In over 15 years of starting companies such as AngelList and CoinList, and helping countless startups fundraise, recruit and launch, Joshua has learned that it's frequently the unconventional ones that succeed. In this talk we'll discuss how running a startup is different than running an established company, and how playing by the rules is not always the best strategy in the earliest stages.

Startups competing: Crassula SME Banking (Latvia), Cryptoprofiler (Switzerland), CryptoPolice.com (Latvia), EVOestate.com (Spain), Hive Identity (Ukraine), Jeff App (Latvia), MANU LT (Lithuania), MPT PAY (Ukraine), Partly (Latvia), TheMonetizr (US) Jury: Cameron McLain (Hummingbird), Lauri Lehtmaa (Creandum), Triin Linamagi (Founders Factory), Marite Aleksandra Silava (Swedbank), Michele Foradori (Blackfin Tech), Sandra Golbreich (Baltic Sandbox)

Building a team is like building a tribe. Jennifer will focus on the complexities, celebrations and challenges of building a phenomenal team and what she has learned through the course of her career.

Live podcast from the stage fueled by SImplecast

From enemies to frenemies to friends to now walking down the aisle - banks and fintech companies have been through a whirlwind relationship. But as 20% of engagements are called off and 50% of marriages end in divorce, this new budding relationship is not without its challenges. A brief walk through the relationship timeline and some advice for proposing to your ideal financial partner.

Index Ventures, Europe’s leading tech VC, has developed a model and a set of recommendations, to help European entrepreneurs attract and retain top talent, through the use of stock options. Dominic will explain why stock options are so powerful, and how entrepreneurs should allocate them across their team, for maximum benefit.

Startups competing: ARtyline (Belarus), Consorto (Estonia), eXpact (Estonia), Fienta (Estonia), Kipwise (Estonia), OROCON (Latvia), Popertee (UK), Razzby (Lithuania), Sanctifly (Ireland), ZITICITY (Lithuania) Jury: Alexey Sidorov (Buran VC), Sandberg (SWG), Rémi Prunier (Orange Digital Ventures), Mikael Petersen (byFounders), Juuso Koskinen (OpenOcean)

Talent is the key for innovation not just in companies, but also cities and ecosystems that strive to compete in the current race of innovation. What are the key factors that motivate talent to stay - or relocate? Experts representing vastly different ecosystems in Europe will discuss the competition for talent as the most valuable asset, and the importance of different aspects such as available funding, known brands, quality and cost of living. The panellists will analyze the current competition in placemaking and branding as great places to build companies, how it’s influenced by politics and policies, what do we need from policymakers, and what are the risks associated with losing the race - and facing brain drain.

Let’s explore the different levels of SaaS analytics for startups. Find out what true Superheroes measure and get a sneak peek on how not to be an analytics Superhero through deal flow examples seen in the past year.

We have an epidemic on our hands. More and more founders and tech industry staff are struggling to deal with the pressures of running a startup, leading to self-destructive behaviour. A veteran of the tech industry, and co-founder of Tribe of Why - an organization that helps people find their purpose in life and live a balanced, harmonious life - Stewart Rogers will outline what's going wrong, what we can do to address these problems, and how you can ensure you deal with the daily self-imposed and external pressures of running a startup in 2019.

The discussion of Tech-Life balance continues with an expert in the field and a CEO that is living startup life, with all its ups, downs, and challenges.

Startups competing: Capte (Netherlands), Dear deer eyewear (Lithuania), Drone Pilot (Latvia), HackMotion (Latvia), Journey Defender Limited (Ireland), Louis Desks (France), OptiShower (Portugal), Polisensio (Estonia), PowerUp Fuel Cells OÜ (Estonia), Squad Robotics (UK) Jury: Sander Gansen (Robotex), Māris Daija (Bosch), Matīss Neimanis (BuildIT), Juha Ruohonen (Superherocapital), Oliver Weimann (360 Online Performance Group GmbH)

There are people, who treat travel time as "dead time", a time to kill. But what if you fly every 3rd day? Having 170 flights behind his back in 2018 alone, Cristobal will share some lifehacks on how to keep yourself sane, healthy and most importantly, effective, while travelling like crazy. So the travel time turns into your most efficient part of the day, instead of "dead time"!

Combining a remarkable mix of backgrounds and experience from both the corporate and startup worlds, this panel will explore the lessons learned on building, not only commercially successful products, but products that have a real impact on people’s lives. This is not a discussion panel. It’s an interactive conversation full of relevant stories and valuable insights into what it takes to build great hardware products.

Startups competing: 100Nuts (UK), INXELO TECHNOLOGIES Ltd. (Croatia), NeoSound OU (Germany), OpenSchool (Latvia), Oppi AI (Finland), Precision Navigation Systems (Estonia), SleepCircle (Finland), Attention Insight (Lithuania), VeritaCell (Latvia), You Are My Guide (Italy). Jury: Eva Arh (Capital300), Ton van 't Noordende (01 Ventures), Tuomas Kosonen (Inventure), Toby Moore (Imprimature Capital), Sabine Fleischmann (CNB Capital)

Peter Thiel in 2013 at Yale commencement famously said - “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters”. 6 years later first flying car is being successfully tested by Boeing. Disruption at the transport sector is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. Autonomous cars once SciFi are being tested commercially, EV adoption is growing at an unforeseen speed and scooter seems to be the last-mile panacea to solve congestions in large cities. So where are we now and what's next in the new mobility? Rokas will give an overview from the investor perspective what to follow.

Artificial Intelligence is profoundly transforming the world of technology, yet its real power is blurred in a murky mix of exacerbated hype and irrational fear. This is the right time to pioneer innovative AI applications and strive for leadership in the changing technological landscape. How to surf the AI wave and not be drawn in by unrealistic expectations? How to excel and find your distinctive strength among all the others rushing for AI-driven success? How to prepare for the everchanging future? We will share our experience and lessons learned from applying AI to understand human language and to change the way how we interact with technologies.

Startups competing: CastPrint (Latvia), Chili Labs (Latvia), E-volta (Ukraine), Neuroflux (Finland), Petsensus (Hong Kong), PlanA.earth (Germany), Smartcore Enterprise (Tanzania), StoryTracks (Ireland), Taste.li (Latvia), Vigo (Latvia) Jury: Jerome Wittamer (Expon Capital), Kaja Lilleng (Nordic Impact), Agnieszka Meller (InfoShare), Peder L'orange (Katapult Accelerator), Leah Volger (Mantaray VC)

Are you doing it? Or are you thinking, dreaming and talking about it? Entrepreneurs are waking up with only one thing in their mind. What I will DO today? Ruthless belief in their product or service and daily action create confidence that will translate into stories and myths which start to live their own life. When the answer to why is clear and true and you are doing something about it every day, success is inevitable. Tiit will bring examples of above from his experiences from Skype, Pipedrive, Põhjala Brewery (one of the top 100 breweries of the world) and Veriff.

Baltics VS Nordics. Leading Baltic VCs take on sourcing and sharing deal flow, competing outside of the home turf with the Nordic heavyweights and taking down the barriers to invest and co-invest globally.

Announcing the Fifty Founders Battle finalists