Not Optional — Making Europe the Most Entrepreneurial Continent

29 – 30 October 2020

Index Ventures and Slush brought together policymakers, founders of startups, investors and ecosystem builders to discuss the practical steps that Europe must take to become the best place to start and grow world-changing startups.


Not Optional fireside chat with founders of Stripe and TransferWise

Taavet Hinrikus from TransferWise and Stripe’s John Collison talk to Bloomberg’s Caroline Hyde during a startup policy event Not Optional — Making Europe the Most Entrepreneurial Continent”


Stock options: Giving people a stake in the businesses they are building. It’s not optional.

Dominic Jacquesson from Index Ventures moderates a panel with Liz McCarthy, Scale Ireland, Gloria Bauerlein, Deutsche Startups, Pēteris Zilgalvis, DG CONNECT and Andris K. Berzins, Change Ventures


Introduction to Not Optional and a conversation with Constantijn van Oranje and Neil Rimer

Vojtech Horna from Index Ventures and Miika Huttunen from Slush introduce the Not Optional event, followed by a conversation with Constantijn van Oranje, Special Envoy at Tech​leap​.nl and Neil Rimer, founding partner of Index Ventures.


Yoram Wijngaarde from Dealroom presents the data on the European startup ecosystem

The data on European startups shows:

💰Combined value European startups up from €155bn to €618bn in 5 years

👩🏽‍💻 2m people now employed in tech startups, up 43% on 2016


Not Optional interview with France’s Minister in charge of the digital economy Cédric O.

John Thornhill from the FT and Sifted speaks with Cédric O about the country’s plans for startups and whether Europe can become the most entrepreneurial continent.


IPOs: Will the next generation of entrepreneurs choose to list in Europe?

A panel discussion with Marianne Tordeux, France Digitale, Martin Mignot, Index Ventures, Clif Marriott, Goldman Sachs and Gorka Apraiz Tormo, CMU, DG FISMA, European Commission. 

Moderated by Nicolas Colin, The Family


Unlocking investment in startups and the role of government

Michael Stothard from Sifted moderates a panel with Jean-David Malo, European Innovation Council, Reshma Sohoni, Seedcamp and Johannes Reck, GetYourGuide


Looking ahead to Portugal’s EU Presidency: what will this mean for startups?

André Azevedo, Secretary of State for Digital Transformation, Portugal is interviewed by Linda Griffin, VP Global Public Policy at King and Co-Founder of European Tech Alliance.


What will it take to make startups a strategic priority for Europe?

Sarah Syed from Bloomberg moderates a panel with Dr. Jörg Kukies, Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany, Eva Maydell, MEP, Eva Kaili, MEP and Gerard de Graaf, DG CONNECT.


Can Europe become the most welcoming continent for startup talent?

Benedikt Blomeyer-Bartenstein from Allied for Startups talks to Sian Keane, Farfetch.

Speakers


Supporting Organisations


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