the top entrepreneurs (value of $3.2M or greater and successful exit) make one the night before for those priorities that are most important.
  2. The Early Riser!   44% get up and going an average of 3 hours before they officially start "work"
  3. Get Help!    77% of those who are successful have an adviser!
  4. Networked Connectors.    79% network 5 or more hours a month.
  5. Return that call.    86% return all their calls in the same week they were received.

Some great habits here that I will adopt as well !!!


Content transformation and Fire fighting: Two startups make it to Global Finals!

What do two startups, one with a solution in content transformation and the other with a solution in fighting forest fires, have in common? They are both heading to the SmartCamp Global Finals! Stelae Technologies and Insight Robotics won our SmartCamp Asia Pacific Regional!

Stelae Technologies, winner of SmartCamp India, has an automated solution that enables an end-to-end workflow for information management. With at least 70% of cost savings over current solutions, theirs is one platform for multiple file types (PDF, Word, ASCII, etc.) and enables rapid turnaround times for converting files into multiple output formats (XML, S1000d, XBRL, etc.).

So, imagine if you had access to a single platform that enabled you to create, manage, and convert multiple file formats. That would be a huge time and money saver!

And I really love what Insight Robotics, winner of SmartCamp China, is doing to prevent forest fires. Just last year in the United States, over 9.3 million acres of forest were lost to fires! Just think of how many acres globally are lost! Thankfully, Insight Robotics has a solution to address this global problem.

Using thermal imaging sensors and advanced artificial intelligence vision technology, Insight Robotics solution allows fire fighters to quickly locate a forest fire, giving them a jump at extinguishing the flames. So precise is their solution that is can spot fires as small as an area of 2m x 1m within 5km radius!

Congratulations to Stelae Technologies and Insight Robotics! I'll see you both at the SmartCamp Global Finals!

Helpful links:
Stelae Technologies -> http://www.stelae-technologies.com/
Insight Robotics -> http://www.insightrobotics.com/


Women Entrepreneur Day Sponsored by IBM!!! Feb 3 An Infographic

Women-led businesses receive only 13% of VC deals, and that’s up 20% YTY, according to Pitchbook, a venture-capital research firm. This is good momentum! And for me, this is means 2014 will continue to be a breakout year for women in technology too.

I’m also thrilled to help spark this breakout by hosting IBM Global Entrepreneur Week, February 3-7th. I’m honored to be the first woman to host this premier event.   Register to join us!

http://vshow.on24.com/vshow/EntrepreneurWeek/registration/5787#

This one-of-a-kind event will feature virtual and in-person opportunities to learn from and network with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, academic leaders, IBM executives and IBM Business Partners. There’s no better place to connect with other female entrepreneurs and find out what it takes to build and maintain a successful startup … and there’s no better time to register!

Spread the word with all of your fellow female entrepreneurs using the promo below on all of your social networks. Then join us on February 3 during our Online Bash at 10:30 AM EST to hear from leading women on how to survive this competitive marketplace.

I hope to virtually see you there!  Register NOW!

http://vshow.on24.com/vshow/EntrepreneurWeek/registration/5787#

Woman Entrepreneurs