# SKInnovation - Full Content Snapshot for AI SKInnovation is an annual startup conference on skis, held at 2,340m at Hoadlhaus, Axamer Lizum, near Innsbruck, Austria. Next edition: 10-12 March 2027. This document contains the full text of the blog and a compact speaker roster for AI-assistant consumption. Generated: 2026-09-12T22:43:52.115Z Home: https://skinnovation.at/ Contact: info@skinnovation.at --- ## Blog posts (full text) ### Networking at Startup Events is difficult? Not at SKInnovation URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/networking-is-difficult-not-at-skinnovation Published: 2026-09-09T08:00:00+00:00 Summary: Most networking fails for structural reasons, not personal ones. Here is why real connections have become harder in the AI age, and how a mountain fixes what a ballroom cannot. Networking at startup events is difficult for reasons that have very little to do with you. Standing in a hotel ballroom holding a lukewarm drink, scanning for a group that looks open, hoping the conversation you start survives past the second question: that is not a character flaw, it is a badly designed environment. Change the environment and most of the difficulty disappears. That is the entire thesis behind SKInnovation, and it is why the event happens on a mountain rather than in a conference centre. ## Why the usual format fails Three things break networking at a standard conference. First, there is no shared experience, so every conversation has to be built from nothing. Second, there are exits everywhere, so anyone can leave a conversation, take a call, or vanish into the city, which means nothing has to go deep. Third, the format is transactional by design: badges, name tags, and a strong implicit signal that you are here to extract something from each other. Put those together and you get the familiar result. Hundreds of business cards, four real conversations, and a follow-up list that goes cold within a week. ## Why this got harder in the AI age The last few years have made the problem sharper, not softer. Outreach is now effectively free. A personalised-looking message costs nothing to produce at volume, which means every inbox is full and every founder has learned to ignore them. The signal value of a well-written email has collapsed, because a machine can write a well-written email. What has gone up in value is everything that cannot be generated: being in a room, having a conversation with friction in it, saying something you would not put in writing, being vouched for by someone real. Trust has become the scarce good. That is a strange outcome for a technology wave, but it is consistent with what founders report. The harder it becomes to distinguish a real message from a synthetic one, the more weight moves to relationships formed in person. Our guiding theme is a direct response to that: making real connections easier in an age where surface-level contact has become infinitely cheap. ## What a mountain actually changes The altitude is not a marketing image. It is a set of constraints that produce better conversations. - One way up, one way down. Everyone shares the same cable car. Nobody slips away to an office at lunch, so the group stays intact for two and a half days. - Shared conditions. Cold, altitude, sun, snow. A shared physical experience gives strangers a starting point that has nothing to do with job titles. - Side by side, not face to face. Walking, riding a lift, sitting on a terrace: these are the postures people talk honestly in. Standing opposite someone with a name badge is not. - Enforced time together. A chairlift ride is several minutes with the same person and no escape route. That is why the ski lift pitch works: it is the only pitch format where the investor cannot check their phone. - Levelling. Everyone is in the same layers, wind-burnt and slightly out of breath. Hierarchy erodes quickly at 2,340 metres. ## Designed moments, not open bars Beyond the setting, the programme is built to place people into small groups deliberately. Hosted lunch tables with a topic and eight seats. Sundowner sessions where the day's conversations continue instead of resetting. Formats where participants take responsibility for making introductions rather than waiting for them. Small groups are the unit that works: eight people around a table have to engage, four hundred in a hall can hide all evening. ## If you find networking hard A few things that help, at our event or any other. Arrive with three specific people you want to meet rather than a general intention to network. Ask questions that require a real answer, such as what has been hardest in the last six months, instead of what someone does. Be useful to people who cannot return the favour, because that is what gets remembered. And follow up within two days, referencing something specific from the conversation, because the window closes faster than anyone expects. If you are naturally reserved, the mountain helps more than it hurts. You are not required to perform in a room. You can walk, ride, sit and talk to whoever ends up next to you, which is a much lower barrier than working a crowd. ## The point Networking is not difficult because people are difficult. It is difficult because most events are built to maximise the number of interactions rather than the depth of them. Invert that, put everyone on a mountain with no exits and a reason to be there together, and it stops being work. You can see how the two and a half days are structured in the agenda. --- ### Wie der Ski Lift Pitch funktioniert: Ein Pitch Wettbewerb in Österreich für Startups URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/pitch-wettbewerb-in-oeterreich-ski-lift-pitch Published: 2026-09-03T13:00:00+00:00 Summary: Pitchen in der Gondel statt auf der Bühne: Wie der Ski Lift Pitch bei SKInnovation abläuft, wer teilnehmen kann und wie man sich vorbereitet. Pitch-Wettbewerbe für Startups gibt es viele, und die meisten funktionieren gleich: Bühne, fünf Minuten, Jury, Applaus. Der Ski Lift Pitch bei SKInnovation macht es anders - gepitcht wird auf dem Sessellift, während der Fahrt auf 2.340 Meter. Wer 2027 einen Pitch-Wettbewerb in Österreich sucht, findet hier ein Format, das es sonst nirgends gibt. ## Wie der Ski Lift Pitch funktioniert Das Prinzip ist einfach: Ein Startup und eine Investorin oder ein Investor steigen gemeinsam in den Sessellift. Die Liftfahrt dauert einige Minuten - das ist das Zeitfenster. Kein Beamer, keine Folien, keine Bühne. Nur zwei Menschen nebeneinander, die bergauf fahren und reden. Oben angekommen entscheidet sich, ob das Gespräch bei der Abfahrt oder später im Hoadlhaus weitergeht. ## Warum das Format besser funktioniert als eine Bühne Ein Bühnenpitch ist eine Performance vor Publikum. Ein Liftpitch ist ein Gespräch. Der Unterschied ist groß: Auf dem Lift stellt das Gegenüber Rückfragen, unterbricht, hakt nach. Man merkt in Minute zwei, ob die Zahl, auf die man den Pitch aufgebaut hat, überzeugt. Genau dieses Feedback fehlt bei klassischen Wettbewerben - dort erfährt man erst nach der Jury-Entscheidung, was nicht funktioniert hat. ## Wer teilnehmen kann Der Ski Lift Pitch richtet sich an Startups mit einem lauffähigen Produkt oder belastbaren frühen Marktsignalen. Branchenoffen, international, mit starker Beteiligung aus Österreich, Deutschland und der Schweiz. Die Plätze sind begrenzt, weil jeder Pitch eine echte Liftfahrt mit einem echten Investor blockiert. Alle Details zu Ablauf und Bewerbung stehen auf der Seite zum [Ski Lift Pitch](/ski-lift-pitch). ## Vorbereitung: Was am Berg funktioniert - **Ein Satz zum Einstieg.** Wer nach 20 Sekunden noch erklärt, was das Produkt tut, hat die Hälfte der Fahrt verbraucht. - **Zwei Zahlen, nicht zwölf.** Umsatz oder Nutzungsdaten plus Wachstumsrate reichen. Alles andere kommt auf Nachfrage. - **Die Frage vorbereiten.** Ein Pitch ohne konkreten Ask endet mit höflichem Nicken. - **Handschuhe.** Klingt banal, aber ein Pitch mit klammen Händen auf 2.340 Metern ist kein guter Pitch. ## Wann und wo der Wettbewerb stattfindet SKInnovation 2027 läuft von 10. bis 12. März 2027 im Hoadlhaus in der Axamer Lizum, rund 20 Kilometer von Innsbruck entfernt. Der Ski Lift Pitch ist Teil des regulären Konferenzprogramms; parallel laufen Startup Fair, Hosted Lunch Tables und Sessions auf der Bühne. Die genauen Zeiten stehen in der [Agenda](/agenda). ## Was man realistisch erwarten darf Ein Liftpitch ist kein Termsheet. Er ist ein qualifiziertes Erstgespräch unter ungewöhnlich guten Bedingungen: volle Aufmerksamkeit, kein Handy, keine Tür. Realistisch sind ein oder zwei ernsthafte Follow-ups pro Teilnahme - deutlich mehr als bei einem Bühnenpitch vor einem Saal, in dem die Hälfte des Publikums auf dem Laptop arbeitet. Wer das erwartet und den Rest der drei Tage aktiv nutzt, holt am meisten heraus. ## Für Investorinnen und Investoren Auch für die andere Seite ist das Format effizient: Statt Pitchdecks im Posteingang gibt es strukturierte, kurze Gespräche mit vorab kuratierten Teams, eingebettet in einen Skitag. Wer als Investor teilnimmt, sieht mehrere Startups pro Tag, ohne einen zusätzlichen Termin im Kalender. ## Der Unterschied zu klassischen Pitch-Wettbewerben Bei den meisten Pitch-Wettbewerben in Österreich pitcht man vor einer Jury, die anschließend punktet. Das Ergebnis ist ein Ranking und im besten Fall Sichtbarkeit. Beim Ski Lift Pitch gibt es kein Publikum und keine Punktevergabe, sondern ein Gegenüber, das entweder weiterreden will oder nicht. Für Teams, die Kapital oder erste Kundinnen suchen, ist das der nützlichere Ausgang: Man verlässt den Lift mit einer klaren Aussage statt mit einer Platzierung. ## Was nach dem Lift passiert Der Pitch ist der Anfang, nicht das Ziel. Die drei Konferenztage sind so gebaut, dass man dieselben Personen mehrfach trifft - beim Lunch Table, auf der Terrasse des Hoadlhauses, beim Sundowner. Ein Gespräch, das auf dem Lift begonnen hat, wird deshalb oft am selben Abend fortgesetzt. Wer den Pitch als einmaligen Auftritt behandelt und danach verschwindet, verschenkt den größeren Teil des Formats. ## Häufige Fehler - Zu viel Kontext: Marktgröße und Branchengeschichte kosten die Hälfte der Fahrzeit. - Kein klarer Ask: Ohne konkrete Frage bleibt das Gespräch unverbindlich. - Auswendig gelernter Text: Auf dem Lift wird unterbrochen, ein starrer Pitch bricht dann zusammen. - Kein Follow-up am selben Tag: Nach 24 Stunden ist der Kontext weg. ## Nächste Schritte Wer 2027 antreten will, sollte früh planen: Die Plätze sind an die Teilnahme an der Konferenz gebunden und limitiert. Ein guter erster Schritt ist ein Blick in die Agenda und auf die Ticketkategorie für Startups - danach die Bewerbung für den Pitch. --- ### AI for early-stage startups: build vs buy in 2026 URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/ai-for-early-stage-startups-build-vs-buy-in-2026 Published: 2026-08-31T08:00:00+00:00 Summary: A practical decision framework