Entrepreneurs and tech enthusiast gathered at Factory Berlin HQ - the “birthplace” of XapiX - for a networking and information session on the Alexa Accelerator, powered by Techstars.
Techstars Managing Director Aviel Ginzburg, joined by XapiX co-founder Oliver Thamm and Rodrigo Prudencio of Amazon’s Alexa Fund, lead an informative discussion that gave attendees more insight on Alexa technologies and Techstars’ accelerator program.
Nice evening at @FactoryBerlin with @techstars Alexa's @aviel and @rigomundo on stage. Shout out to @techstarsjohn and my @xapix_io team! pic.twitter.com/qw0IjkM6lw
— pickledolives (@POSoftware) March 21, 2017
Last year, XapiX was a member of Techstars’ first class to complete its New York-based internet of things accelerator. During the talk, Oliver shared his experience as a Techstars program participant:
Question: What was the biggest surprise at Techstars?
Oliver: Me personally: How much I was able to learn about doing business in general. Company: The success we were able to achieve: Growing from 3 to 10 team, landing Bosch as a customer.
Question: What was a life changing Techstars mentor lesson?
Oliver: David Cohen's workshop on social behaviour techniques in fundraising: Taking the awkwardness out of money talks and other sensitive areas. I applied those to many other areas of similar nature.
Question: How's connection making different with Techstars behind you vs. without / outside?
Oliver: Techstars gives us a lot of validation and a trigger to email individual people. They heard about Techstars and are curious what it's like to be involved.
The discussion ended with a Q&A session, where attendees primarily asked about the Alexa Accelerator conditions and the future of Alexa technologies. Techstars will grant companies selected for the new accelerator access to the world’s most widely-adopted voice-activated computing platform and to work alongside entrepreneurs and developers advancing voice-powered technologies.
Interested in apply for Techstars? To learn more about XapiX's experience with Techstars, check out this recently posted article by Factory Berlin where Oliver shares more about his and XapiX's experience with Techstars and provides useful tips and takeaways.
