Thursday night we hosted our State of Innovation: 2019 Startups to Watch event. We had a packed house full of local startups and folks from Boston community. Thank you to our amazing presenting sponsor, WeWork for powering the event last night.
The night was centered around a panel discussion moderated by Kyle Gross, Director of Strategy for WeWork. The panel featured: Karin Brandt, founder and CEO of coUrbanize, Sean Ford, COO of Algorand, Ophir Gaathon, co-founder and CEO of DUST Identity and Julie Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Armored Things.
We discussed how these startups succeeded in 2018, what challenges they face in 2019 and how they plan to make this year their best. Our top takeaways are:
- "The only pitch that matters is the next pitch," (Julie Johnson)
- "In Boston, we always hear this conversation about 'Oh, we're not San Francisco.' Entrepreneurs should celebrate more the fact that they're building their company in Boston," (Karin Brandt)
- "The CEOs who are most successful are the ones who had a coach," (Karin Brandt)
- "The advice I'd give to myself? It's OK to be human," (Sean Ford)
- "The advice I'd give to myself? Trust yourself more," (Ophir Gaathon)
A big thank you to everyone who attended, participated and helped make last night successful! Be sure to check out the photo gallery below and see you at Tech Madness on March 7!
And now a word from our Presenting Sponsor, WeWork:
WeWork provides more than 400,000 members around the world with space, community, and services through both physical and virtual offerings. WeWork's mission is to help create a world where people work to make a life, not just a living. Founded in New York City in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, WeWork currently has more than 425 physical locations in over 100 cities and 27 countries around the world. Follow us @WeWork on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook or click here to learn more or book a tour for our Boston locations.
