Barcelona Startups Lawyeah & TutoToons Are Ready For Their Close-up
Another week down and another two Barcelona startups have filmed their 60 Second Startup Video at the Mobile World Centre, site of Jobfluent's 4th Startup Jobfair (it was a packed house and a great event so please disregard the background noise). Of course, none of this Read more
The Art of Sharing Knowledge: Introducing The Barcelona Knowledge Hub
Another organization just set up shop in Barcelona to promote knowledge-sharing and innovation. Barcelona Knowledge Hub was officially launched last week and is located in the beautiful cloister premises in the Carrer del Carmen. It is a collaboration between Academia Europaea and the Catalan Read more
Better Know A Barcelona Startup: Voz.io
Never underestimate the power of customer service. It is undoubtedly one of the post dominant marketing tools alive yet companies still provide inhuman levels of service causing us to gawk, splutter and explode into rage. In case you hadn’t figured, this is not an Read more
Discover Barcelona's Educational Technology Startups
In the summer of 2013, a design-oriented, multinational brand manager and ESADE MBA student named Louis Powell took a hard look at Barcelona's tech and startup ecosystem during an internship with itnig. Over the next few weeks, Barcinno will publish his findings and opinions to Read more
Barcelona Startup Phontact Films Their 60s Elevator Pitch
This week Barcinno had the pleasure of meeting with Arun Abraham, CEO of Barcelona startup Phontact. Thanks to our great partners BCN Startup Video for editing this week's edition of the 60 second startup interview at the Mobile World Centre in Barcelona. Arun Abraham, CEO Read moreIn the summer of 2013, a design-oriented, multinational brand manager and ESADE MBA student named Louis Powell took a hard look at Barcelona’s tech and startup ecosystem during an internship with itnig. Over the next few weeks, Barcinno will publish his findings and opinions to encourage discussion and a reflection of our community as we head into the new year. Thank you to Louis and itnig for this contribution. 
In an effort to satiate the ever-increasing demand for high-quality software engineers, a new programming school called RailsCamp is preparing to launch in Barcelona. RailsCamp is an intensive 9-week web development course with one simple goal: to give you the equivalent skill set and experience of an entry-level Ruby on Rails developer.
RailsCamp is tailored towards beginners with no prior programming experience. Over an intense nine-week timespan, students receive more than 500 hours of hands-on training, basically 55 hours a week not including home study. The school employs an “explain-challenge-review” methodology that ensures an interactive teaching environment, however, the program doesn’t stop at just learning. RailsCamp is collaborating with local companies and recruiting partners to help you find a new job before graduation. They have already partnered with Teambox, Season and itnig here in Barcelona and they are building relationships with organizations throughout Europe. Read more
It must be said: At times, innovating can be quite frustrating. From adjusting prototypes to getting lost in the process and not having enough revenue streams to proceed, somewhere along the way you will likely be forced to face your mistakes and learn from them. You may even be forced to alter your business plan or come up with something entirely new, all the while weathering a bumpy road and trying to leap hurdles like an Olympic runner. So what are these hurdles you might come across on your way? Back in the Netherlands, I participated in a study that narrowed down 6 generic barriers you’re likely to encounter during the innovation processes.
The study was executed for the Dutch Water and Construction Sector, but it is interesting to see if these barriers apply to Barcelona’s ecosystem as well. Perhaps this post will encourage you to start the discussion of which barriers you might run into yourself, and think how you can overcome them. Please share your thoughts with us; let’s learn together as a community.
20 Mentors. 100 days. 1 ship. 13 countries. 11 ventures. 1 belief that entrepreneurship will change the world.
This week, a ship containing 11 groundbreaking startups, 20 world-class mentors, and an alliance of multinational organizations will disembark in Barcelona to celebrate the conclusion of the world’s first oceanic experiment in radical social entrepreneurship. Please welcome, Unreasonable at Sea: a 100-day voyage of discovery in global entrepreneurship and education to design solutions for the greatest challenges facing mankind today.
On Friday, April 26th, we have the opportunity to witness their Unreasonable Journey through the eyes of the startups and join their mission to change the world. Join us in Barcelona!
