SANTA ROAST was the Hamburg startup community's Christmas celebration
Throughout the year, Hamburg offers numerous networking events for the startup community. One of the last highlights was SANTA ROAST, where a number of founders presented themselves along with organizations and initiatives from the ecosystem.
Christine Tiedemann and Yu Chen, representing Startup Port and Startup City Hamburg respectively, who were responsible for organizing the event, guided the audience through the programme. The event, held in a former bunker on Feldstraße, also gave other co-hosts who support startups the opportunity to present their offerings on posters and in short videos. However, the focus was on startups that were mostly still in the very early stages of development and brought up their ideas and business models for discussion.
Startups learn most from failures
In the first block with five pitches, the stage, which is usually reserved for musicians, belonged to founders with a migration background. Their topics ranged from quality management in human resources and a feedback tool for events to solutions for the healthcare and real estate industries and AI for financial analysis. A panel of experts asked in-depth questions and offered constructive criticism. Afterwards, it was time for some f*ck-up stories. Three founders talked about their biggest setbacks and failures, which helped them gain important insights. One of them: Everyone talks about innovation, but many fear it, at least subconsciously. So it's important to sell necessary changes as gently as possible and with an emphasis on the positive effects. Another insight: Focus on a clear goal and ask yourself “why” when challenges threaten to overwhelm you.
A roast, Christmas-style
Another round of pitches featuring seven startups was held under the evening's motto, “SANTA ROAST.” Unlike traditional roasts, where celebrities are mercilessly mocked, this event was very peaceful. Founders introduced their business ideas and asked the questions that most concerned them in this context, such as how best to reach their target audience or which regulations and laws they needed to comply with. Answers came from the audience and once again from the group of experts. It became clear that some of the startups still have a lot of homework to do. However, no one was exposed: that would not have fit in with the Christmas atmosphere, which made it easy for the more than 200 guests to make new contacts and deepen existing ones.
