Kristjan Freyr Kristjansson Blog

Right now im in Rio de Janeiro for the StartupWeekend Organiser summit and the Global Entrepreneurship Congress. Im truly inspired by all the events and people meeting together in Rio and the impact they are having in their local communities.

What I especially like about the meetup here in Rio are the circles behind the people attending the event. The right idea, or event presented to the right people attending here in Rio could really have meaningful global impact in creating better future companies with more value.

On top of that I especially like that in Rio they have convinced people like Brad Feld, Dave McClure, Marc Nager and Andrew Hyde to share their stories of projects that are considered best for startup communities (e.g. accelerators like Techstars, 500 startups and StartupWeekends) and encouraging people to promote them.

I have been working full time in helping out startups for a few years in Iceland. Im looking for critical feedback, pointers and strategies to empower the work even further. I put a small question up on Quora. Would love to hear peoples thoughts on it.

http://www.quora.com/Startups/If-you-had-all-the-resources-in-the-world-how-would-build-a-sustainable-startup-community-with-whom-and-how-would-you-start

I was invited to be moderator for a panel discussion that was part of Reykjavik International Film Festival, hosted for the 9th consecutive year now. In the Panel we had a very interesting group of people or James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot, the directors and producers of Indie Game. Torfi Frans Ólafsson, articistic Director of CCP, Jónas Björgvin Antonsson, founder and CEO of Gogogic the gaming company and finally Sesselja Vilhjálmsdóttir, director of Startup Kids and founder of a startup called KinWins.

The topic was about “the growth of computer games and possibilities for independent producers in the future. 

To summarize some of the main points:

Q: [Quote from Youtube] „These people are just delusional, really delusional. 8-bit and 16-bit old games are far better than what any indie game developer have ever released. Sorry, but commercial games will always be better and fun to play. These indie game developers resemble those other developers who code for linux, they just don’t care about the consumer so why should the consumer care about their products.“

A[Lisanne]: You don’t have to create your product for the masses. If you can build a game and only get 50.000 users or customers, that is often enough for you to survive and build another one. Not everyone needs to be mainstream. Also a lot of the creativity that is being pushed through some of the bigger games out there, often starts up in the indie games. Probably all of the lead developers and gamers in the bigger main stream corporations play indie games and follow up on the trends happening there.

Q: “People in the movie repeatedly mention the disdain they have for the mainstream gaming world of video games. They even go as far as saying that it would be “hell” to work for a company like EA or Epic. But it doesn’t really explode into more than simple ranting.” –Is the creativity being killed in bigger businesses and is it true what Indie gamers feel about big main stream gaming corps?

A [Torfi]: CCP try not to think of themselves yet to be a mig monster corporate business, although they have definitely gotten bigger now, with more processes, that are simply needed when you have a couple of hundred employees. What we [ccp], try to do is divide our developers into small “startup teams”, so they have a similar urge and freedom as the independent startups out there.

Q. How big do you consider the gaming sphere to be today? Do you think there will be more growth in the upcoming future? Is it harder or easier to build games now then it used to be?

A {Torfi]: Its easier to build games today. You don’t have to build a gaming engine from scratch up in 1-2 years like in the past. Today you have businesses such as Unity and others that grant you that access. The day you have an idea for a game its not that hard to put it out there. 

A. [General feedback from others]: Generally true that it might not be as hard to make the games, however there is also a lot more competition. Getting a customer mass that gets you good revenues might be harder to day then before, while making the games is easier.

Q: It is noticeable in the movie that the game creators don’t necessarily feel they care at all about the responses and feedback they get to the game. Is this a mask they put up or the actual reality?

A [Jónas]: Sure, thats the game face, but of course the developers and game designs care what people think. The likes, feedbacks, good complimentary emails and general interest in a gamers work is always encouraging and often more important them people realize.

Q: Where do you think the biggest opportunities in gaming lies in the next upcoming years?

A [General answer]: Gamification is everywhere. Its not just nerds playing video games anymore its everybody and its becoming more natural. 

A [Sesselja]: in KinWins for example we are creating a game where everyday life is turned into a game. Therefore people can use the game to become better and being the type of person they want to be.

General summary:

The Q/A went a little bit off track but the Panel speakers had some very interesting thoughts on the development of games and general gaming in the future. I highly recommend you to watch both the movie Indie games and Startup Kids, which really give you a great insight into the world of entrepreneurship and the cons and pros of going into that spectrum. 

Related articles

• I Love “Indie” Games and You Should Too (thegreybackpack.com)
• The Creativity Of Indie Games of the Day (cheezburger.com)
• This Video Shows Off The Best of What Indie Games Can Be [Video] (kotaku.com)
• Social Media Panel Discussion (spiceofyourlife.wordpress.com)

I wrote a smell guest post for the Icelandic NASDAQ OMX today about how growth startups are different from regular companies. The article is in Icelandic but is inspired by Paul Grahams writings on growth (http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html)

The article can be found here:

http://nasdaqomxiceland.tumblr.com/

September 5th – 8th, 2012, I was invited to facilitate the first Startup Weekend ever hosted in Iran, in its capital city Tehran. 

I had no idea what Tehran would be like. The only information I had about Iran in general were negative news from global media, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Were there actual dangers for foreigners like myself?  

After doing some research, using search engines, Quora and talking to a few people that new Iranians, I decided I wanted to do the trip. A good mixture of anxiety and fear best describes the feeling I had just before going on the plain from Istanbul to Tehran – mostly because of the uncertainty of how things would be like.

Needless to say, Tehran and the people I met was completely different then I could ever have imagined or expected. 

To start with, everybody I met were truly genuine, kind and always making sure I felt comfortable in the environment. One of the hosts taught  me early on some of the customs that it is good for visitors to be aware of.

Be aware of a few things

Firstly, it is obligatory for women to were a “Hijab”, which is a small veil that covers your hair and neck. Second, Alcohol is forbidden. Thirdly, it is not well seen to shake women hands while greeting them. You should rather do a simple nod without offering out your hand for a handshake. Fourthly Iranians have high respect for one another, especially those who seem to be community leaders. When somebody of high statute walks nearby, there is a tendency for everybody to stand up until he either sits down or offers everybody else to sit down. Finally don’t be surprised if you see males kissing on another lightly on the cheek mouth, or even holding hands, which is a regular custom among male friends.

Startup Weekend Tehran

The reasoning of my trip to Tehran, was to facilitate a Startup Weekend event, a 54 hour workshop, where participants take new ideas as far as possible in a boot camp atmosphere, while surrounded by mentors, other participants and coaches.

Around 120 applicants were registered in total. We started the first day off by having everybody that had an idea pitch it for 60 seconds on stage. In total, 70 participants stood up and had a 60 second pitch. It was interesting to see that before the event started, (and I was told before all official events start), there is a small Iranian anthem and video played for participants. Most of the pitches were in Persian, but according to a translator I had, some of the ideas were very interesting, everything from IT mobile opportunities in copying famous western models, into new kind of ideas aimed at either local or global market. Most of them were IT, but some less technical.  

The Startup Weekend event was fantastic in all aspects. The local organizer Mohsen Malayeri and his team from Khavarzamin did an excellent job in organizing the whole event. 

The participants in the event were very tech savvy, everything from great UI designers, into excellent coders, graphical designers and marketing people. In general I felt participants had a little bit less of self-confidence and perhaps in coordinating some of the project management tasks, but technical skills, longing to go far during the weekend, ability to take advice and debate with mentors as well as pivoting their models during the weekend were excellent on a global scale.  The teams ended up having a great 5 minute pitches each which they could all be very proud of. 

What was highly interesting from the weekend was to see key local community players so enthusiastic in strengthening the Entrepreneurial Eco-System in Tehran. Some of the key players I spoke to, such as Jahangir Aghazadeh, a business veteran in IT startups in Iran and Shahab Javanmardi, CEO of Fanap holding and Ayat Hosseini from ICT PASARGAD VC were very eager in hearing my opinion on the strengths and weaknesses of some of the teams, and what would be the best way to strengthening the Entrepreneurship sector of Tehran and the country in general. It will be very interesting to follow these individuals and see if their support to some of the initiatives we talked about will make an impactful change in the eco system in the upcoming years.  

Walking the streets of Tehran

During the event some of the participants took me out to see some of the local things available in the city. General sight seeing, such as the Azadi tower and Milad tower were made which were very memorable. 

What I generally loved most about Tehran was the authenticity of everything in the city. Outside the restaurants you had amazing Iranians statues, most often with a great history behind them. The street dealers also sell nuts, hot corns and vegetables I have never seen or heard of before that still taste excellent. 

Iranians are not used to see western people with blonde hair. A women that was walking in the street walked up to me and thanked me for visiting the city. Two of her children didn’t seem to have seen anybody with blonde hair before, and followed me a short distance bedazzled of the foreign look, which was quite a nice experience.

The atmosphere of a local Persian teahouse was also an excellent experience for me. They offer Hookah’s to smoke and a variety of different drinks and small tastes. Everybody take their shoes off and sit together in a carpet booth which is rather nice if you haven’t tried it before.

Stores

We visited a large peanut, candy, spice store in the middle of Tehran. The experience was amazing. You are allowed to taste everything in the store and the taste of some of the items is phenomenal – even have plenty of items I saw and tasted for the first time. We also visited a local jewelry store which have some amazing local handicraft, as well as beautiful silver products.

Paying for products is a bit different from other countries. No credit cards outside of Iran work in the country, so foreigners either have to pay with the local currencies or known international ones (e.g. USD or EURO). There seem to be two different currency ratios, firstly the governmental official price of 1 USD, and the marketing price of 1 USD (what stores use). Recently there has been a great deflation of the local currency, therefore prices for visitors are very affordable.

Dating culture

Since Alcohol and regular western parties are not allowed in the country I asked one of the locals how dating works in Iran. Apparently there is a growing popularity in a game that best translates in English as “door door”. Boys and girls both go to popular streets. Usually the boy raises the music in his car and gives some notion that he is interested, as a result they exchange cards or numbers, and have a meetup later. There has also been a huge growth in using social media in the country. Officially Facebook and other social media is blocked in the country, but around 8 million users of the nations 75 million population are currently using proxy servers to connect to social media. Hence, poking and messaging through facebook is very popular and for some the main reason they create their first accounts. 

Closing remarks

The trip was one of the most memorable of not the most memorable trips I have ever taken. I don’t know if the people I met in Tehran, is a general sample of people you would meet if randomly put together, but if they are I believe there are high potentials for the country.

Everybody were genuine, caring, nice, thoughtful, friendly, funny, had a great sense of humor, talented and everything else then I had perceived from media and online searches before I visited.

I would love to go again in the future, either for business or simply family pleasure. 

SW Tehran, Iran-Vimeo HD from Kristján Kristjánsson on Vimeo.