Conference

Berlin 2015

July 25, 2015
Berlin 2015

When

July 25, 2015 - July 28, 2015    
8:00 am - 4:30 pm
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Where

Event Type

Conference Speakers

Mr. Arash Afrakhteh – Co-Founder and CTO, Cariden Technologies
Mr. Mohamad Afshar – VP, Products, Oracle
Mr. Babak Akhlaghi – Patent Attorney and Managing Partner at NovoTechIP International PLLC
Ms. Neveen Al-Tahri – Chairperson & Managing Director, Delta Shield for Investment
Mr. Saeed Amidi – CEO, Plug and Play Tech Center
Prof. Payman Arabshahi – Associate Professor, University of Washington
Mr. Robert Babayi – Managing Partner of Vector IP Law Group, LLP
Mr. Seyed Kamran Bagheri
Ms. Shiva Balaghi
Dr. Hamid Biglari – Managing Partner, TGG Group
Mr. Sebastian Blum – Partner at Active Venture Partners
Mr. Bulent Celebi – Executive Chairman and Co-Founder AirTies Wireless Networks
Mr. Stephan Chambers -Dir. of Int. Strategy, SAID Business School, Oxford
Ms. Nazanin Daneshvar – CEO and Founder at Takhfifan Website
Mr. Damien Declercq, EVP – Local Motors, Inc.
Mr. Kamran Elahian – Chairman and Co-Founder Global Catalyst Partners
Ms. Zohre Elahian – Managing Director at Global Catalyst Foundation
Ms. Hala Fadel – Portfolio manager for European Equities, Comgest
Dr. Heike Freund, – enior Associate, CMS Hasche Sigle
Mr. Saeid Ghafouri – CEO & President at iCelero
Ms. Brienne Ghafourifar – Co-Founder at Entefy
Mr. Matthias Gohl – Senior Vice President Corporate Strategic Development at Carl Zeiss
Mr. Ehsan Golabgir – CEO, Albasco.com
Mr. Ross Haghighat – CEO at Triton Systems, Inc.
Ms. Gisue Hariri – Founder and Creative Principal of Hariri & Hariri Architecture
Mr. Kamal Hassan, CEO – IncMind and Director of Founder Institute
Mr. Amir Hassanabadi – Attorney at Fenwick & West
Dr. Ossama Hassanein – Chairman TechWadi, Partner Newbury Ventures
Mr. Shahin Hedayat – Co-Founder Apixio, Beceem, Centillium Communications
Dr. Nikki Iravani – Founder and CEO, EyeXam
Ms. Shirin Javid – President & Founder at AEON Group LLC
Ms. Nasrin Karimi
Mr. Pejamon Karimi
Mr. Reza Karami
Mr. Ahmad Kiarostami – Entrepreneur, Video Grapher
Mr. Daniil Kozlov – Director of Acceleration and Education Programs at Global Venture Alliance
Ms. Anne-Kathrin Kuleman, Managing Partner of Blue Economy Solutions
Mr. Mo Maghsoudnia – Entrepreneur & Semiconductor Executive
Ms. Tina Mashaalahi – Co-Founder & COO at KweekWeek
Prof. Alinaghi Mashayekhi – Sharif University
Mr. Tahmasb Mazaheri
Mr. Dave McClure – Founder 500 Startups
Ms. Bita Milanian – VP Marketing Communications at GENBAND
Ms. Farnoush Mirmoeini – Co-founder at Obsessory
Dr. Mohammad Morovati – Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University
Mr. Maziar Nadjm – Founder of SoAmpli
Ms. Pari Namazie – Managing Partner Atieh International GmbH
Mr. Behzad Nasre – Managing Director, Strategic Business Development at Intel Corporation
Prof. Mohammad Mehdi Nayebi – Professor of EE, Sharif University
Mr. Fred Nazem – Managing Partner & CEO at Nazem & Company
Ms. Jasmina Nikolic
Mr. Rasoul Oskouy – Managing Director of Capshine, LLC
Mr. Reza Pakravan – Adventurer, Kapp to Cape
Mr. Pirooz Parvarandeh – Ex-CTO, Maxim
Mr. Rouzbeh Pirouz – Founder, Turquoise Partners
Mr. Said Rahmani – CEO and Co-founder of Sarava
Mr. Amir Cyrus Razzaghi – President and Co-founder of SabioQ
Ms. Ruha Reyhani – Managing Partner Mensch Group
Mr. Arad Rostampour – CEO and Founder at Zen Health
Mr. Mehrdad Sadri
Mr. Ali Mohammed Saeid
Dr. Sabri Saidam – Chairman NETKETABI, Former Palestine President Advisor
Mr. Mehran Sedigh – Worldwide Semiconductor Manufacturing & Technology Expert
Mr. Reza Shaybani – Chairman of British Photovoltaic Association
Ms. Dina Sherif – Founding Partner of Ahead of the Curve
Prof. Amin Shokrollahi – Founder and CEO of Kandou Bus
Prof. Yahya Tabesh – Professor, Stanford University, Sharif University
Ms. Mana Taheri – Research Assistant, Hasso Plattner Institute
Mr. Amir Taheri – Founder and Board Director of Final.ir
Ms. Mahvash Tayarani – Chairman of the Board at Ibne Sina Petrochemical Company
Mr. Amin Reza Vohooshi
Mr. Sohrab Vossoughi – Founder and President of Ziba Design
Mr. Nicolai Wadstrom – Founder of BootstrapLabs
Mr. Babak Yektafar – Senior Program Officer, Middle East & North Africa at Center for International Private Enterprise
Dr. Dariush Zahedi – Founder and Dir., Entrepreneurship and Development in the Middle East, UC Berkeley
Dr. Amir Zarkesh – Co-founder and President, Bluechip Systems
Dr. Ali Zuashkiani – CEO PAMCo.

