The new STARTERtartu season started on 16.02. with the Idea Hackathon. During four hours, the participants could share their flying thoughts with each other. The moderator of the event was Harald Lepisk, who is an inspirational speaker and our pitching teacher. Harald told us that you have to listen to your target group and do one thing great rather than trying to solve all problems at once.

The event started with various motivating tasks and our alumnus Hasan Abdullayev speech on learning experience. Moderator encouraged participants about the problem that they would like to solve in this world.

The pitching of ideas was very successful. 14 ideas were presented and Taavi Tamm visualised them on posters. Inspiring tasks must have had impact, because one participant who didn't even want to pitch at the beginning pitched us two ideas. We heard different solutions, from protein paste to renting fruit-bearing plants.

After the first pitches, there was the idea fair where everyone could start forming their teams. The participants had interesting talks with fellow participants, they could eat the snacks and drink vitamineral energy drinks.

Later, listening to the final pitches, it was good to see how the participants were already more confident in their ideas. The pitches were well thought through and stage freight was gone. We also gave away a T-shirt with the writing “Get rich or die prototyping” for the best pitch. This shirt was given to the Ojus Tudavekar, who presented his idea "Homies" with the most energy and confidence.

Some thoughts from the participants

Mia Meeksa, who is participating for the second time, said that she came again because even if you do not have an idea, it's a cool event to come to. .

According to Kai-Melli Kapten in addition to inspiring atmosphere, coffee break and snacks also keep participants motivated. “ I liked how Taavi Tamm visualised the ideas, since it reflects ​​how a stranger understands your idea”, Kai-Melli added.

Andrej Jegorov, an exchange student from Lithuania, was very excited about the event because of the opportunity to build something from scratch and the supportive environment. In his words: “Everyone is at the same stage of development and all setbacks are opportunities for learning”.

The event was supported by the European Social Fund

Additional information:

Hannah Kaarma, UT Startup Lab Communications and Marketing Specialist, tel: 5400 5242, hannah.kaarma@ut.ee