Cut the Mustard recently had the opportunity to send one of the team to an event called SLUSH in Helsinki, an international tech investment event, thanks to a delegation from Game Anglia.
Here's our report of our time there, direct from Liam:
I was delighted (and a little blindsided) to be invited to go to SLUSH. We've been making some small but intentional shuffles towards the gaming industry (we'll share more on that soon), but to be considered worthy of going as part of Game Anglia was very reassuring, and a great opportunity for us to explore a tech and art landscape after what have been two very challenging years. Lots have changed in the animation space, so going to a place where the sharpest tech minds in the world would be gathering was a great opportunity to forge new connections and keep our fingers on the pulse, to see what the animation landscape may look like in the near future.
First off, Helsinki is super cool - I didn't have much time to explore the city, but of what I saw I was really surprised and impressed. I haven't ever been that far north (or east in Europe) so taking in the city and the culture was great. It was an interesting mix of old and new, Scandinavian and Eastern European.
However, my main objective was SLUSH itself. Walking around with giant nametags (see above) initially felt a little silly, but you quickly learn the rules of the jungle: Every startup is wearing a giant green sign, while investors are wearing pink, usually circled by a dozen startups looking to pitch to them. It was for sure an alien environment, and felt very 'tech bro / new money', but I was pleasantly surprised by how open conversations about AI and the industry as a whole were.
Cut the Mustard is definitely in a time of transition and experimentation (again, exciting things in the works) so my main objective was not necessarily to pitch for equity, at least this time around. I was instead looking to forge relationships, especially in the games industry, an area we've never had as strong a bond with as we'd like.
I was able to meet lots of other creatives and entrepreneurs with their own fascinating stories, and, of course, hand our plenty of business cards. I'm looking forward to pushing forward my friendship with these businesses in the years to come.
All in all, it was great to make new connections for myself and links for the business. Game Anglia were gracious hosts, shoutout to Lauren who helped me through the process, and Babita, Alfie, Michael, Scott, Mark and others for being great companions for the trip.
Comments