The perks of being a small, volunteer-based organization like us include the sometimes slow speed of upload. We’ve finally gone through the ample video material from Slush 2011 and will go through the harvest in the next blogposts.

Taking place in early November, Slush Helsinki was a two day conference but most of all a startup expo; we had demo startups in the house that made up a lively corridor of new ventures from all over the Baltic Rim.

Pitch till you drop

The most followed part of the expo, however, ended up being the Slush100 Pitching Competition.

Like all pitching competitions, Slush100 was about clarity of the sales pitch, presentation skills and wow factors. We had a panel of investors and startup experts listening to each pitch and selecting the 20 most entertaining, captivating presentations to the semifinals held on the second day of the event.

From a hundred to twenty to eventually the Top 7 that pitched on the main stage on Thursday evening, the two days were packed with dramatic stage performances, addictive storylines, overselling with confidence and entertaining business ideas.

The cream of the crop in 2011 were…

• The winner, Ovelin whose guitar learning app Wild Chords was launched simultanouseously. Ovelin received 10, 000 euros as the first prize of the competition

• Runner up home electricity bill optimizer Asema Electronics

•  Leaddesk

•  SumoPaint

• TangaReef

• Runner up Transfluent, realtime professional translation service

• Zeighted

The rest of the piches can be seen from Aaltoes Youtube Channel.

The trendiest startups of the year

In addition to Slush100 and an Open Mic free form pitching during breaks in schedule, we also invited another category of startups to tell about themselves: Startups on the Rise. What these firms had in common were an interesting product in an interesting stage and well, we just wanted to hear more from them, hence they were invited to join the ride.

• Blaast

• Senseg

• Flirtic

• FAM Sports

• Kiosked

All in all, thoroughly enjoyable pitches – do take a look at them when you get a chance as these are the startups that will rock the world in future, or die trying’ as the saying goes

Thanks for everyone who took part in pitching – we hope you had fun & learned!

Photo: Tuomo Lampinen / Text: Lotta

We are currently finishing up the process of envisioning what Aaltoes is going to be in 2012 and beyond. While our sights have been set on the horizon, it is also important to look back at 2011 and reflect on what worked and what didn’t.. and we need your help to do it.

With such a whirlwind of a year behind us, we ask you please to take a minute of your time to answer the survey below. We would love to get your input.

This is cross-blogged from the Startup Life website. Read the original post here.

We are thrilled to announce the application period for Startup Life batch 2/2012 opened!

Last year we kicked off the program by linking students and startups here in Helsinki and Silicon Valley. This year we decided to take on the world and expand the program to four other startup hotspots; New York, Moscow, Berlin and London.

How do you apply? Like before, we have a simple application form for you to fill-out. As it the case so many times, simple doesn’t mean easy, you have 50 words to describe yourself why you’d be a perfect intern and as important is the link to your online portfolio. This not about writing a resume, CV, cover letter and whatnot.

Nils Paajanen
Nils is studying MSc Entrepreneurship at the School of Economics. He was swept away by Aaltoes a bit over a year ago and stayed on that track finding meaning, energy and fun in the community. In 2012, hoping to bring his own flavour to Aaltoes and keep taking startups forward, Nils also enjoys ice hockey, snowboarding and music. Facebook  / Twitter / LinkedIn 

Juho Kokkola
Juho majors in Knowledge Intensive Business in the School of Science and takes an interest in product development. Almost the resident TAIK student, Juho works on magazine design projects. Music, snowboarding and traveling are also irreplaceable parts of this man’s life. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Juhana Nurmio
Juhana majors in Industrial Engineering and Management in the School of Science. He is passionate about empowering young talent and helping them to find what they really want to do in life. Juhana is a true Aalto optimist who loves to work with non-profits. Traveling is close to his heart as well as various sports. And of course – Juhana wants to change the world. Facebook  / Twitter / LinkedIn

Mikko Hagelberg
Mikko is a third-year economics major student in the School of Economics. He likes to cut the bullshit and get down to business. In addition being into cycling and all stuff related to education, technology and economics. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Atte Hujanen
Atte studies entrepreneurship in the School of Economics and has previously acquired knowledge on leadership as well as culture management. He is a lifetime entrepreneur who has never had a “real” job. Atte enjoys impossible challenges and embodies the “screw it, lets do it” attitude. Personal motto: when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Riku Lindholm
Riku is a third-year student in the School of Science and has been involved in Aaltoes activities since early 2011. In the past, Riku was an ambitious poker player. However, he decided to quit after realizing the potential of changing the world via startups. Next year Riku has decided to go “all in” with Aaltoes. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Teemu Tapanila
Teemu is a Computer Science major at the School of Science. He loves programming and solving problems and is currently working on Windows Phone Aalto Community. Facebook /  Twitter / LinkedIn

Start your year with a stack of new skills and tune into the following sessions – from the comfort of your home sofa. Here’s a selection of the offering, hand-picked by Aaltoes-peeps, to get you going:

Launchpad class by Steve Blank 

What: Remember Steve? Oh yes you do! Now it’s your chance to take part in his infamous Launchpad class and hear how feedback is really given

When: Class starts in February 2011.

More: http://www.launchpad-class.org/

Technology Entrepreneurship

What: Chuck Eesleys teaches the undergrad course on Technology Entrepreneurship. Really good overview into the world of information, green/clean, medical and consumer technologies.

When: Class starts in January 2011

More: http://www.venture-class.org/

iPhone application development 

What: The full walk-through class on how to learn iPhone development. A little pre-knowledge on C required.

When: Start right away! The videos are all there.

More: http://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/iphone-application-development/id384233225#ls=1

You can also check out the Stanford Open Classroom collection for more computer science courses as well as Stanford Engineering Everywhere. There are course available on Machine Learning, Databases or even on Artificial Intelligence.

The Stanford – Aalto partnership is progressing: do check out the recent updates on the new minor that will start
in fall 2012. Keep an eye also on Startup Life if you’re dreaming of interning in a Silicon Valley startup as well as physically taking part in Stanford classes. The next round will begin in January!

The last minute “etkot” at the sauna, attracted some Finns to take a sauna, and sample the goodies, provided by Foodie.FM, the vodka, proving particularly popular.
I think the parties must have been really good, as there were far fewer people around on the final day (as is normal for loner events).

Who would want to associate themselves with the giant #FAIL that is LeWEb WiFi every year?
Evidently these guys were willing.

Actually to be fair, it is a pretty tough thing to get correct, and did work quite well at least in the halls by the second day.

If you, decide to go to LeWeb next year, here are my top tips to help you get the most out of it:

Check the guest list.

Cyber-stalk anyone who looks interesting, but also check the other Finns and nordics going

How will your contact details stand out?

un-usual business cards (handwritten, have your picture on them, etc)

take a sauna along

but don’t forget other finnish items as well!

leave breaks in the day

with all the people you will meet, schedule breaks where you find a quite spot and review all the cards etc, and check the upcoming sots for changes

go ANALOGUE!

LeWeb is now infamous for it’s technology problems, so have print outs of agendas, post-its and coloured pens

Oh, and if you want any tips on moving a 1.7 tonne trailer to and from Paris, you can always drop me a line