This year I attended Slush with the same Paytrail team as last year - Lennu, Jussi, and Pete.

Crystal Clear Pitch

The most important topic that impacted me was the importance of your company’s sales pitch. It must be thoroughly thought out and concise so that you can pitch it whether you’ve got a minute or 10 minutes.  This also applies to the pitch you share on your website, in social media and other channels. The pitch should tell: what is valuable about what you offer, how you meet and if possible exceed your customers needs, what is unique about your services, who you are and what are your greatest accomplishments. It seemed like there were tens of thousands of pitches made at Slush. The Pitching Competition had its own significant role in the event. In the many encounters with potential investors, it’s vital to have a solid and memorable pitch.

I made note to make sure we review our own pitch and fine-tune it.

Inspiration

Slush was inspiring, the event had a great vibe and attitude and I got many valuable tips.

I jotted several points from the different speakers. One that particularly stuck in my mind was Jorma Ollila, he emphasized the importance of team diversity and the benefits of different perspectives. I am fortunate that is exactly the case with my team.

Jolla released their tablet at Slush and many other companies also chose the event as the venue to release their products or services. When you are ready to share great achievements with world, it should be done in an appropriate manner – loud and clear.

At Paytrail we have many significant and great releases coming up next year, and I got many great ideas at Slush on how we should market them.

Slush14

I had been wondering how Slush would succeed in creating a close, active, unique atmosphere in the Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Centre like there was last year in the dimly lit Cable Factory. Not to mention the challenge of accommodating double to number of attendees.

They pulled it off, although it wasn’t at the same level as last year. Maybe that’s because the first time is always the first (I attended the event for the first time last year).

Slush defines itself as a tech and startup event. The previously strong startup emphasis had clearly shifted which impacted both the spirit and the size of the event. For me, the shift in emphasis worked and I will be sure to attend again next year. You can only refer to Slush as a first-class business event that all other events should learn from. A big thanks and good luck to the organizers!

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