Danube Startup Summit with young participants from 5 countries held in Budapest

Danube Startup Summit Budapest
Photo: Press Release

With approximately a hundred attendees from five different countries, youth under twenty-one years of age experienced an event they “couldn’t even imagine existed” in Europe, much less Hungary. From opportunities to network with like-minded youth, learn from three fire-side chats with wildly successful entrepreneurs, and listen to four young successful Hungarian entrepreneurs pitch their startups, the Danube Startup Summit has taken a firm step towards developing Eastern Europe’s startup ecosystem into the powerhouse it can be.

Danube Startup Summit with successful entrepreneurs

Jared Schrieber, a Californian tech entrepreneur who sold a startup he co-founded for $1.5 billion, discussed his research and journey in developing InfoScout (now known as Numerator). After his successful exit, he spent five years researching consumer retail brands for his book “Breakout Brands”, uncovering how challenger companies disrupt markets and achieve rapid growth by leveraging consumer insights, data-driven innovation, and agile strategies to outperform established competitors. He gave incredible insights into developing a startup and finding the best people to do it with.

György Nagy, a Hungarian private equity investor, discussed his journey from growing up in the Soviet Union to being the sole owner of over 70 businesses, generating 150 billion forints of revenue each year. He highlighted his selection process for purchasing companies, and discussed how he aids each business to grow through strategic cash infusions and hands-on management. An inspiring story about perseverance, he urged the audience to embrace fear and failure, since without them, he would not be the man he is today.

Next summit will be in Prague

Lastly, Dániel Balla, CSO and co-founder of Bitrise, Hungary’s very own unicorn company, highlighted his key learnings from YCombinator, an accelerator home to businesses such as Reddit, Twitch, and Airbnb. Daniel never knew he would be an entrepreneur, and discussed the surprising pivots and difficult lessons he had to learn in order to help Bitrise become the success it is today. He discussed the necessity of a crystal clear vision and focus in entrepreneurship, alongside the beauty of a great set of co-founders.

All fireside chats were professionally recorded, and can soon be found on the Danube Startup Summit Youtube channel. With this being just the first event, the young, ambitious entrepreneurs behind the Danube Startup Summit, Szilágyi Ferenc Deli (18), Daniel Gerlei (17), and Filip Ćerňy (18), are looking to organize a week-long, all expenses paid youth entrepreneurship program this summer, alongside recurring events in Hungary and throughout Europe.

Planning for the next event is already underway, taking place in Prague, Czech Republic.

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