for early-stage teams choosing between building on foundation models, buying vertical AI, or ignoring the hype. Every early-stage founder now has to answer a question that did not exist five years ago: when facing an **ai for startups build vs buy** decision, should the team spend precious engineering time fine-tuning a foundation model, or should it buy a vertical AI tool and focus effort elsewhere? Get this wrong in either direction and you either burn six months on infrastructure nobody asked for, or you bolt together someone else's product and end up with no real differentiation. ## Start with what the customer is actually paying for If your product's value is the AI output itself, meaning customers pay specifically because your model does something better than a general one, building matters. If the AI is a feature inside a workflow tool, and customers care about the workflow more than the model, buying a vertical AI layer and spending your engineering time on the workflow is usually the right call. Founders frequently get this backwards because building feels more impressive to investors, even when it is the wrong allocation of a small team's time. ## The hidden cost of buying is vendor dependency Vertical AI vendors change pricing, get acquired, or shut down features with little notice. A startup that routes a core product function through a single third-party API without a fallback plan is exposed to a risk that has nothing to do with its own execution. Before buying, ask what happens to your product if that vendor doubles pricing or deprecates the endpoint you depend on within twelve months, and have an answer ready. ## The hidden cost of building is opportunity cost, not compute Most early teams overestimate the compute and underestimate the engineering hours needed to get a fine-tuned or custom model to a reliability level customers will tolerate. The real cost of building is not the GPU bill, it is the two or three senior engineers who are not working on your core product for a quarter or two. For a five-person team, that is often the difference between shipping and not shipping this year. ## A simple decision framework - If the AI capability is your core differentiator and defensible with proprietary data, build it - If the AI capability is commodity and available from three or more vendors at similar quality, buy it - If you are unsure which category you are in, ship with a bought solution first and revisit build only after you have paying customers who can tell you exactly what is missing - If your data is the moat rather than the model architecture, you can often buy the model layer and still keep the defensibility ## Ignoring the hype is sometimes the right call Not every product needs an AI feature at all. Several founders have added a chat interface or a generative summary purely because investors expect to see it on a slide, at real engineering cost, without customers asking for it. If your product solves a clear operational problem without AI, adding it to chase a trend usually dilutes the pitch rather than strengthening it. The honest question is whether removing the AI feature would make any current customer unhappy. ## What changes in 2026 versus two years ago Foundation model quality has converged enough that building a general-purpose model from scratch is rarely justified for a startup. What has changed is the maturity of vertical AI vendors in specific industries such as legal document review, customer support triage and manufacturing quality inspection. These vendors now have real reliability track records, which makes buying a much safer default than it was when the category was mostly unproven startups themselves. ## How to test a vendor before committing - Run the vendor's tool against your hardest real customer cases, not the vendor's demo data - Ask for a written commitment on data handling and retention before integrating - Negotiate a pricing lock for at least twelve months if the vendor is central to your product - Keep your own evaluation dataset so you can benchmark a replacement quickly if you need one ## What this looks like for a two-person technical team A small team with strong engineers can still lean toward buying and be right to do so, because engineering capacity is the scarcest resource at that stage regardless of skill level. The build option should be reserved for the one capability that is genuinely your product's reason to exist, not spread across every AI-adjacent feature on the roadmap. This is a decision that benefits from hearing how other founders actually made the call, with real numbers, rather than reading another framework post. Sessions on the [agenda](/agenda) cover build versus buy trade-offs with founders who have shipped both ways, and the [ski lift pitch](/ski-lift-pitch) format is a good place to get quick, blunt feedback on which path fits your specific product. --- ### Startup Konferenzen in Europa 2027 im Vergleich: Slush, Web Summit, Bits & Pretzels & Co. URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/startup-konferenzen-in-europa-2027-im-vergleich Published: 2026-08-26T13:00:00+00:00 Summary: Welche Startup-Konferenz lohnt sich 2027? Ein ehrlicher Vergleich der wichtigsten europäischen Events - und wann eine kleine Alternative die bessere Wahl ist. Wer als Gründerin, Investor oder Innovationsverantwortlicher plant, welche Startup-Konferenzen 2027 sinnvoll sind, steht vor einer langen Liste. Slush, Web Summit, Bits & Pretzels, VivaTech und ein Dutzend weiterer Events konkurrieren um dasselbe Reisebudget. Dieser Vergleich der wichtigsten Startup-Konferenzen in Europa ordnet ein, wofür jedes Event tatsächlich gut ist - und wann eine Bits-&-Pretzels-Alternative die bessere Wahl ist. ## Die Auswahl im Überblick - **Slush** (Helsinki, November) - rund 13.000 Teilnehmende, sehr investorenlastig, hoher Anteil an Later-Stage-Gesprächen. - **Web Summit** (Lissabon, November) - über 70.000 Teilnehmende, breites Tech-Publikum, stark bei Medien und Corporates. - **Bits & Pretzels** (München, September/Oktober) - DACH-Zentrum, Tischgespräche zum Frühstück, starkes deutschsprachiges Netzwerk. - **VivaTech** (Paris, Mai) - Corporate-Innovation im Zentrum, viele Konzern-Pavillons. - **4YFN / MWC** (Barcelona, März) - Telco- und Hardware-Nähe, gut für B2B-Tech. - **SKInnovation** (Innsbruck / Axamer Lizum, März) - kleine Startup-Konferenz auf Skiern auf 2.340 Metern, drei Tage, DACH-nah. ## Größe ist kein Qualitätsmerkmal Die großen Events liefern Reichweite: viele Namen, viele Bühnen, viele parallele Tracks. Der Preis dafür ist Fragmentierung. Auf einem Event mit 70.000 Menschen trifft man niemanden zweimal zufällig. Wer eine Beziehung aufbauen will, muss jeden Kontakt aktiv terminieren. Kleine Events drehen dieses Verhältnis um: weniger Auswahl, dafür mehrfache Begegnungen mit denselben Personen über mehrere Tage. ## Bits & Pretzels und der DACH-Raum Bits & Pretzels ist für deutschsprachige Startups der naheliegende Fixpunkt: München ist gut erreichbar, das Publikum ist mehrheitlich aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, und die Tischformate erzwingen Gespräche. Die typischen Kritikpunkte sind der hohe Preis, die Größe und die Tatsache, dass viele Kontakte nach dem Event verpuffen. Wer nach einer Bits-&-Pretzels-Alternative sucht, sucht meist genau das: dasselbe Netzwerk, aber mit mehr Zeit pro Gespräch. ## Wann sich ein kleines Format lohnt Ein kleines Event ist die bessere Wahl, wenn das Ziel nicht Sichtbarkeit, sondern Vertiefung ist. Konkret: bei einer laufenden Finanzierungsrunde, bei der Suche nach ersten Pilotkunden im Enterprise-Umfeld oder wenn ein Team aus zwei Personen reist und keine Messestand-Logistik stemmen kann. Bei Produktlaunches mit Presseziel ist umgekehrt ein großes Event sinnvoller. ## SKInnovation im Vergleich SKInnovation ist die kleinste Größe in dieser Liste und findet von 10. bis 12. März 2027 im Hoadlhaus in der Axamer Lizum bei Innsbruck statt. Das Konferenzprogramm läuft auf 2.340 Metern, zwischen den Sessions wird Ski gefahren. Signature-Format ist der [Ski Lift Pitch](/ski-lift-pitch), bei dem Startups während der Liftfahrt vor Investorinnen und Investoren pitchen. Dazu kommen Startup Fair, Hosted Lunch Tables und das Snow-Captains-Programm. Zielgruppe sind Startups, Investoren und Corporate-Innovationsteams, international mit starker DACH-Basis. Ehrlich eingeordnet: SKInnovation ersetzt kein Web Summit. Wer 40 Investorengespräche in zwei Tagen braucht, ist bei Slush besser aufgehoben. Wer stattdessen zehn Gespräche will, die drei Tage lang weitergehen und danach noch bestehen, findet am Berg das passendere Format. Das aktuelle Programm steht in der [Agenda](/agenda). ## Eine praktische Jahresplanung Für die meisten DACH-Teams reicht eine Kombination aus zwei bis drei Events: ein großes Event für Reichweite und Marktüberblick, ein DACH-Event für das Heimatnetzwerk und ein kleines, intensives Format für echte Anbahnung. Mehr als vier Konferenzen pro Jahr sind in der Praxis selten refinanzierbar, wenn man Reisekosten, Ticketpreise und Ausfallzeit ehrlich rechnet. ## Kosten ehrlich rechnen Der Ticketpreis ist selten der größte Posten. Bei einem viertägigen Trip nach Lissabon oder Helsinki kommen Flug, drei bis vier Hotelnächte, Verpflegung und zwei verlorene Arbeitstage pro Person dazu. Für ein Zweierteam landet man schnell bei einem vierstelligen Betrag pro Event. Ein Event in Mitteleuropa, das per Bahn erreichbar ist, verschiebt diese Rechnung deutlich - und macht es realistisch, statt einer großen Konferenz zwei kleinere zu besuchen. ## Was ein Event nach dem Event wert ist Die einzige belastbare Kennzahl ist, wie viele Kontakte vier Wochen später noch antworten. Visitenkarten und LinkedIn-Anfragen sind kein Ergebnis. Wer vor der Buchung festlegt, wie viele qualifizierte Folgetermine ein Event bringen muss, damit es sich rechnet, trifft bessere Entscheidungen als jede Rangliste. In der Praxis liefern kleine Formate mit mehrfachen Begegnungen hier bessere Quoten als Großveranstaltungen, weil eine Beziehung über drei Tage entsteht und nicht in einem Fünf-Minuten-Gespräch am Stand. ## Wie man vor der Buchung entscheidet Drei Fragen helfen: Wen genau will ich treffen, und ist diese Gruppe dort nachweislich vertreten? Wie viel Zeit habe ich pro Kontakt realistisch? Und was ist der konkrete Anlass für ein Follow-up nach dem Event? Wer diese drei Fragen für jede Konferenz beantwortet, streicht die Hälfte der Liste - und kommt mit mehr Ergebnis aus den verbleibenden zurück. --- ### Startup-Konferenz auf Skiern: Was ist SKInnovation und was passiert dort? URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/startup-konferenz-auf-skiern-was-ist-skinnovation Published: 2026-08-24T12:00:00+00:00 Summary: Drei Tage Konferenz, Networking und Skifahren auf 2.340 Metern bei Innsbruck: Hier erklären wir was SKInnovation ist, für wen es gedacht ist und wie der Ski Lift Pitch