Conference Schedule

Friday, June 4th

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Registration
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
“Why Entreprenuership?”

Official Opening: Darish Zahedi
High-Tech Entrepreneurship & The Evolution of Humanity: Kamran Elahian
Startup Ecosystem: Dave McClure

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Break
11:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Iran: An Emerging Market

Pyramids vs. Machines – The Race to Win in Tomorrow’s Global Economy: Dr. Hamid Biglari
Intro – Iran Case Studies: Hamed Sajedi, Hesam Armandehi, Mohsen Malayeri, Farshid Hendi, Mehdi Keshavarz

12:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Lunch

2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Breakout Session I
Iran Startup Scene

Nasser Ghanemzadeh, Mohsen Malayeri, Arash Barahmand, Mohammad Sharif, Mostafa Naghipourfar
Iran Examples of Challenges and Failures

Hosssein Haddadinia, Mehrdad Agah, Hamidreza Ahmadi, Alireza Mobayyen
Disruptive Innovations: Rapid Prototyping, 3D Printing and the Maker Movement

Damien Declercq
Women Entering New Terrains: Breaking Old Norms

Gisu Hariri, Neveen El-Tahri
Designing the Perfect Product: Understanding the Concept of Minimal Viable Product

Kamran Elahian Iran Showcase: Tele/Communication & Hardware

Ahmad Ali Farhoudi, Ali Ziabasharhagh, Hamid Houshyarifar
Understanding the Market: Market Segmentation, Analytics & Competitive Analysis

Mohammad Afshar, Mehrdad Sadri
Building Effective Teams: Finding Co-founders, Defining Clear Roles and Responsibilities, Managing Conflict and Designing for Performance

Pari Namazie, Bulent Celebi, Amir Cyrus Razzaghi, Saeid Rahmani, Amin Reza Vohooshi
101 of Company Structure: Cap structure, Shareholders Agreement, By Laws

Amir Zarkesh, Amir Hassanabadi, Babak Yektafar, Behrooz Akhlaghi, Mahvash Tayrani, Encyeh Sadr Design Thinking: Crash Course x2

