Where have you been on May 25th? If not at the Computer History Museum, you’ve missed a lot – the most important tech industry event took place right there. Over 600 startup founders, 50+ gurus of the tech industry, 300+ top angels and VCs, and 800+ tech experts packed the Museum, and thousands more watched the online stream provided by Epiphan Video.
SVOD has always been a place for great networking, but 2016 Conference exceeded all possible expectations.
SVOD2016 at a glance
SPECIAL SPEAKERS
One can hear Nir Zuk, the Founder of Palo Alto Networks ($14B valuation), at some other conferences or even on YouTube, and Ilya Strebulaev, the award-winning professor of Finance & Private Equity, at his packed class at Stanford Business School, but only at SVOD could you meet both of them in one day! Unlike many other events, SVOD format allows you to approach them in person and ask questions, establish connections and ask for advice.
We were delighted to have some more truly outstanding speakers share their experience and insight with SVOD audience. The keynotes and panels covered a very wide range of topics: from the practical advice on bringing a foreign startup into the US by Noam Bardin to a great presentation of the just-out-of-stealth-mode startup “Otto” by Lior Ron.
Sure, you can read the news about Lior Ron’s new IoT startup Otto all over the internet, but Lior chose SVOD as the first place to make his first public announcement of his startup and our attendees got a great chance to chat with him in person to learn more exciting details. We bet you’d love to be there if you missed it!
Want to explore the full SVOD as if you were there?
STARTUP PITCH COMPETITION
This year 35 startups were selected by a panel of judges – industry gurus and investors, and coached by Donna Griffit to get the most out of the opportunity. The startups applied from all over the world: Australia, South Africa, Europe, South America, Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Asia.
In the much-anticipated Startup Pitch Competition, 34 pre-selected companies, picked by a selection committee out of a thousand that applied, pitched to a panel of investor judges in hopes of winning.
Congratulations to all 34 companies!
After neck to neck competition, SVOD jury of more than 200 top angels and premium Silicon Valley VC funds, selected three winners of SVOD’16 Pitch competition:
3rd place – WITLEE, e-commerce platform for lifestyle influencers
2nd place – FAMOCO, secured transactional device to meet business needs
1st place – ENTROPIX, ultra high resolution on demand.
Our youngest 12-year old entrepreneur, the founder of KidsEduPro, received SVOD Audience Award.
Many thanks to Donna Griffit for coaching our startups!
STARTUP EXPO
Our attendees this year had a unique chance to find a robot entering the Conference doors next to them. As they entered they would hear unusual sounds of DJ mixer followed by piano and classical guitar coming from… a piece of wood powered by magic by ToneTree. In short, SVOD Expo this year was as full of tech wonders as never before.
The Expo gathered more than 40 startups from multiple industries, showcasing their cutting-edge technology and giving a chance to everyone to have a glance at what the tech future looks like. Or, in other words, make a short trip into a tech wonderland.
VIP RECEPTION
SVOD VIP Reception was an exclusive pre-conference networking event that took place at one of the most glamorous Stanford venues. The reception gathered all the SVOD’s speakers, judges, top investors, and friends, allowing them to connect with each other enjoying champagne and delicious appetizers. Reception’s informal atmosphere made it a perfect place to discuss investment prospects, technology trends, and SVOD highlights.
IT WAS A BLAST!
Great networking, tech wonderland, and leading industry news – with all that SVOD 2016 was definitely a blast. Don’t miss out SVOD 2017 taking place in Mountain View next May.
The next #SVOD2017 is just one year away and you can already get your ticket with an early bird discount. We look forward to welcoming you soon.
Don’t hesitate – register now!
7 best quotes from our speakers:
- Noam Bardin (Chief Wazer, Google): “If you are building a global company, you cannot move to the US soon enough.”
- Lior Ron (Co-Founder, Otto; ex-VP of Product, Google): “Commercial nature of trucking industry means it can afford higher costs for autonomous driving sensors.”
- Whit Diffie (2015 A.M. Turing Award): “Cloud + IoT microprocessor of everything = security nightmare potential.”
- Kira Makagon (EVP Innovation, Ring Central): “You have to work hard and not to worry about being a woman.”
- Nir Zuk (Founder, Palo Alto Networks): “Build the right culture, and be true to yourself.”
- Ilya Strebulayev (Professor, Stanford University): “92% of venture capitalists say unicorns are overvalued”
- Sami Inkinen (Co-Founder, Trulia): “3 keys to startup success: 1) cut the right in the right forest, 2) don’t run out of money, 3) hire the right talent”
- Pavel Korolev (CEO of Pulsar Venture Capital): “SVOD is a great opportunity for us to take a fresh look on the global market and share new knowledge with our partners on Silicon Valley”
Pictures from SVOD2016 Conference (…)