funktioniert. SKInnovation ist die Startup-Konferenz auf Skiern: drei Tage Konferenzprogramm, Networking und Skifahren auf 2.340 Metern im Hoadlhaus in der Axamer Lizum bei Innsbruck. Die nächste Ausgabe findet von 10. bis 12. März 2027 statt. Wer nach einem Startup Event in Innsbruck oder einer Startup Konferenz in Österreich sucht, die nicht in einer Messehalle stattfindet, findet hier das Format in seiner buchstäblichsten Form. ## Was SKInnovation ist SKInnovation ist eine internationale Startup-Konferenz mit starker DACH-Basis, die seit 2024 jährlich in Tirol stattfindet. Die Bühne steht nicht im Kongresszentrum, sondern im Hoadlhaus auf 2.340 Metern Seehöhe. Zwischen den Sessions fährt man Ski, mittags sitzt man an gemeinsamen Tischen, abends geht es weiter im Tal. Das Format ist kein Marketing-Gag: Der Berg ersetzt die klassische Networking-Zone, weil man dort ohnehin nebeneinander steht, fährt und wartet. ## Termin, Ort und Anreise Die Ausgabe 2027 läuft von 10. bis 12. März 2027. Veranstaltungsort ist das Hoadlhaus in der Axamer Lizum, rund 20 Kilometer südwestlich von Innsbruck. Von Innsbruck aus sind es je nach Verkehrsmittel 30 bis 45 Minuten: öffentlich mit Bus und Bahn über Axams, mit dem Auto direkt zum Parkplatz Axamer Lizum, danach mit der Gondel nach oben. Innsbruck ist per Zug aus München, Zürich und Wien gut erreichbar und hat einen eigenen Flughafen. Details zu Unterkunft, Skipass und Transfer stehen auf der Seite [Plan your trip](/plan-your-trip). ## Für wen die Konferenz gedacht ist Drei Gruppen bilden den Kern des Publikums: - **Startups** - Gründerinnen und Gründer auf der Suche nach Kapital, Kundinnen, Partnern und ehrlichem Feedback. - **Investorinnen und Investoren** - VCs, Angels und Family Offices, die Dealflow abseits der üblichen Demo-Days sehen wollen. - **Corporates** - Innovationsteams, die konkrete Pilotprojekte und Partnerschaften suchen statt Trendvorträge. Dazu kommen Ecosystem-Builder, Hubs, Medien und Volunteers. Das Teilnehmerfeld ist bewusst begrenzt, damit man dieselben Leute über drei Tage mehrfach trifft - das ist der eigentliche Unterschied zu Großmessen mit 20.000 Besuchern. ## Der Ski Lift Pitch als Alleinstellungsmerkmal Das bekannteste Format ist der Ski Lift Pitch: Ein Startup fährt mit einer Investorin oder einem Investor gemeinsam auf dem Sessellift bergauf und pitcht während der Fahrt. Die Fahrzeit gibt das Zeitlimit vor, niemand kann weglaufen, und am Gipfel ist das Gespräch entweder zu Ende oder es geht bei der Abfahrt weiter. Kein anderes europäisches Event kann dieses Format kopieren, weil es einen Berg und eine Liftinfrastruktur braucht. Wie Ablauf, Bewerbung und Auswahl funktionieren, steht auf der Seite zum [Ski Lift Pitch](/ski-lift-pitch). ## Die weiteren Formate Neben den Bühnen-Sessions im Hoadlhaus laufen mehrere parallele Formate: die Startup Fair als Ausstellungsfläche auf dem Berg, Hosted Lunch Tables mit thematisch gesetzten Tischen, geführte Ski Tours in kleinen Gruppen, das Snow-Captains-Programm, bei dem erfahrene Teilnehmende Neulinge durch den Tag lotsen, und der Hoadl Sundowner am späten Nachmittag. Das aktuelle Programm findet sich in der [Agenda](/agenda). ## Muss man Ski fahren können? Nein. Das Hoadlhaus ist per Gondel erreichbar, das komplette Konferenzprogramm ist ohne Ski zugänglich. Ski fahren ist Teil des Formats, aber keine Voraussetzung für die Teilnahme. Wer nicht fährt, nutzt Terrasse, Lunch Tables und Sessions - und trifft dort dieselben Leute. ## Was das Format praktisch bringt Der ehrliche Teil: Eine Konferenz auf 2.340 Metern ist logistisch aufwendiger als eine in der Stadt. Man braucht warme Kleidung, plant Gondelzeiten ein und verliert Zeit zwischen den Orten. Der Gegenwert ist Gesprächsdichte. Wer drei Tage lang mit derselben Gruppe auf einem Berg ist, führt weniger, aber längere Gespräche - und genau daraus entstehen die Follow-ups, die nach der Konferenz noch existieren. ## Wie man teilnimmt Tickets sind nach Zielgruppe gestaffelt: Startup, Investor, Corporate, Ecosystem und Attendee. Für Teams gibt es Gruppenkonditionen, für ausgewählte Fälle ein Supported-Ticket-Programm. Preise und Verfügbarkeit stehen auf der Ticketseite. Wer zuerst prüfen will, ob das Format passt, liest die Agenda der letzten Ausgabe - sie zeigt realistischer als jede Beschreibung, wie ein Konferenztag am Berg abläuft. --- ### Product-market fit signals you can actually measure URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/product-market-fit-signals-you-can-actually-measure Published: 2026-08-19T08:00:00+00:00 Summary: Beyond 'people love it': six leading indicators of PMF that show up in your data 3-6 months before revenue does. Most founders answer the product-market fit question with a feeling: "people love it." That feeling is not measurable, and it is not fundable. The product market fit signals that matter are behavioural, they live in data you already collect, and they usually turn up three to six months before revenue does. This piece lists six of them, how to compute each one, and the threshold at which it stops being noise. ## Why leading indicators beat revenue Revenue is a lagging indicator. By the time monthly recurring revenue bends upward, the behaviour that caused it happened one or two quarters earlier: users came back without a nudge, a team expanded seats, a customer told a peer. If you only watch revenue, you learn the truth late - and you keep spending on channels and features that were already dead. Leading indicators fix the timing problem. They are cheaper to measure, they move faster, and they tell you *which* part of the product is working, not just that something is. ## Signal 1: Retention that flattens The single most honest chart in your product. Cohort your users by signup week and plot the share still active after 1, 4, 8 and 12 weeks. Fit exists when the curve flattens into a plateau instead of decaying to zero. The absolute level depends on your category - roughly 25-30% for consumer, 60%+ for B2B SaaS at week 12 - but the *shape* matters more than the number. A flat line at 15% is a real business waiting to be grown. A smooth slide to 3% is churn with a marketing budget attached. ## Signal 2: Organic share of new users Track what percentage of new signups arrive with no paid touch: direct, referral, word of mouth, search on your brand name. When that share rises month over month while volume also rises, users are recommending you. When it falls as you scale spend, you are renting demand. Ten to fifteen percent organic is a start; above 40% and the product is doing the selling. ## Signal 3: Time to first value, falling Measure the median minutes between signup and the moment a user completes the action your product exists for - first invoice sent, first dataset connected, first message received. Then watch the trend. Falling time to value with a stable activation rate means onboarding is working. Rising time to value is the earliest warning that you added complexity a user did not ask for. ## Signal 4: Usage depth per account Seats, projects, integrations, API calls per account. Expansion inside existing customers is the clearest evidence that the product solved a real problem, because nobody expands a tool they tolerate. Net revenue retention above 100% is the formal version of this signal, but you can see it in seat counts long before it shows in billing. ## Signal 5: The Sean Ellis question, tracked over time Ask users: "How would you feel if you could no longer use this product?" The classic benchmark is 40% answering "very disappointed". The useful version is running it quarterly and segmenting the answers - if 65% of one persona is very disappointed and 12% of another is, you have found your beachhead and your distraction in the same survey. See the [original framing of the test](https://pmfsurvey.com/) for the exact wording. ## Signal 6: Sales cycle compression If you sell to companies, log days from first contact to signature and the number of stakeholders required. When the same deal size starts closing in half the time with fewer people in the room, the market has begun to understand the category. That is fit expressed as friction removed. ## What most teams get wrong Three failure modes show up again and again. First, vanity aggregation: total registered users, cumulative downloads, page views - numbers that only go up and therefore say nothing. Second, measuring too soon: cohort data below roughly 100 users per cohort is noise, and reading it drives whiplash decisions. Third, one number for everyone: a blended retention curve across three personas hides the one segment that actually fits. ## A four-week playbook 1. **Week one** - pick one activation event that means "this user got the value" and instrument it properly. 2. **Week two** - build weekly signup cohorts and plot the retention curve. Do not interpret it yet. 3. **Week three** - split every metric by persona and acquisition channel. Look for one segment that behaves visibly better. 4. **Week four** - run the Sean Ellis survey on that segment only, and compare against the rest. At the end of the month you will have either a segment worth doubling down on or clear evidence that you do not yet have one. Both outcomes are worth more than another quarter of "people love it". ## Pressure-test your numbers with people who read them daily Metrics get sharper when someone experienced pokes at them. That is a large part of why SKInnovation works the way it does: a chairlift ride is eight minutes with one investor and no slide deck, and a hosted lunch table at 2,340 m makes it normal to put a retention curve on the table between courses. If you want to see the formats, look at the [conference agenda](/agenda) or the [Ski Lift Pitch](/ski-lift-pitch). ## Takeaway Product-market fit is not a feeling you announce - it is a flattening retention curve, a rising organic share, and a shrinking time to value, measured per segment and tracked long enough to be believed. --- ### European Startup Festivals 2026 — Compared URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/european-startup-festivals-compared Published: 2026-06-26T15:07:17.454889+00:00 Summary: Slush, Web Summit, VivaTech, Bits & Pretzels, South Summit, TNW, How To Web, SKInnovation — a practical comparison of Europe's flagship startup festivals and how to pick the right one for your stage and goals. Europe''s startup-festival calendar has matured. A founder, investor, or corporate-innovation lead can credibly attend three to five flagship events a year — and each one optimises for something different. This is a practical comparison of the eight festivals that matter most in 2026, and a short guide for choosing between them. The shortlist Slush — Helsinki, November. The benchmark for European tech: dark hall, neon, dense investor presence. Web Summit — Lisbon, November. The largest by attendance; broad tech and media crowd. VivaTech — Paris, June. Corporate-innovation