Mana Taheri + Team
Business Model Innovation: Strategic Approach to Rethinking Your Business

Reza Asghari
Understanding Venture Capital – From early to Late Stage

Fred Nazem
Crash Course: Agile and Scrum Management

Ali H. Moghaddam
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Break
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Breakout Session II
How to develop an effective Go-To Market Strategy
Lawrence Wright, Ossama Hassanein
Lessons Learned from Others: Learning from Developing Countries like India, Turkey, Singapore etc
Dariush Zahedi,Stephan Chambers, Bulent Celebi, Babak Yektafar
Basics of Seed and Early Stage Financing
Saeed Amidi,Arad Rostampour
Iran Showcase: Commercialization
Seyed Mohsen Seyedian Ardabili, Mohammad Hossein Fardad, Mohammad Reza Nazari, Meisam Rajabinohouji
PR and Media: How My Start-up Can Gain Media Attention?
Salamander Davoudi
Academia’s Role in Iran’s Entrepreneurship
Human Shojaee, Amir Albadvi, Ali Maleki, Pezman Karimi
Internet of Things
Mo Maghsoudnia, Mehran Sedigh, Mohammad Afshar
101 of Company Structure: Cap structure, Shareholders Agreement, By Laws
Amir Zarkesh, Amir Hassanabadi, Fred Nazem, Behrooz Akhlaghi, Mahvash Tayrani, Encyeh Sadr
Pitch Fest 1
Dave McClure, Daniil Kozlov, Nikki Iravani, Gabriel Mastuschka
Pitch Fest 2
Neda Amidi, Francis Zadan, Boris Ryabov, Rouzbeh Pirouz
Design Thinking: Crash Course
Mana Taheri + Team
Pitch Fest 3
Nicolai Wadstrom, Pirooz Parvarandeh, Xanyar Kamangar, Sebastian Blum
Business Model Innovation: Strategic Approach to Rethinking Your Business
Reza Asghari
Pitch Fest 4
Hala Fadel, Kamran Elahian, Rasoul Oskouy, Mehrdad Piroozram
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Dinner
8:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Social Impact
Social Impact – a Driver for Collective Progress: Stephan Chambers
Social Innovation Cases – Interview by Stephan Chambers: Anne-Kathrin Kuhleman, Sabri Saidam

Saturday, June 5th

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Registration
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Iran: Opportunities & Challenges 

Iran’s Economic Ecosystem – Players and Sectors: Alinaghi Mashayekhi  
Roundtable – Developing Iran’s High-Tech Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Nazanin Daneshvar, Hamed Ghanedpour, Nasser Ghanemzadeh, Rasoul Oskouy, Roozbeh Pirouz, Yahya Tabesh | Moderated by Ali Zuashkiani   

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Break
11:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Breakout Session I
Unleashing your Teams Talents: Leadership and Participative Management
Pirooz Parvarandeh, Shahin Hedayat, Alinaghi Mashayekhi, Mehdi Nayebi
Iran Showcase: Internet / E-commerce
Reza Arbabian, Nazanin Daneshvar, Meysam Mashayekhi, Sivash Jalali
Co-opetition – Reaching New Heights Through Collaboration
Pari Namazie
Women Entering New Terrains: Breaking Old Norms
Nikki Iravani, Brienne Ghafourifar
Iran Showcase: Mobile & Game Startups
Mohammadhossein Faghi Khorasani, Ali Nadalizadeh, Vahid Abdollahi, Amirhossein Fassihi
Corporate Governance: Best Practice
Babak Yektafar
Building Effective Teams: Finding Co-founders, Defining Clear Roles and Responsibilities, Managing Conflict and Designing for Performance
Bulent Celebi, Amir Cyrus Razzaghi, Saeid Rahmani, Amin Reza Vohooshi
Understanding Venture Capital – From Early to Late Stage
Rouzbeh Pirouz
Design Thinking: Crash Course x2
Mana Taheri + Team
Pitch Fest 5
Neveen El-Tahri, Rasoul Oskouy, Mehrdad Piroozram, Hendrick Brandis
Pitch Fest 6
Amir Taheri,Daniil Kozlov, Neda Amidi, Ramin Bagheri
Pitch Fest 7
Hala Fadel, Nicolai Wadstrom, Babak Hamadani, Ehsan Dariani
Importance of Local Manufacturing
Mehran Sedigh, Mo Maghsoudnia, Amir Taheri
Business Model Innovation 1a: Strategic Approach to Rethinking Your Business
Reza Asghari
12:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Lunch