A little history and introduction to the change makers:
Unreasonable at Sea began with a conversation in the fall of 2011 between Daniel Epstein, founder of Unreasonable Institute, and Luke Jones, Chief of Staff of Semester at Sea, the only study abroad program to operate on a ship circumnavigating the globe. Their belief that entrepreneurship will change the world led to an action plan connecting entrepreneurs around the world and leveraging new technologies to solve seemingly insurmountable social and environmental challenges. But something was missing, Read more
With the crisis, shrinking salaries, and high unemployment rate, people are searching for new systems to enrich their lives. The Time Bank, an alternative monetary system, is a great platform to start creating value and, even better, actively share your knowledge, expertise and capabilities. It fosters community and economic growth and stimulates caring and social connections, which can result in new job creation and personal accomplishments. The leading principles for Time Banking were formulated by Edgar Cahn, author of No More Throw-Away People, which describes his journey of turning Time Credits into a successful economic currency and a new social philosophy called Co-Production. In order to participate and profit from time banking you need the following mindset:
Time Banking is not a new phenomenon, in Barcelona the first time banks where started back in 1998. Today, you can find a Banc del Temps in each Barcelona neighborhood and they even organize their own annual conference.
What’s more, is that large corporate organizations are beginning to embrace this system as well. Infojobs recently launched the Prepárate Banco del tiempo as a means to help job seekers enrich their skills. Read more
The IE Venture Network is a forum for early stage entrepreneurs to engage with the local startup ecosystem, test their projects, and introduce themselves to local investors and advisors. At Venture Lab’s headquarters, in the basement of the IE Business School in Madrid, this translates into a weekly pitch slam held every Thursday night. They have created a welcoming and informal environment for entrepreneurs to gain valuable feedback on their startup projects and meet the local entrepreneurial community. 
Tonight, however, they are spreading into the Barcelona Ecosystem to offer local startups and upcoming entrepreneurs the chance to meet investors and test their idea in front a live audience. Presenting in IE Venture Network Barcelona’s first event will be startups from the Wayra, SeedRocket, and Barcelona Activa Incubators.
The local entrepreneurs pitching tonight will be Alejandra Sopranis of Dilunch, Dr. Sindhu Joseph of CogniCor Technologies, and Philippe Gelis of Kantox.
Dilunch.com is a project is answering the daily question we all face of ‘Where am I going for lunch today?’ Currently incubated within Barcelona Activa, Dilunch is creating a platform for local eateries and businesses to connect so restaurants can expand their reach and we never get tired of eating at the same ‘ol place over and over again. Read more
Wayra announced today their newest partnership with London-based Enternships, a platform that connects students and graduates with opportunities working at a startup. The program will begin by opening up 130 paid internship opportunities among Wayra startups starting in UK and Germany, and quickly expanding to include Spain, Ireland, and the Czech Republic. 
The internships will last approximately 3-6 months and focus on cross-disciplinary learning with exposure to all the great mentors, workshops, and training currently provided to Wayra’s incubated startups.
Back by popular demand, IESE is sending 25 of their future-MBAs off to Silicon Valley in the second annual edition of IESE Meets The Valley. Initiated last year by Jeroen Kemperman, the purpose of the trip is to expose students to the Silicon Valley ecosystem and deepen their understanding of entrepreneurship.
Barcelona MBAs visit Silicon Valley
From March 25th to April 1st, students will drop in on startups, large corporations, venture capital firms, and incubators to gain a broader perspective on the process of taking an idea to market and scaling a company. This year’s trip includes stops at WhatsApp, Cisco, Telsa Motors, 500 Startups, Salesforce, Eventbrite, Asset Management Company, and about 2 dozen more.
Peter Cohan, Boston-based Venture Capitalist, professor, and author, will be in Barcelona this week for EADA Business School’s annual International Week. Peter has an extensive entrepreneurial background and currently writes weekly columns for both Forbes and Inc. His most recent book, Hungry Startup Strategy, focuses on creating a successful start-up with limited resources. 
The idea of the Startup Common refers to a collection of key ingredients necessary to foster a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem that will help startups improve and evolve at a rapid pace. The 6 essential elements of the Startup Common are Pillar Companies, Universities, Human Capital, Investment Capital, Mentoring, and Values.