flagship; strong CAC 40 and French government presence. TNW Conference — Amsterdam, June. Mid-size, product-led, design-forward. Bits & Pretzels — Munich, late September. Oktoberfest-anchored; DACH founders, family-office and corporate investors. South Summit — Madrid, June. Southern-Europe and LatAm bridge; growing investor crowd. How To Web — Bucharest, October. CEE talent and capital, strong on AI and devtools. SKInnovation — Axamer Lizum (Innsbruck), March. The only one on a mountain: conference, curated networking, and skiing at 2,340m. At a glance FestivalCityMonthScaleBest for SlushHelsinkiNov~13kVC-led fundraising, Nordics + Europe Web SummitLisbonNov~70kBrand, media, breadth of categories VivaTechParisJun~165kCorporate partnerships, France & Africa TNWAmsterdamJun~10kProduct teams, design, scaleups Bits & PretzelsMunichSep~7kDACH founders, family offices South SummitMadridJun~25kIberia + LatAm bridge How To WebBucharestOct~3kCEE talent, AI and devtools SKInnovationAxamer LizumMar~900High-signal meetings, deeptech + outdoor, DACH-anchored international What makes each distinct Slush The European VC ritual. If you''re raising a Series A or B and need 30 investor meetings in two days, this is still the densest hall in Europe. The trade-off: it''s loud, expensive, and the social programme runs hot until 3am. Web Summit The widest tent. Excellent for first-time founders building a network from zero, for press exposure, and for category breadth (crypto next to climate next to consumer). Less effective for senior investors who increasingly skip it because the signal-to-noise ratio has dropped. VivaTech The corporate-innovation festival. If your customer is a CAC 40 CIO, this is where they walk the floor. France and francophone Africa are over-represented; pick it when partnerships, not term sheets, are the goal. TNW Conference The product-and-design conference, intentionally smaller than its peers. Strong for scaleup teams, mid-stage hiring conversations, and content programming that actually goes deep. Bits & Pretzels Munich in lederhosen, with the Oktoberfest tent as the closing night. DACH-anchored, with serious family-office and corporate-investor density. The best three-day window of the year for founders selling into German-speaking markets. South Summit Madrid''s bridge to Latin America. If your roadmap includes Iberia, Mexico, or Colombia, this is the room. Strong startup competition, growing investor delegation. How To Web The CEE answer to Slush, with a noticeably higher density of technical founders. Underrated for AI infrastructure, devtools, and deeptech recruiting. SKInnovation Three days at Hoadlhaus, 2,340m above Innsbruck. The format is deliberate: a real conference programme in the morning, curated networking on the slopes and in the gondola in the afternoon, and a small enough crowd (~900) that you actually finish conversations. Strong DACH base, international tail, with a clear focus on deeptech, climate, and the growing Innovation-for-Outdoors track. Pick it when you want every meeting to count instead of collecting business cards. How to choose Raising a round → Slush first, Bits & Pretzels for DACH-heavy cap tables, SKInnovation if your investors are alpine-adjacent and you want real time with them. Selling to enterprise → VivaTech for French corporates, Bits & Pretzels for DACH, Web Summit for breadth. Brand and press → Web Summit and VivaTech win on scale. Hiring → How To Web for CEE engineering, TNW for product/design. Deeptech, climate, outdoor → SKInnovation, with a side of How To Web. First-ever startup event → Web Summit to understand the genre, then pick one specialist event the year after. Where SKInnovation fits SKInnovation is not trying to be Slush in the Alps. The bet is the opposite: small, slow, high-context. 600 people instead of 13,000. Three days instead of two. A chairlift conversation lasts seven minutes whether you want it to or not, which turns out to be exactly long enough to discover whether the meeting should continue. The result, year over year, is the same: a higher percentage of attendees leave with a follow-up that actually closes. If that sounds like what you''re looking for in 2026, the next edition runs in March at Axamer Lizum. Tickets and travel details are below. Get a ticket · Plan your trip · For startups · For investors --- ### Why is SKInnovation the best startup networking event in Europe? URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/best-networking-event-in-europe Published: 2026-06-22T11:36:28.515319+00:00 Summary: Slush is bigger. Web Summit is louder. Bits & Pretzels has more beer. Here is the honest case for why a few hundred people on a mountain in Tyrol produces more compounding relationships than any of them. We will not pretend SKInnovation is the largest event in Europe. It is not. Slush draws 13,000. Web Summit draws 70,000. Bits & Pretzels fills the Munich Oktoberfest tent. We sit at a few hundred people on a single mountain in Tyrol, on purpose. The question is not which event is biggest. The question is which event produces the most relationships you still have a year later. On that metric, we are quietly confident. The case for going small and physical At 70,000 attendees, your chance of running into the same person twice approaches zero. At a few hundred, you are guaranteed to see the same faces every day. Repetition is what turns "we met once" into "we know each other." Add 2,340 metres of altitude, six hours of skiing, and three evenings in the same valley, and you have the conditions under which most durable founder relationships actually form: shared effort, shared location, shared time. How we differ from the big four Slush Slush is the European benchmark for matching capital to deep tech at scale. Two intense days in Helsinki, world-class production, dense investor presence. If you need 20 first meetings in 48 hours, Slush is built for that. SKInnovation is built for the conversation you have on the third day, when both sides already know each other. Web Summit Web Summit is the largest tech conference in Europe and impossible to compare on volume. It is closer to a trade fair than a relationship-building event. Most founders we know come back from it with great content, exhausted, and with very few new relationships that stuck. Bits & Pretzels Bits & Pretzels nailed the social side of European tech. Strong DACH network, strong table-host format, table-football energy. SKInnovation overlaps with their audience but takes the social design even further: we replace one big tent with three days at one mountain. TNW / How To Web / South Summit Each one is excellent in its region. None of them are designed around the "multi-day residency on a mountain" idea. That is the gap we sit in. If you want the longer side-by-side, we wrote a full breakdown: Europe's top startup festivals 2026 - compared. Who SKInnovation is genuinely the best event for Founders at Seed to Series B who care more about three deep conversations than thirty surface ones. Investors who already see enough decks and want to see how a founder behaves over three days of shared time. Corporates looking for startup partners in deep tech, mobility, outdoor, sustainability, and B2B SaaS - and who would rather meet them on a chairlift than across a procurement table. Ecosystem builders who want to put their portfolio in the same room as the right capital and the right corporates, in a setting where time is on their side. Who it is not for If your goal is volume - the largest possible number of first meetings - go to Slush or Web Summit. If your goal is depth - the largest possible number of follow-ups in your calendar 60 days later - come to SKInnovation. You can grab a ticket here, or explore the programme first. --- ### Why we need to rethink networking events URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/rethink-networking-events Published: 2026-06-22T11:36:28.515319+00:00 Summary: The standard conference format is broken: too big, too indoor, too transactional. Here is what shared physical effort and a single location do to trust - and why we built SKInnovation around it. If you have been to enough startup or networking events, you know the pattern. A windowless hall, 8,000 lanyards, two days of speed-handshakes, a hangover, and a contacts list you will never open again. We have all paid to be in that room. Most of us have stopped expecting it to change anything. The format is not broken because the people are wrong. It is broken because the design optimises for the wrong thing. What the standard format actually optimises for Visible scale. Big numbers sell sponsorship packages, even when they reduce the chance that any two specific people meaningfully connect. Stage time. Programming defaults to talks because talks are easy to schedule. Real value happens in the gaps, but the gaps are unstructured by accident, not on purpose. Speed of interactions. "Networking sessions" reward quantity. Speed-dating energy produces speed-dating outcomes. None of this is bad on its own. It just is not what most founders, investors, or corporates actually came for. What shared physical effort does to trust There is a reason every long-running founder community has a physical ritual at its core: a hike, a meal, a sauna, a slope. Doing something slightly hard together collapses status fast. You cannot pose on a chairlift. You cannot one-up someone halfway down a red run. This is not a soft observation - it is how trust forms. Research on small-group bonding consistently shows that shared, slightly effortful experiences produce stronger reciprocal trust than passive co-attendance. The "third place" problem in conferences Ray Oldenburg's idea of the "third place" - the cafe, the pub, the park between home and work - is what most conferences are trying to be without admitting it. People want a neutral, repeated, low-stakes setting in which the same faces show up day after day. The standard format gives you the building, but not the repetition, and not the low stakes. A multi-day festival in one valley with one ski area is, structurally, a third place. You keep running into the same people, in different contexts, with no pressure to extract value from any single encounter. Five design principles we follow 1. One location, multiple contexts One mountain. One village at the base. Talks indoors, lunch in a hut, networking on the lift, party at altitude. Same people, different rooms - that is what produces the third, fourth, fifth encounter. 2. Engineer the unstructured time We treat lunch, ski breaks, and evenings as the main programme, not the filler. Hosted Lunch Tables, the Hoadl Sundowner, the Ski-Lift Pitch - all of them are formats that look unstructured but are deliberately designed. 3. Mix the audience on purpose Investors and corporates do not sit in separate sessions. They share lifts and dinners with founders. The mixing is the product. This creates opportunities for real conversations, which in turn create real deals. 4. Cap the scale Density beats reach. A few hundred carefully mixed people produce more compounding conversations than thousands of strangers. 5. Make the location do work 2,340 metres of altitude, real weather, real terrain. The environment carries half of the experience. We do not have to manufacture energy with a stage show. Being on the slopes, everything feels less forced and real conversation flows more easily. Where this leaves the next edition of SKInnovation We are not against big conferences - we have learned from many of them. We just think the next decade of startup gatherings will look more like long-weekend residencies than trade shows. Smaller, longer, more physical, more repeated. If that resonates, you can become a partner or join us at the next edition. --- ### The power of networking in the startup world: building connections that last URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/power-of-networking Published: 2026-06-22T11:36:28.515319+00:00 Summary: Most deals do not start in a deck. They start in a conversation that did not feel like networking. Here is why weak ties beat warm intros, and how altitude and shared effort change what gets said. Most of the relationships that change a startup do not begin with a pitch. They begin with a side conversation - on a chairlift, over a long lunch, walking back to the hotel. By the time you can name what the relationship is, it has already started working. That is the part of networking nobody puts on a slide, because it does not look like networking. And it is the part SKInnovation is designed around. Weak ties do most of the work Mark Granovetter's old finding still holds: the people who matter most to your next move are usually not the ones already in your inner circle. They are one step out - a founder you met once, an investor a friend introduced you to, the operator who sat at your lunch table. Those weak ties carry information your close network already shares with you. For founders, that means the highest-leverage hour at any event is rarely the keynote. It is the unstructured time around it. The compounding effect of repeat encounters One conversation is a data point. Three conversations across two days is a relationship. The reason multi-day, single-location formats outperform single-evening meetups is not magic - it is reps. You see the same person at breakfast, on the slope, at the Sundowner. By the third encounter you are no longer pitching, you are catching up. This is why Snow Captains and Hosted Lunch Tables exist at SKInnovation. Both are designed to engineer the second and third encounter, not the first. What altitude actually does to a conversation People are different at 2,340 metres with their phone in a jacket pocket and a long ride up the mountain ahead. You cannot pull up a deck. You cannot end the conversation in five minutes. There is no QR-code-and-go. The result is that founders talk about what they are actually working on, investors talk about what they are actually looking for, and corporates ask questions they would never ask across a conference table. Shared physical context lowers the pitch reflex on both sides. Two simple frameworks that work here The lift conversation You have between four and eight minutes on a chairlift. Do not waste them on what your company does - the other person will figure that out. Use them on one specific question you have right now: a hire you are trying to make, a market you are debating, a decision you are stuck on. People remember the question, not the elevator pitch. The shared-experience anchor Every conversation you start at SKInnovation has a free first sentence: something happened today that you both saw. The Ski-Lift Pitch on the gondola. The panel after lunch. The wind on the ridge. Anchor the opener in the shared moment, not in business. Business shows up two minutes later, by itself. What this means if you are coming for the first time Pick three people you want to meet before you arrive. Do not over-plan beyond that. Block the unstructured time on your calendar the same way you would block a meeting. Follow up within 48 hours. Reference the shared moment, not the LinkedIn profile. If that sounds like the kind of format you have been looking for, the next edition is open: grab a ticket. --- ### Mastering networking at events: tips and strategies for success URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/mastering-networking-at-events Published: 2026-06-22T11:36:28.515319+00:00 Summary: A practical, non-cringe guide to networking at startup events - what to do before you arrive, what to say in the first 30 seconds, and how to follow up so the conversation actually leads somewhere. Most networking advice is either too vague to act on ("be authentic") or too scripted to use ("here are 12 power openers"). What follows is what we have actually seen work across five editions of SKInnovation, sorted in the order you will need it. Before you arrive: 30 minutes of prep changes the trip You do not need a strategy doc. You need three things: A short list of three to five people you would like to meet. Not twenty. Three to five. One specific question you are stuck on right now. Hiring, GTM, fundraising, product, regulation - anything concrete. A one-line version of what you do that is true even for your grandmother. Save the deck. If you are coming as a founder, look at the speakers and Snow Captains lists ahead of time. If you are coming as an investor or corporate, the same lists tell you who you will see on a slope, not on a stage. The first 30 seconds: do not pitch Pitching first is the fastest way to be forgotten. The person across from you is mentally cataloguing you as "startup, will follow up never." Instead, anchor in the shared moment: where you are, what just happened, what is happening next. "Are you doing the ski race tomorrow?" outperforms "What do you do?" every time. Your one-liner comes 90 seconds in, when they ask. By then they actually want to know. The 3-conversation rule At a three-day event, aim for three real conversations a day - not thirty business cards. A real conversation is one where you both said something you would not have said over LinkedIn. Nine real conversations across three days is a transformative trip. Thirty surface interactions is a tired weekend. SKInnovation formats are built around this rhythm. The Ski-Lift Pitch gives you 8 minutes of undivided attention. Hosted Lunch Tables give you 90 minutes around a defined topic. The Hoadl Sundowner gives you the unstructured wind-down. If you are introverted Two things help more than any opener. Volunteer for a role. Host a lunch table, captain a group, moderate a panel. A role gives you a reason to talk to anyone. Schedule recovery. Book a one-hour gap after lunch. Take the gondola down alone. You will be sharper for the evening. The follow-up cadence that works Within 24 hours A one-paragraph message that references the shared moment (not the conversation topic). "That was the steepest run I have done all year - hope your knees survived. Sending the link I mentioned." Within 7 days The substantive follow-up. The intro you promised. The doc you said you would share. This is the message that decides whether the contact compounds or fades. Within 30 days A reason to talk again. An update on the thing they helped you with. A question that proves you used what they said. This is the message that turns a contact into a relationship. The meta-rule Treat the event as the start of a relationship, not the relationship itself. Founders who do this leave SKInnovation with three to five people they will still be talking to in 2027. Founders who treat it as a transactional weekend leave with a stack of business cards and nothing on the calendar. If you want to put this into practice next edition, see how to participate or go straight to tickets. --- ### What actually happens at SKInnovation? URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/what-happens-at-skinnovation Published: 2026-06-22T11:36:28.515319+00:00 Summary: Three days, one mountain, one valley. Conference content interleaved with skiing, sundowners, and formats you will not find at any other startup event. Here is what actually happens at SKInnovation, day by day. If you have never been to SKInnovation, the easiest way to picture it is this: take a serious startup conference, move it to 2,340 metres, stretch it across three days, and interleave every hour of programming with skiing, eating, and meeting people you would not otherwise meet. Below is an overview of what actually happens at SKInnovation, in the order it happens. Day 1 - Arrival and welcome evening Most attendees arrive on the day before the conference officially starts. Innsbruck airport is 20 minutes from the valley. The welcome evening in town is the first soft introduction: drinks, food, and the people who came early. No talks, no stage - the point is to land already knowing two or three faces before Day 1. Day 2 - Opening, Startup Fair, Ski-Lift Pitch, Sundowner Morning The conference opens at the mountain venue with a keynote and the first programme block. By late morning, the Startup Fair is in full swing - selected startups exhibit in an open space designed for conversation, not for trade-show traffic. Midday Lunch happens at altitude in the mountain hut. This is where Hosted Lunch Tables begin - small groups, defined topics, structured to make sure nobody eats alone unless they want to. Afternoon Afternoons mix sessions, ski time, and the Ski-Lift Pitch - founders pitching to investors on the chairlift, in the four to eight minutes between base and top. It is the only pitch format we know where the audience cannot leave halfway through. Evening Day 2 closes with the Welcome Sundowner at altitude. Music, food, the last of the daylight on the surrounding peaks. This is the evening that decides how the next two days feel. Day 3 - Panels, Snow Captain hosting, Hoadl Sundowner Morning Deeper programme content: panels, fireside conversations, and dedicated tracks for startups, investors, and corporates. Midday Lunch again at altitude, again with Hosted Tables. By now, the third encounters have started - the people you met yesterday are no longer strangers, and the conversations get sharper fast. Afternoon Snow Captains take centre stage: experienced attendees host small groups on the slopes or in the gondola, curating the connections inside their group. This is where a lot of the most durable relationships at SKInnovation get made. Evening The Hoadl Sundowner - the official festival sundowner party at 2,340 metres. The whole festival comes together in one place as the sun drops behind the ridges. Optional: Day 4 - Ski race and farewell The morning of Day 4 is the SKInnovation Ski Race - a friendly slalom that doubles as a final shared