Dimitar Stanimiroff from StackExchange and others in Bulgaria helped the author with their Lean event and LeanSpark conference. Jon Bradford introduced the author to Eleven accelerator where the author did workshops. Stanislav Sirakov from LauncHub invited the author back to teach. Now the author regularly teaches at Eleven and Launchub. The author is encouraged to live in Sofia by Mihaelena Damianova who helps find an apartment. The summary identifies several individuals in Bulgaria's startup community that helped and supported the author.
Getting Real with AI - Columbus DAW - May 2024 - Nick Woo from AlignAI
How To Make The Most Of Sofia - Eleven Demo Day
1. helpful people on my journey
Dimitar
Stanimiroff,
a friend at
StackExchange in
London,
says “try a Lean
event in Bulgaria.”
Ivo Vasilev and Lino
Velev of Start IT Smart
collaborate with me for
the LeanSpark
conference.
Jon Bradford
introduces me to
Sofia’s Eleven
accelerator, where I
return for a quick
workshop.
!
Stanislav Sirakov
from LauncHub
invites me back to
teach there. Now,
I’m regularly in
Bulgaria to teach
at Eleven and
Launchub.
Boyan Benev and
Stephan Gantchev
invite me back to
speak at Balkan
Venture Forum.
Chris Georgiev
organises the
Course
Correction
meetup at
Betahaus.
!
Mihaelena
Damianova,
then at Eleven,
encourages me
to seriously
consider living
in Sofia, and
helps me find
an apartment.
2. sofians who’ll help you
You probably already
know Start IT Smart,
Eleven and LauncHub.
!
They’re constantly on
the lookout for ways to
help and build the
community, so letting
them know your
challenges is useful.
There are
particular people
who can find you
help and turn
your request into
a fast meetup to
help you now.
!
These are the
people I’ve seen
do this so far, so
hit ‘em up! Put
them to work for
you! :)
Alex at Betahaus
@betahaussofia
Chris at StartUP
@chrisgeorgiev
Vessy at Eleven
@vtasheva
Stan at LauncHub
@stansirakov
30. please recommend this
fnc.io/whysofia
!
!
Ask me anything
salim@foundercentric.com
!
Our mailing list
fnc.io/founderlove
Image credits: sofiaglobe.com, Flickr: cote, sugarmelon.com, soho42, eesti
Editor's Notes
observations and advice - make use
seen a lot of ecosystems,
leancamp - helped build communities, and reached out to get help from a lot of world-class names
caviar, cobblestones,
nobody believes me
terminal 1
capital gateways like santiago, capetown, bangkok
practice
true, but here are 3 reasons that tipped the balance for sofia
super nodes, not hubs.
local strengths
the winners are connected, not just to other winners.
who’se been to another startup city in the last 6 months?
I love Bulgaria. But what does this have to do with startups?
commission
watching us
eleven has more non-bg teams this cohort
p2p, execution, make it happen
got me a flat
fifedoms - only help if they gain
unavailable
connected but not connecting
don’t promote locals, promote their int’l connections instead
who’se been to another startup city in the last 6 months?
ucl
startups grow faster than ecosystems
diconnect: course correction/responsive
the ones who will will make $1b companies reach on 2 levels
Investors, look for the ones who are reaching.
vision, but also behaviour
