Two unique events –Startup Grind and the Summer Academy’s Hackathon- took place last week at the Impact Hub in Geneva. Both of them demonstrate the diversity, capability and uniqueness of the Impact Hub in providing help to entrepreneurs on their journey towards success.
Startup Grind
Impact Hub hosted Startup Grind’s very first event in Geneva. Originally founded in the United States, Palo Alto, California, Startup Grind is a global start-up community designed to educate, inspire and connect entrepreneurs. Powered by Google for entrepreneurs, they now host monthly events in 250 cities and have recently opened a ‘chapter’ in Geneva.
Their kick-off event Thursday 24th of 
August was an interview, led by Startup Grind chapter director Monica Bratu, with Jean-Marc Tassetto, former CEO of Google France and now founder of his own company Coorpacademy, one of the biggest start-ups in the world dedicated to new (digital) education technology.
It was a successful and well-attended evening and a perfect opportunity for Impact Hub Members and other entrepreneurs to get a first hand experience from a successful entrepreneur. Jean-Marc shared useful insights, spoke about his passions and responded to challenging questions regarding entrepreneurship, business competitiveness (better ask for forgiveness then for permission!) and career development. Impact Hub is proud to have hosted an event such as this and hopefully more will come!
From challenges to solutions in one day
Four teams and ten experts, most of them Hub members with different expertises and backgrounds (UNIGE, Graduates Institute, Impact Assessment) were attending a one day Hackathon in which they had to find solutions for two challenges: ‘How to integrate impact measurement in Social entrepreneurs’ business management practices‘, brought in by Ricardo Scacchetti, Impact Hub member Geneva and the second one: ‘How to provide learning opportunities to individuals and organizations with a low ability to pay and ensure sufficient revenue to be able to deliver them,’ brought in by Geneva Centre for Security Policy.
All challenges were presented in the morning and with help from the experts, teams had to frame a common understanding of what they were going to tackle and they started to work on every possible solution that exists. During lunch time there was an opportunity to interact with others and receive feedback. In the afternoon participants focussed on one solution and tried to develop this one further by for example creating a prototype. The interaction between the participants, the way they collaborated on challenges and shared experiences with each other during the day was impressive and encouraging.
Unleash more potential
Both events showed how important it is, for entrepreneurs starting a business, to meet other like-minded people, to be part of a community with similar ideas and to be in a safe environment to unleash more potential. And most important: the Impact Hub facilitates these inspiring events!
For people who missed the first Startup Grind evening. Have a look at their website, it is going to be a monthly event!
For people who want to know more about the Summer Academy or other young entrepreneurship programs. Ask or send José Filipe Silva an e-mail. He is the expert regarding Summerpreneurship and Summer Academy.