experience before everyone disperses. Afternoon is open: more skiing for those staying, travel for those heading home, and a long round of in-person goodbyes that turn naturally into "let's catch up properly in two weeks." Who it is for Founders who want to combine real conference content with the time and setting to build follow-ups that stick. Investors who want to see how founders behave outside a pitch room. Corporates scouting startups in deep tech, mobility, outdoor, sustainability, and B2B SaaS. Ecosystem builders co-hosting their community in a setting that does the relationship work for them. Practical next steps The full programme lives on the schedule. Travel and logistics are on plan your trip. When you are ready, tickets are here. --- ### Network partners at SKInnovation URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/network-partners Published: 2026-06-22T11:36:28.515319+00:00 Summary: Network partners do more than put a logo on a slide. They co-build the audience, the format, and the follow-through. Here is how partnership works at SKInnovation and who we work with. The word "partner" carries a lot of weight at most conferences, and not always honest weight. It often means a logo on a footer and an invoice. At SKInnovation we use the word for organisations that meaningfully shape who shows up, what happens on the ground, and what happens after. Here's an overview of what it means to be a network partners at SKInnovation and what benefits it might bring along. What we mean by a network partner A network partner is an organisation that brings their community into SKInnovation and, in return, helps us shape parts of the programme. Concretely, that includes: Ecosystems and accelerators bringing portfolio founders. Universities and research institutions bringing deep-tech founders, researchers, and students. Industry associations bringing corporate decision-makers from a specific vertical. Communities - founder collectives, regional networks, vertical communities - that bring density to a specific track. Media partners who cover the event before and after, not just on the day. What network partners actually get Real audience access You get a defined contingent of seats for your community, with the option to host a dedicated session, lunch table, or evening format. This is different from a sponsor booth - it is direct access to the people you brought, in a setting designed for connection. Brand alignment with a specific founder profile SKInnovation attracts founders working on deep tech, outdoor and sustainability, hardware, mobility, climate, and B2B SaaS - skewed DACH and Northern Europe but increasingly international. If that is the founder profile your organisation is built around, alignment is real, not implied. Lead flow that does not feel like lead flow You get to host conversations, not chase them. Investors meet founders on lifts, not in pitch rooms. Corporates meet startups at lunch, not in 1:1 slots. Some of the partners we work with Universität Innsbruck as host institution and academic anchor. aws (Austria Wirtschaftsservice) connecting Austrian startups and funding programmes. Junge Wirtschaft Tirol bringing the regional young-entrepreneur network. European Outdoor Group and MagNet for the Innovation for Outdoors expansion. Innsbruck Tourismus for everything around the location experience. The full directory is on the partner page. How partnerships are structured There is no rate card hidden behind a form. Network partnerships are scoped to what the organisation actually wants to achieve - audience access, format ownership, brand placement, content collaboration, or all of the above. We typically structure the first conversation around three questions: who do you want in the room, what would you like to host, and what does success look like for you 90 days after the event? If any of that fits your organisation, get in touch. --- ### Unlocking Startup Success: The Key Factors You Need to Know URL: https://skinnovation.at/blog/unlocking-startup-success-the-key-factors-you-need-to-know Published: 2025-09-15T09:00:00+00:00 Summary: What actually separates the startups that scale from the ones that stall? Nine years of running SKInnovation at 2,340 m taught us that traction is rarely about the idea - it's about team, timing, capital, and the network around the founder. ## Why most startup advice misses the point Walk into any startup conference and you''ll hear the same checklist: build an MVP, talk to users, raise a round, hire fast. It''s true - and it''s also why most early-stage advice feels interchangeable. After nine editions of SKInnovation, hundreds of pitches on the chairlift, and thousands of founder-investor conversations at 2,340 m on the Hoadlhaus, a different pattern emerges. The startups that break out share a small set of un-glamorous habits. The ones that stall almost always miss the same handful of factors. This piece distils what we keep seeing - written for founders who already know the basics and are looking for the next lever to pull. ## 1. Team beats idea, every single time Investors say it so often it has become a cliche, but it is still the single best predictor we see: a complementary founding team will out-execute a brilliant solo founder with a better idea. What does "complementary" actually mean? - **Distinct skill domains.** Product, distribution, and operations should each have a clear owner. Two co-founders with the same background rarely make it past Series A. - **Aligned ambition, different tempos.** One founder should be comfortable shipping fast and breaking things; another should be the one rebuilding the foundations before they crack. - **A history of shipping under pressure.** Co-founders who haven''t built anything together before the company are taking on two risks at once - the market and each other. The corollary: if you''re still solo at the point of fundraising, treat finding a co-founder as your real product for the next six months. ## 2. Timing is a feature Most startups are too early or too late. Being too early is romantic and almost always fatal - you spend the runway educating the market and a better-funded competitor laps you when the wave finally arrives. Being too late is obvious and easier to fix: niche down to where incumbents are weak. The signal we trust: a market that already spends money on a bad version of the solution. If buyers are stitching together five tools and a spreadsheet, that''s a wave. If buyers don''t yet know they have the problem, you''re a missionary - and missionary work needs missionary capital, which is rare. ## 3. Distribution is the moat Founders fall in love with their product. Investors fall in love with their distribution. The hard truth is that in 2026 almost any vertical SaaS, marketplace, or consumer product can be built in months by a small team. What can''t be replicated quickly is a repeatable, capital-efficient way to reach buyers. Three questions worth answering before the next round: 1. **What is the channel that gets cheaper as you scale?** Paid ads usually don''t. Content, community, and partnerships often do. 2. **Can a single founder close the first 20 customers?** If not, the price is too low or the value isn''t clear enough yet. 3. **What is the second channel?** Concentration on one channel - especially a platform you don''t own - is the most common cause of a slowing growth rate after the first year. ## 4. Capital efficiency is the new vanity metric The "raise the biggest round you can" playbook is over. Boards now ask how much ARR you generate per dollar burned. The number to beat in early-stage SaaS is roughly **$1 of new ARR per $1.50 of net burn**. Beat that and you have leverage in every conversation that follows. Practical implications: - Hire when revenue forces you to, not when you feel you should. - Choose tools and infrastructure that scale with usage, not with seat count. - Default to remote and contract for non-core functions in year one. - Treat every round as if it might be the last for 24 months. ## 5. Your network is your runway This is the factor most founders systematically underweight, and the one we see decide outcomes more than anything else. The right introduction at the right moment shortens fundraising from six months to six weeks, brings in the senior hire who refused three offers from competitors, and turns a stalled enterprise deal into a signed PO. Networks compound. They are also slow to build, which is why founders who wait until they need them are too late. Our rule of thumb: spend at least one full day every two weeks on relationships that won''t pay off this quarter. Send the update email. Show up at the event. Make the introduction without expecting one back. This is also why we built SKInnovation the way we did. Three days on a mountain with the same 600 people forces a depth of conversation that no city conference replicates. The ski lift pitch isn''t a gimmick - it''s a forced eight-minute window where neither side can scroll their phone. ## 6. Storytelling is operating leverage The best founders we''ve hosted can compress a complex business into a sentence that an investor can re-tell to a partner who wasn''t in the meeting. That''s not marketing - it''s the difference between a check and a polite pass. Test for it: ask a friend from outside your industry to re-explain what your company does after a five-minute pitch. If they get it 80% right, the story works. If they hedge, the story isn''t there yet. ## 7. Resilience is measurable Every startup hits a stretch where nothing works for 90 days. The founders who push through aren''t the ones with the most willpower - they''re the ones with the shortest feedback loops. They ship something every week, watch one or two metrics relentlessly, and cut anything that isn''t moving them. Resilience without measurement is just stubbornness. ## Where SKInnovation fits Every March, we bring startups, investors, and corporate innovators to Innsbruck for three days that combine all seven of these factors in compressed form. Founders pitch on the chairlift, sit next to investors at lunch, and end the day at the Hoadl Sundowner with the people who can change their next quarter. If you''re building something and any of the above resonated, take a look at our [ticket options](/tickets) or [apply to pitch](/startup). 