Nose to the Startup Grindstone

Startup Grind’s Barcelona chapter welcomed top international entrepreneurs, developers and investors to the Auditori Axa on Diagonal for the Startup Grind Tech Conference on April 9th. This second edition of the conference featured talks on innovation, SaaS, ethics, hiring talent, freelancing, financing, remote work and more.

As well as innovation leaders from giants like eBay and HP, local pioneers like Hola Luz’s Carlota Pi, Cecilia Tham of Makers of Barcelona and Social Car’s Mar Alarcón shared experiences, advice and the following insights:

We’re So Hot Right Now

Barcelona’s baby businesses are booming: the city has an average of 1300 startups, many of which took their first faltering steps with the help of resources from Barcelona Activa, Barcelona Tech City and 22@Barcelona, among others.

Startup Genome shared preliminary results of their analysis of the Barcelona startup scene, highlighting it as an ecosystem to watch, particularly in life sciences and gaming. It also seems Catalan cookies are some of the smartest: Barcelona ranks as the world’s second smart city after Singapore.

There’s no shortage of foreign investment and international companies moving in either. Carlota Pi believes it’s due to the ease of attracting talent to a city with great weather and relatively low cost of living, compared to other major European cities. She also cites a steady supply of graduates from high quality engineering, tech, marketing and design schools, and believes innovation is in the city’s DNA, “We have a strong tradition here for entrepreneurship.”

Long-time digital nomad and remote working advocate Sergio Gago, CTO of Zinio, reckons this thriving, international city is the best place in the world to work, “There are warmer places, places where you can make more money, places with better bureaucracy, but Barcelona has the perfect balance between professional life and personal,” he says, adding, “It’s the only place in Spain you can get a job with just English.”

It’s Not Just What You Know…

According to Startup Genome, globally-focused businesses with strong local and international connections perform well and grow fastest. Good news for Barcelona, whose close-knit multicultural startup scene embodies Startup Grind’s own values of sharing, helping others and building friendships. Carlota Pi affirms community building was the most valuable aspect of Hola Luz’s early years in a Glories incubator, “It was totally a game changer for us.”

Turns out kicking back over a caña doesn’t hurt either: merging economic and social activities acts as the “social glue” that bind clusters together.

While startups help grow the economy and create jobs, one downside of the Barcelona explosion we’ve all witnessed is gentrification. You only have to look at cities like San Francisco to see how growth can price local people out. The next few years will tell whether the authorities manage to strike a balance between growth, tourism, investment, innovation and preserving the city’s character and livability.

Bad Haircut, Good Business Strategy?

The gap between digital talent supply and demand means companies are both importing workers to Barcelona and hiring them to work remotely. The wonderfully named “mullet strategy” consists of having sales teams at the “front” in the US, and programming at the “back” in Europe. The long-standing Catalan love affair with that particular haircut should certainly ensure it’s a hit over here.

Sergio Gago believes that in the age of coworking and widely available Internet, it shouldn’t matter where your employees are as long as you deliver for the customer. Being a digital nomad isn’t all cocktails on the beach though: remote workers or companies face the same challenges as fixed ones, and it requires discipline, flexibility and an endless enjoyment of your own company.

Foster the People

From big companies to bootstrappers to venture capitalists, everyone had the same message to share: whatever you do, it’s all about people. Whether you’re just setting sail, or steering a veteran ship, picking the right crew and taking care of your customers is fundamental (no piracy, please). As is creating a company culture that allows people to grow. Guayente Sanmartin, General Manager of HP, predicts that, while the startup world still isn’t as diverse as it should be, soft skills and women are the future of innovation.

Startup Grind is a global community of over 2,000,000 entrepreneurs. Founded in–where else–Silicon Valley, it has grown to over 500 chapters in 125 countries. The aim is to help global entrepreneurs build businesses, find strategic partners and secure funding. And to take make going it alone less, well, lonely. The Barcelona chapter meets once a month. Tickets cost between €6 and €10, more than compensated for by the free beer and empanadas.

Kate Williams is a freelance writer, editor, translator and Director of The Writer Stuff. She left her native England for Barcelona in 2003 and never looked, or went, back. When she isn’t writing or discovering all the cool stuff going on in the city, she enjoys hiking in the Catalan countryside, kayaking on the Costa Brava, and volunteers at a local animal sanctuary. You can read more by Kate here.