2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Connecting the Dots
Collaborative Innovation: Ruha Reyhani 
Roundtable – Shifting Paradigms & Expanding Horizons to Bring About an Innovation Economy: Neveen El-Tahri, Brienne Ghafourifar, Gisu Hariri, Sohrab Vosoughi 
 
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Break
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Breakout Session II
Women in Tech – Iran
Samira Kooshkestani, Behnaz Aria, Mahash Tayrani, Azadeh Danandeh, Mahboubeh Ildarabadi
Hackers Bridge
Rasoul Oskouy, Yahya Tabesh, Mohammad Morovati, Pezhman Karimi, Reza Karami
Social Innovation – Social Enterprise in Action
Anne-Kathrin Kuleman, Dina Sherif
Software Sales: Enterprise Software Sales / SaaS and Consumer Software Sales
Saeid Ghafouri, Tina Mashalahi
Understanding the Market: Market Segmentation, Analytics & Competitive Analysis
Mohammad Afshar, Mehrdad Sadri
PR and Media: How My Start-up Can Gain Media Attention?
TBD
How to develop an effective Go-To Market Strategy
TBD
Design Thinking: Crash Course x2
Mana Taheri + Team
Pitch Fest 8
Rouzbeh Pirouz, Sebastian Blum, Mehran Sedigh, Francis Zadan
Pitch Fest 9
Amir Zarkesh, Shahin Hedayat, Ramin Bagheri, Xanyar Kamangar, Ehsan Dariani Simplify: Lessons Learned from Making Companies, Products, & Videos Ahmad Kiarostami
Business Model Innovation 2b: Strategic Approach to Rethinking Your Business
Reza Asghari
Health and Medical Technologies: Promising Field of the Future
Nikki Iravani, Manouchehr Shamsrizi, Babak Hamadani
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Dinner
8:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Accomplishing Mission Impossible 

The True Value of Taking Risks – The Fastest Bicycle Journey North to South of the Planet: Reza Pakravan
Pitch Fest Award Ceremony: Neda Amidi, Yahya Tabesh

Sunday, June 6th

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Registration
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Disruptive Innovations and Trends of the Future
The Next Big thing – Top 5 High-Tech Trends of the Coming Years: Saeed Amidi

Designing Local, Reaching Global: Mia Bennet

3D Printing the Future: Damien Declrecq

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Break
11:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Breakout Session I
Unleashing your Teams Talents: Leadership and Participative Management
Pirooz Parvarandeh, Shahin Hedayat, Alinaghi Mashayekhi, Mehdi Nayebi
International Business Accelerator Programs: A showcase
Kamal Hassan, Nicolai Wadstrom, Saeed Amidi, Daniil Kozlov
Tech Investing in Iran
Mehrdad Agah, Ayat Hosseini, Masoud Arasteh Brahimpour, Shiva Sadat
IP Offensive & Defensive IP Strategies: IP protection vs. Land Grab
Babak Akhlaghi, Robert Babayi, Seyed Kamran Bagheri, Heike Freund, Thomas Hirse
Real Connections Make A Real Difference
Bita Milanian
Iran Showcase: Bio/Nano
Saeid Zokaei, Reza Kalantarinejad, Haleh Hamedifar
Designing the Perfect Product: Understanding the Concept of Minimal Viable Product
Kamran Elahian
Understanding Venture Capital – From early to Late Stage
Hala Fadel, Fred Nazem
Talent Acquisition: Keeping and Growing a World Class Team
Pari Namazie, Ehsan Golabgir, Amir Taheri, Nazanin Daneshvar
Building Effective Teams: Finding Co-founders, Defining Clear Roles and Responsibilities, Managing Conflict and Designing for Performance
Amir Cyrus Razzaghi, Saeid Rahmani, Amin Reza Vohooshi
Bridging the Gap: From University Research to Market Entry
Payman Arabshahi, Amin Shokrollahi, Ali Fotowat
Social Media Crash Course: Effectively using Digital Communication Channels for Your Business
Maziar Nadjm
Bootstrapping: Why and How?
Arash Afrakhteh, Ahmad Kiarostami
Iran: Macro Economic Overview – Opportunities and Challenges Faced by High Tech Entrepreneurs in Iran
Mohammad Morovati, Tahmasb Mazaheri
12:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Lunch