2027 takes place 10-12 March at the Hoadlhaus. And if you''re reading this and not yet sure where you are on the curve - start with [the Ski Lift Pitch](/ski-lift-pitch). Eight minutes on a chairlift will tell you more about your story than three months of decks. --- ## Speakers - **Aliénor Bossé** - Portfolio Success Lead https://skinnovation.at/speakers/alienor-bosse - **André Hammerer** - Managing Director - Blum Ventures GmbH Andre leads venture capital and venture building activities at Blum Ventures for the Blum Group. With an engineering background and deep experience in product innovation, he connects technology, corporate strategy and entrepreneurship. https://skinnovation.at/speakers/andre-hammerer - **Andreas Kreiner** - Technologist & Strategist - Nimble Innovation Andreas Kreiner brings extensive experience across innovation, startups, and corporate environments, with a strong focus on product invention and development, talent acquisition, and team building. He has established and led international tech teams, developed products… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/andreas-kreiner - **Andy Gstoll** - CEO - Gstoll Innovations GmbH Andy is an accomplished technology innovation pioneer, entrepreneur, advisor, and consultant, focusing on conversational AI, XR and 3D technologies. His pioneering work in spatial computing began in 2008, when he launched the world’s first mobile AR travel guides while… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/andy-gstoll - **Anna Fedulow** - Managing Director - Croton Capital https://skinnovation.at/speakers/anna-fedulow - **Anne Bley** - Event Host & Moderator Anne Bley is a freelance presenter and multimedia creator working on international stages such as the World University Games, the Alpen Film Festival, and events for WWF. Trained as a journalist and sports teacher, she blends storytelling and movement in her work. Anne… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/anne-bley - **Antonia Rinesch** - Founder - TU Wien Spinoff Factory Antonia Rinesch offers 6+ years of experience in Austria’s innovation landscape. After completing her MSc in International Management at Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics in 2018, a 6-month traineeship program at the venture capital fund Speedinvest made her dive… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/antonia-rinesch - **Armin Philippen** - Community Lead - Droxic https://skinnovation.at/speakers/armin-philippen - **Benjamin Mandos** - Founder - GOTBAG GmbH He began his career as a cameraman, later building a film production company and a communications agency, but the real foundation of his journey was laid much earlier—through countless days spent sailing with his father, developing a lifelong bond with the ocean. His work… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/benjamin-mandos - **Bernardita Araya Kleinsteuber** - Managing Director - CMPC Ventures Bernardita Araya is a leading figure in the science‑to‑business and innovation investment landscape in Latam, with extensive experience advancing science‑based and technology‑driven ventures. An Environmental Chemist from the University of Chile with a PhD in Biotechnology… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/bernardita-araya-kleinsteuber - **Bertram Lutz** - Head of GTM Innovation - Make Bertram is an expert in all things Startups, Go to Market & Scaling with AI & Automation. Starting his career at the Munich based Decacorn, Celonis as one of the first employees he gathered extensive experience in scaling processes and expanding into new markets. Bertram… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/bertram-lutz - **Bijan Soltani** - Founder - Gemma Analytics Founder @ Gemma Analytics. Data Engineer at heart. https://skinnovation.at/speakers/bijan-soltani - **Birgit Ströbel** - Growth Enabler - Ströbel Business Empowerment Birgit Ströbel is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and mentor with around 30 years of experience building, scaling and transforming companies. She co-founded successful ventures such as ImmobilienScout24, holidayInsider, Design Offices and FoundersFightClub, and brings… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/birgit-stroebel - **Carina Roth** - Investment Manager - Fund F Now Investment Manager at Fund F and former HR & AgeTech founder, Carina’s mission is to elevate the next generation of successful women entrepreneurs and investors. She is a Forbes 30 under 30 in Technology and an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in Social Entrepreneurship. https://skinnovation.at/speakers/carina-roth - **Chris Zhou** - Community Lead - S-Tron China https://skinnovation.at/speakers/chris-zhou - **Christian Fenner** - Co- Founder & CMO - nucao Christian Fenner is Co-Founder and CMO at the challenger chocolate brand nucao. His passion for storytelling, communication, and branding has propelled the chocolate start-up from zero to 100 to become one of the top sustainability brands in Germany. Before joining nucao, the… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/christian-fenner - **Christian Heckemann** - Managing Director - gate - Garchinger Technologie- und Gründerzentrum CEO of gate Garching since 2016. I am passionate about connecting founders to capital and supporting them in the best possible way on their journey from a tech startup to a scaleup company. https://skinnovation.at/speakers/christian-heckemann - **Christian Schneidermeier** - Managing Director - OEW European national, born in Tegernsee, Bavaria, and raised in close connection with the mountains. 56 years old, married, father of two adult daughters. Holds a degree in Sports Economics. Spent 25 years at ORTOVOX, until November 2024. Over the past 13 years, served as… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/christian-schneidermeier - **Christopher Halbig** - Management Team - SevenVentures 10 years experience in investing in consumer businesses in DACH. Part of SevenVentures’ management team and investor in startups such as refurbed, planted or nucao. https://skinnovation.at/speakers/christopher-halbig - **Constantin Schmutzler** - CEO - Startups For Tomorrow After many years in communications and marketing, Constantin looked for a place to test his own ideas. When he couldn’t find it, he built it. https://skinnovation.at/speakers/constantin-schmutzler - **David Kames** - Innovation Lead - EIT Manufacturing https://skinnovation.at/speakers/david-kames - **Dorothea von Griessenbeck** - Startup Consultant - Startup.Tirol Startup Consultant @STARTUP.TIROL supporting (early-stage) startups in scaling innovative business models, developing the right funding strategy, and achieving sustainable growth. Co-Founder & CEO of a cutting-edge AI platform designed to secure tacit knowledge and empower… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/dorothea-von-griessenbeck - **Eleftherios Kousakis** - Vice President, Head of Fintech DACH - Mastercard Eleftherios Kousakis is a commercial leader with a strong track record in scaling technology-driven businesses across Europe. Before joining Mastercard, he built and expanded multiple startup operations,gaining firsthand experience in go‑to‑market strategy, customer… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/eleftherios-kousakis - **Ernst Novak** - Topic Manager Tourism & Sports - Innovation Salzburg GmbH Educated in mechanical engineering, sports management and marketing. Worked in different industries like construction, event, sporting goods, etc. Founded the startup mydinobox, pitched it at 2M2M and failed with the business model. Managed the community and coached startups… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/ernst-novak - **Fabian Eckert** - Co-Founder https://skinnovation.at/speakers/fabian-eckert - **Fabian Q. Veit** - CEO - Make Fabian Veit is the CEO of Make, the leading visual platform for AI-powered automation and agentic workflows. Before joining Make, Fabian was part of the Celonis executive team, where he helped scale the company from dozens of employees to thousands worldwide. Today, he leads… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/fabian-q-veit - **Fabian Veith** - CEO https://skinnovation.at/speakers/fabian-veith - **Fabienne Grieshaber** - Head of Partnership - Businettes Fabienne Grieshaber is a partnership and business development enthusiast with experience in startups and corporates. Passionate about networking, B2B sales, and lifting up female founders, she loves connecting people and making ideas shine. https://skinnovation.at/speakers/fabienne-grieshaber - **Fabio Nalucci** - Founder & CEO - FNDX Fabio Nalucci, Founder & CEO of FNDX, has over 20 years of experience as a serial entrepreneur, he has founded and scaled several innovative companies, achieving numerous successful exits. https://skinnovation.at/speakers/fabio-nalucci - **Flo Akinbiyi** - Speaker & Coach International Presenter, TEDx Speaker and Communication Coach. Flo hosts corporate events, conferences, panel discussions, fireside chats and virtual formats. He has shared stages with Michelle Obama, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robin Sharma and Michael J. Fox and interviewed… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/flo-akinbiyi - **Flo Pachaly** - Founder & Strategic Advisor for future-ready organizations - RECUP https://skinnovation.at/speakers/flo-pachaly - **Florina Herbein** - Founder & Managing Director - Herbein Venture Partners Florina Herbein is Head of Corporate Venturing at QAware, where she leads initiatives in business model innovation, venture building, and strategic investments. With over 15 years of experience in innovation and entrepreneurship, she combines corporate strategy with hands-on… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/florina-herbein - **Fynn Kliemann** - CEO - Kliemannsland & ODERSO https://skinnovation.at/speakers/fynn-kliemann - **James Langer** - Coach & Consultant - James Langer Coaching & Consulting James Langer is a founder, communications coach, and event moderator & host with deep roots in the startup world. He built, scaled, and exited his own EdTech company, and later served as Head of Business Development at a SaaS startup, before moving into coaching, where he now… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/james-langer - **Julia Schranzhofer** - Sustainability Expert & Funding - Tiroler Sparkasse https://skinnovation.at/speakers/julia-schranzhofer - **Kenan Aggül** - Co-Founder - Kepa Voices https://skinnovation.at/speakers/kenan-aggul - **Klaus Müller** - Co-Founder & CEO - Wictory.ai Klaus is a former Google manager and serial entrepreneur with a career spanning digital transformation, disruptive innovation, and go-to-market strategy. He spent the first half of his professional journey in senior leadership roles at global companies including Google,… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/klaus-mueller - **Lara Sophie Bothur** - Global Tech Influencer & Keynote Speaker - Deloitte (former) Lara Sophie Bothur is one of the most influential Tech Influencers worldwide and a globally recognized Tech Translator who bridges cutting-edge technology and everyday understanding. With a background in psychology and digital transformation, she runs the largest personal… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/lara-sophie-bothur - **Ludek Slouka** - Director, Digital Products & Solutions, Mastercard Ludek Slouka