Silicon Castles, a Salzburg-based international Strategic Business Accelerator, has partnered with the Salzburg Management Business School (SMBS) and the University of Applied Sciences Salzburg to establish the first Startup Executive Academy (SEA) at the Urstein campus in the south of Salzburg from August 25-30, 2017. The SEA features a conglomeration of international academic and entrepreneurial thought leaders and experts. A gathering of this nature is unprecedented in Europe.
Baba Shiv, Professor of Marketing at the Stanford Graduate School of Business is the lead professor for the program. Baba Shiv is a world leading expert on the application of neuroeconomics to the study and practice of innovation and entrepreneurial leadership in companies, from Silicon Valley startups to Fortune 500 businesses. The SEA Program director will be James Perkins, Associate Director for programs and marketing for executive education at the Stanford Graduate Business School.
The important perspective of venture capital specialists will be represented by international experts which include: Phil Wickham, Executive Chairman of Kauffmann Fellows; Pascal Levensohn, Founder of Levensohn Venture Partners and Managing Director of Dolby Family Ventures, and Dr. Balthasar Schramm, an IPO expert based in Berlin.
Practical relevance will be added through the participation of experienced entrepreneurs as well as top executives and former leaders of international corporations including Google, Dolby Labs, Sony, Nokia, German Telekom, Infineon, Qualcomm, Huawei, Skidata, Immersion or McKinsey&Company.
Andreas Spechtler is the Founder of Silicon Castles and the SEA and former president of Dolby International, who has 25 years plus experience working with global technology companies. Regarding our question how SEA was born, he answered: “Europe has a century old tradition of innovation. Salzburg itself is a hub for international headquarters of companies including Red Bull, Porsche, Skidata or Palfinger, not to mention the famous institutions of Salzburg Festival, the Mozarteum Foundation and the Karajan Institute. However, in the scope of things, it is primarily US entrepreneurs who have been able to launch global blockbusters. This is not due to any lack of talent in Europe. While visiting and working in the world’s most prestigious tech hubs such as the Silcom Valley, I came to realize that what European business leaders of tomorrow are lacking, is the strategic thinking and the global perspective to make their companies thrive within the competitive global market. That’s where SEA comes into play.”
The SEA addresses founders and executives from early stage startups (seed, A or B phase) of all industries with companies based in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, India and Africa who want to position their company strategically, and improve, accelerate and sustain growth.
What to expect from SEA: It’s interactive and structured with a workshop style, designed by practitioners for practitioners. Participants will gain insights into key scientific topics, work on concrete deliverables, get professional advisory support during the program and will leave SEA with tangible results targeted to accelerate their startups. These may include new investment proposals, “Go-to-Market” planning tools and marketing plans. SEA concludes with the Executive Challenge: Founders and Startup Executives will get feedback from professors, lecturers and top experts on their company presentations.
For additional information regarding speakers and prices, visit SEA and apply now!