2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Breakout Session II
Iran Showcase: Energy
Ali Hasanpour, Seyed mahdi Ghasemi Zavieh Sadat, Hossein Nazarboland Jahromi
Co-opetition – Reaching New Heights Through Collaboration
Pari Namazie
Basics of Seed and Early Stage Financing
Saeed Amidi, Arad Rostampour
Iran Showcase: Meditech
Zeinab Shankayi, Saeed Behzadipour, Ali Motie Nasrabadi, Saedreza Alikhani
Understanding the IPO Process: From Start to End
Ross Haghighat
Investor Pitch: How to Make the Ultimate Pitch and Take Your Venture to the Next Level
Behzad Nasre
Iran Showcase: Fin Tech & Big Data
Sajad Bonabi, Seyedali Daneshgar, Mostafa Amiri, Sina Sohangir
Hacker Bridge
Rasoul Oskouy, Yahya Tabesh, Mohammad Morovati, Pezhman Karimi, Reza Karami
Software Sales: Enterprise Software Sales / SaaS and Consumer Software Sales
Saeid Ghafouri, Tina Mashalahi
Simplify: Lessons Learned from Making Companies, Products, & Videos
Ahmad Kiarostami
Crash Course: Agile and Scrum Management
Ali H. Moghaddam
Green Technology – Sustainability Considerations
Boris Ryabov, Kaveh Madani, Babak Hamadani
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Break
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Shaping the Future
Looking into the Future – Promoting High-Tech Entrepreneurship in Iran: Payman Arabshahi, Fereidoon Ghasem Zadeh, Shahab JavanMardi
Next Steps of iBRIDGE: Amir Zarkesh
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Conclusion

Conference Location

MaRS Discovery District
101 College St, Toronto, Canada

Community Partners

Sponsors

Groundbreaking – $30,000 – $50,000
  • Behrooz Abdi
  • Dr. Nikki Iravani and Mo Maghsoudnia
  • Massih Tayebbi (BridgeWest Business Group)
Disruptive – $20,000 – $30,000
  • Saeed Amidi
  • Francis Najafi
  • Anonymous
Innovative – $10,000 – $20,000
  • Nima Asgharbeygi
  • Behnam Badiee
  • Bijan Bozorgi, Veros
  • Marc Mirbod
  • Neda Nobari
  • Pirooz Parvarandeh
  • Mehrdad Piroozram
  • Babak  Taheri
Resiliant – $5,000 – $10,000
  • Babak Akhlaghi
  • Robert Babayi
  • Robert Bagheri
  • Mahshid Ehsani
  • Kamran Elahian
  • Zohre Elahian
  • Masoud Haidari
  • Heidari-Batani/Faz-Safari Foundations (Elham and Sam)
  • Mehrdad Moshayedi
  • Nasiri Foundation
  • Fred Nazem
  • Oscar Nosrati
  • Alex Roudi
  • Lily Sarafan
  • Kambiz Shahbazi
  • Afshin Taghechian
  • Bob Vaez
Breakthrough – $2,500 – $5,000
  • Mostafa Alavi
  • