What a spectacular weekend!
I just got back from beautiful Antigua Guatemala from a 3-day event called Volcano Summit, an event that brings together startups from all over the world with private investors and investment funds to network, do business and yes, for an opportunity to match venture capitalists to startups seeking investment.
image source: volcanosummit.com
This is Volcano Summit's 5th year and it's by invitation only. My business finally got invited. I can't say if it's because of all the web 3 content I've been producing or because I've surrounded myself with some bitcoin companies in my city, but I finally got my first invitation to participate.
Pam and I made some preparations for the long weekend. We rented a pet friendly apartment on Airbnb so we could bring his majesty with us.
We found a beautiful apartment that would take us which had a garden area for Compadre to sunbathe and perform other canine activities on the grass.
Fitting the truck in the garage was a bit of a challenge. I even had to remove the trailer hitch so I could back the pickup into the garage. Fortunately, in the words of my dear friend Rain Man...
Check out this fit:
Pretty badass, right?
It was totally worth the effort though. All we had to do is walk out the door to say hello to the majestic Agua Volcano in all its glory
We took a shuttle bus to the venue, which was up the hill in Tenedor del Cerro. A spectacular restaurant with lush gardens, several stages and tons of art from some of the most well-known Guatemalan artists and architects
Just walking the grounds was a pleasure. Not only were we completely surrounded by nature, we were also surrounded by art and artists talking about their creative projects
We registered to get our badge and welcome kit and made our way to the main stage for the opening speech by the amazing Vandana Hart, a dancer, UN ambassador and host of a Netflix series called We Speak Dance.
image source: vandanahart.com
It was about the power of following your heart and doing things that fill your heart with joy. It was a lovely experiment and had me thinking about it all weekend. In fact, I wrote made an entire blog post about Vandana's prompt. You're welcome to come check it out here:
Never stop doing that which makes your heart happy
After the opening words and ice breaking activities, we were free to check out the grounds and make our way to whichever stage was most interesting to us. There were several fireside chats and stages going on at the same time, so you could listen to several if you so wished. I found this storytelling one particularly interesting.
I think for content creators, bloggers, vloggers and speakers, being able to tell a story in a compelling and engaging way is super useful to get your message across and capture your audience's attention.
The speeches and fireside chats were very constructive, but to be honest, every single minute of the event was an opportunity to network with other professionals, startups and VCs. Look at one of the lunch areas:
At the end of day 1, Pam and I decided to take it easy and kick back at home with a bottle of wine, some charcuterie, cheap chocolate and a groovy playlist. Day 2 would be demanding with a lot of networking and walking around too. Good thing we brought comfortable shoes!
Day 2 was held at the spectacular Casa Santo Domingo Hotel and Museum. Another venue with an amazing view of Agua volcano, lush gardens and spectacular stages. This is the entrance to the hotel:
And this is what the gardens look like
Right behind the gardens is Agua Volcano
Networking everywhere! all day!
This is the view of Startup Avenue, where startups had their booths. Anybody could walk up, ask about the startup or idea and exchange business cards of info. I also thought it was a nice touch to have live music playing in the background for every outdoor activity.
We even got to listen in on some startups pitching to venture capitalists and investment funds a la Shark Tank. I'd be nervous enough having to explain my business model and ask for investment, imagine doing that with a crowd!
We decided to take a Recording Box team photo right before entering one of the stages. Again, super well produced stages, decoration and logistics, not to mention great chats by the panel experts.
Day three ended with a closing party with DJs, live music and of course, free orgasmic tortillas
All in all, it was a super inspiring weekend full of fun, networking and ideas to keep building my creative business. I'm super pumped up to put together a pitch for next year and maybe start working on standing in front of a panel of potential investors. If not for the money, for the experience.
