How to Web Conference in Bucharest hosts 70+ speakers on 4 different tracks

BY Zoja Kukic ON October 24

More than 70 international speakers from 4 continents will take the stage at How to Web Conference 2014 to talk about technology, entrepreneurship and innovation in Bucharest 20-21 November.

Different topics will be covered – Internet of Things and the evolution of hardware startups, the revolution of electronic payments brought about by crypto-currencies, the opportunities and challenges of startup financing, including crowdfunding, or how and why it is the perfect moment to start building video games.

How to Web Conference 2014 brings about an enhanced, more mature format with a main track dedicated to future trends & entrepreneurship and three other parallel tracks about product, game development and angel investment and as it has done in the past five years, HTW turns Bucharest in the technology capital of South Eastern Europe and brings into the spotlight the development of tech products with disruptive potential.

We have prepared a detailed guide for the conference and what can be expected on various tracks.

Main stage: Future trends and Entrepreneurship track

The main stage of HTW will host the Future trends & Entrepreneurship track and will bring to the public’s attention the impact of the Internet of Things and the business opportunities created by its evolution, the development and implications of crypto-currencies, the impact of mobile technologies, or best practices for getting an investment.

Programme for this stage consists of:

• Chris Chabot, innovator and startup mentor, will talk about transformative innovation and the way our culture is reinvented as we enter the mobile future.
• The power of the crowd and the role of communities will be explored by Florian Meissner, Co-Founder and CEO of EyeEm.
• Jason della Rocca, Co-Founder and Indie Evangelist Execution Labs, will talk about failure as a necessary ingredient for discovering success.
• The decisions that make the difference between success and failure in business will be presented by Dennis Cox, CPO of IXIA US.

This stage will also have some interesting panels with great speakers:

• The immediate implications and the potential consequences and opportunities of crypto-currencies will be debated by Manuel Heilmann (Co-Founder & CEO Coinzone) and Lyuben Belov (Managing Partner of LAUNCHub) in a special panel moderated by Alex Barrera (Co-Founder Press42.com & Tech.eu)
• About easy hardware prototyping will talk, Ze Pinto Ferreira (Co-Founder & CEO FNV Labs), Andrei Pitiş (Co-Founder & CTO VectorWatch and angel investor) and Luka Sucic (Business Development Manager & Evangelist hub:raum)
• Daniel Lynch (Partner 3TS Capital), Rokas Tamaosiunas (Co-Founder Startup Highway) and Sitar Teli (Partner Connect Ventures) will reveal the key ingredients investors look for in a startup and what makes a business investible.
• About raising money through equity crowdfunding  will talk Sean Kane (Co-Founder and CEO F6S), Ricardo Sequerra (Startup Community Builder Seedrs) and Dilyan Dimitrov (Co-Founder Eleven).
• The most important lessons accelerator directors learn will be presented by Paul Smith (Co-Founder and CEO Ignite & Campus North) and Marvin Liao (Venture Partner 500 Startups) in a panel moderated by Marc Wesselink (Selection & Alumni Manager StartupBootcamp).

The complete agenda of this this track and the updated list of guest speakers is available online at this link.

Product track

Developed in collaboration with Mozaic Works, HTW – Product track will host in-depth talks about product management.

• Ragnar Sass (Co-Founder PipeDrive) will talk about involving customers in the product development process for building a user-centric product, using PipeDrive as a best practice example.
• Mark Tolmacs (Product Manager Ustream) will continue by discussing the challenges of team localization and the way in which you learned to work in an ever-changing environment.

Game Development Track

The HTW – Game Development Track, developed together with the Romanian Game Developers Association (RGDA) with the support of King, Mobility Games, and Ubisoft, will discuss the way in which you can build globally successful games with millions of players.

• Dan Olthen (Game of Thrones Producer at Bigpoint Gmbh) will talk about the phases of the entire production cycle starting with the idea/concept and ending with actually releasing the game.
• Mathieu Muller (Field Engineer, Unity Technologies) or Vlad Micu (Head of Studio, Critical Force Entertainment) are some of the specialists that will present best practices and relevant case studies
• Agnieszka Szostak (Founder PR Outreach) will talk about marketing & PR in the gaming industry.

Angel Investment Track

Angel investors will also discover best practices and will find out more about how they can collaborate with accelerator programs for getting into killer deals by attending the HTW – Angel investment track, organized with Angelsbootcamp with the support of TrentoRise.

• Active investor and mentor for companies such as Soundcloud, Unlike.net or Dataminr, Felix Petersen has financed so far several high growth startups such as Tumblr, AirBNB or DropBox and he will share his knowledge on finding the best deals.
• Jonathan Bixby (Executive Director GrowLab, having raised the biggest angel investment round in the history of Canada) and Adrian Gheară (angel investor that has financed 123ContactForm and AxoSuits) will also share the best practices learned
• Mălin Ştefănescu (angel investor in Green Horse Games) and George Lemnaru (Founder & CEO Green Horse Games) will present both sides of the table.
• The collaboration between accelerators and angels will be approached by Lyuben Belov (angel investor and Managing Director LauncHub), Rune Theill (Co-Founder & Program Director Rockstart Accelerator), Simon Jenner (investor & Co-Founder Oxygen Accelerator) and Marc Wesselink (Selection & Alumni Manager StartupBootcamp) in a panel moderated by Mike Doherty (Director Program Angelsbootcamp)
• Ana Maria Andronic (Partner Biriş Goran) and Alina Stăvaru (counsel RTPR Allen & Overy) will cover the due diligence process and will present the lessons learnt.

Startup Spotlight

The third edition of Startup Spotlight, competition and orientation program for the chosen 32 startups from CEE will also be organized in parallel with the conference.

The teams that get accepted into the program will attend dedicated workshops and mentoring sessions, 1-to-1 meetings with investors and representatives of some of the most appreciated accelerators and early stage VC funds in Europe and beyond, and they will also compete for the 20.000 USD cash prizes offered by IXIA, the main partner of the program.

How to Web Conference 2014 will take place on November 20 & 21 at Crystal Pallace Ballrooms, Bucharest. Early Bird tickets starting at 69 EUR are available until November 11 and full pricing details can be found here.