Thank you, tech.eu

As alluded to on the podcast last week, I am stepping away from tech.eu. Over 5 years ago when I was putting together my dissertation prospectus in California, tech.eu was the one destination that I went to learn about what was happening in the European tech scene. tech.eu was the pioneer when it came to sharing the story of European startups and founders. At that time it was really the only place that brought stories from all European countries together under one masthead. It was such an honor to join the team and help share some of these great stories more widely.

Today there are many more institutions helping spread the word about European tech. Despite the increased competition, each new voice sharing the European tech story is valuable and welcomed. The more complete picture that those outside of Europe have about the European tech scene, the better. There are so many incredible stories to tell, founders to profile, and industries to be re-examined-- especially in startup communities outside of Europe’s core tech hubs. As a social scientist, I know that every story, every founder, and every startup matters. I only wish I could have covered more of them, but I’m very proud of those that I had the chance to share with you on tech.eu.

If you’ve been listening to the podcast over the last year, you’ve probably heard me mention that I had a tough 2019. Without saying too much here, much of those challenges stemmed from health issues in my family (who just happen to be over 5,000 miles away). This affected me greatly. Going through these trials over the last year made me really think hard about what I wanted to be doing and the impact that I wanted to make with the time I have going forward. The answer I kept returning to was that I wanted to do more to support early-stage founders, no matter where they are. During the travel for my PhD research and for tech.eu, I’ve seen firsthand how talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. I will now be working to develop a more equal and supportive playing field for founders as the Chief Community Officer for Startup Boost, a global pre-accelerator programme for early stage companies. 

Even though I will be moving on from tech.eu, it's not goodbye. I look forward to seeing you around at tech events, meetups and conferences in the years to come, and popping in from time to time to share a Reverse Pitch, or founder profile. But for now, thank you to all the podcast listeners, our readers and all the founders and VCs who so kindly shared their stories with me. And finally, a big thank you to Robin, Helen, Andrii and the rest of the tech.eu team for making my time here so great. See you all soon.