has been active in the payments and telecommunications industries for more than two decades. From 2005 to 2014, he worked as a Product Manager in the telecommunications sector, overseeing the development and launch of innovative services. https://skinnovation.at/speakers/ludek-slouka - **Magdalena Muttenthaler** - Founder - JUNE MINDS Magdalena Muttenthaler is the Founder of JUNE MINDS, on a mission to build Europe’s leading growth and scaling lab for female founders. With more than 1,900 founders supported and a network of over 40 experienced mentors, JUNE MINDS provides mentoring, masterminds, and access… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/magdalena-muttenthaler - **Marco Daldoss Pirri** - Community Lead - Systemiq https://skinnovation.at/speakers/marco-daldoss-pirri - **Marie-Helene Ametsreiter** - General Partner - Speedinvest https://skinnovation.at/speakers/marie-helene-ametsreiter - **Marie-Therese Repper** - Director AdFactory - ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4 Dynamic and results-driven professional with more than 10 years of experience in the media and advertising industry, focused on business development, creative strategy, and brand and project management. Proven leadership abilities in managing teams and delivering innovative… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/marie-therese-repper - **Marlis Baurecht** - Senior Investment Manager - Symbia VC (Pfeifer Holding) Marlis Baurecht is a senior innovation and venture capital expert with over 15 years of experience across science, industry, and public funding, currently serving as Senior Investment Manager at Symbia VC. Her background includes leading major entrepreneurship and… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/marlis-baurecht - **Martin Giesswein** - Community Lead - WU Executive Academy Martin Giesswein is an entrepreneur, digital strategist, and lecturer specializing in innovation, platforms, and future business models. He advises companies on digital transformation and works at the intersection of technology, sustainability, and new ways of working. As a… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/martin-giesswein - **Martin Grellner** - Co-Founder & Chief Chocolate Officer - djoon foods GmbH https://skinnovation.at/speakers/martin-grellner - **Maurits Harkema** - Community Lead - Mountain Memories Ried https://skinnovation.at/speakers/maurits-harkema - **Moritz Weinhofer** - Project Manager - aws Connect Industry-Startup.Net As Project Manager at Industry Start-Up Net, I lead strategic initiatives in Corporate Venture Capital and Venture Clienting, driving impactful partnerships between start-ups, SMEs, and large corporations. https://skinnovation.at/speakers/moritz-weinhofer - **Niclas Lehnert** - CEO - Pulsetrain https://skinnovation.at/speakers/niclas-lehnert - **Niki Futter** - President - invest.austria https://skinnovation.at/speakers/niki-futter - **Pascal Köstner** - Lawyer & Partner - LEXR Germany https://skinnovation.at/speakers/pascal-kostner - **Pheline Huber** - Community Lead - LYFE.ads https://skinnovation.at/speakers/pheline-huber - **Polina Speidel** - Founder & Co-CEO - menstruflow https://skinnovation.at/speakers/polina-speidel - **Quinten Selhorst** - Partner & Co-Founder (ex-CEO felyx) - EWOR Quinten Selhorst was co-founder and former CEO of felyx, the market leader in shared e-mobility in the Benelux, which he scaled to millions in revenue, hundreds of employees, and operations across multiple countries. After exiting felyx, Quinten became full time partner at… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/quinten-selhorst - **Rafael Pauley** - AI, E-Commerce & Digital Transformation - WK Tirol https://skinnovation.at/speakers/rafael-pauley - **Raphael Fellmer** - CEO & Founder - SIRPLUS https://skinnovation.at/speakers/raphael-fellmer - **Rebekka Bogner** - Event Host, Moderator & Innovation Consultant Rebekka Bogner is a moderator full of energy, ease, and genuine enthusiasm. She loves connecting people and ideas and brings an engaging and dynamic presence to every stage. She’s experienced with the worlds of startups, innovation, and consulting, with work stations in… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/rebekka-bogner - **Sander van de Rijdt** - Co-CEO and Co-Founder - PlanRadar GmbH Sander is responsible for the corporate and growth strategy at PlanRadar, and the Finance, HR, Legal and Operations departments report to him. Prior to PlanRadar, Sander founded five other IT companies with operations in Europe, the U.S., the Middle East and Central Asia and… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/sander-van-de-rijdt - **Sara Matt** - Head of Transfercenter Science Economy Society - University of Innsbruck I am a physicist by training but work in knowledge transfer for more than 20 years. My focus is on industrial cooperations and support of entrpreneurship and spin off formation. I am also very passionat about creating more impact with research and work more with and for society. https://skinnovation.at/speakers/sara-matt - **Sarah Sommerauer** - Community Lead - Sustainable Events Academy https://skinnovation.at/speakers/sarah-sommerauer - **Sascha Kirstein** - Community Lead - aclipp https://skinnovation.at/speakers/sascha-kirstein - **Sebastian Kortmann** - Dean - WU Wien Executive Academy Sebastian Kortmann is Dean of WU Executive Academy and Professor of Strategic Management at WU Vienna. His expertise lies in digital transformation, platforms, and ecosystems, with a focus on how companies innovate and thrive in fast-changing environments. https://skinnovation.at/speakers/sebastian-kortmann - **Sofie Quaranta** - Innovation Management - Flughafen Wien - Vienna Airport As an Innovation Manager at Vienna Airport, I help oversee our core innovation structures, ranging from our Digital Innovation Hub and trend management to the coordination of cross-departmental innovation projects. In addition, I represent the airport in (inter)national… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/sofie-quaranta - **Sophia Rödiger** - Founder & Managing Director - 1KOMMA5GRAD https://skinnovation.at/speakers/sophia-roediger - **Sophie Engelhart** - Creator Partnerships Lead - TIKTOK TikTokSophie develops holistic advertising strategies for enterprise clients in the DACH market. Beyond classic full-funnel approaches, she integrates creator marketing, TikTok Shop, and livestreaming into platform-native go-to-market plans. She works closely with leadership… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/sophie-engelhart - **Spiros Margaris** - Founder - Margaris Ventures Spiros Margaris is a globally recognized investor and thought leader who has held the No. 1 global ranking in Finance by Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) and in Fintech and top AI by Onalytica. These rankings reflect long-standing relevance and trust at the highest levels of the… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/spiros-margaris - **Susann Hoffmann** - Founder - MANTI MANTI Susann Hoffmann is a creative force, curious mind, mother, feminist and serial entrepreneur at heart. https://skinnovation.at/speakers/susann-hoffmann - **Susanne Lederer-Pabst** - Founder & CEO - Dragonfly Finance Susanne is the founder and CEO of the company Dragonfly Finance. Susanne’s vision as an entrepreneur is to connect separate worlds in order to help shape a new society. Raising awareness is her heartfelt mission. In this way, all aspects of her life—from finance to… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/susanne-lederer-pabst - **Svenja Lassen** - Managing Director - Female Investors Network Svenja Lassen is Head of Startup Services at Startup City Hamburg. In 2020, she founded the Female Investors Network (FIN) as a hub for active and aspiring female business angels throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Her goal is to sustainably increase the proportion… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/svenja-lassen - **Tomasz Ciesielski** - Director of Technology Transfer Center - University of Łódź Tomasz Ciesielski is Director of the Centre for Technology Transfer at the University of Łódź (Poland), where he works at the intersection of science, business and creative practice. His work focuses on translating research results into real-world applications, building… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/tomasz-ciesielski - **Valeska Schneider** - Professional Surfer & Founder - RIVVER Valeska is one of Germany’s few professional surfers. She started at 20 and is now German Vice Champion and founder of the surfboard brand RIVVER. Highlights include German Champion Rapid Surfing 2022, Rapid Surf League Champion 2023, four-time German University Champion, and… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/valeska-schneider - **Victoria Neuhofer** - Founder & CEO - Damn Plastic, Veatzz, CO-Boss Academy, Before-Applause Podcast Victoria Neuhofer, MSc Ing.– Founder | Speaker | Entrepreneur https://skinnovation.at/speakers/victoria-neuhofer - **Viola Weller** - Founder - VLACE Viola Weller founded VLACE, a sustainable sneaker brand that transforms fruit waste into high-quality vegan footwear. She holds a Master’s degree in International Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. Through international work experience in New York… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/viola-weller - **Vivien Karl** - CEO & Co-Founder - DR. VIVIEN KARL Dr. Vivien Karl is a licensed pharmacist and holds a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences. She studied pharmacy in Bonn and completed her doctorate in theoretical medicine. After several years working in a pharmacy, she saw first-hand how many women’s questions and needs were tied… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/vivien-karl - **Waldemar Zeiler** - Founder - Ding Dong Ping Pong, einhorn & zweihorn Waldemar Zeiler is an unrelenting world changer, father, entrepreneur, activist, speaker, aspiring actor, and author. He is the founder of Ding Dong Ping Pong, a community-driven ping pong brand, and einhorn, a company known for its eco-friendly, ethical condoms and period… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/waldemar-zeiler - **Xaver Lehmann** - Co-Founder - e-bot7 (60M€ Exit) https://skinnovation.at/speakers/xaver-lehmann - **Yann Fiebig** - Partner - High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) Yann is a Partner at HTGF, one of the leading seed investors in Europe. The engineer has been investing in Deep Tech and Climate Tech startups at HTGF since 2016. Yann recognized high-potential emerging segments such as New Space and Quantum Technologies very early on and led… https://skinnovation.at/speakers/yann-fiebig - **Yannick Pfleiderer** - Community Lead - SKInnovation https://skinnovation.at/speakers/yannick-pfleiderer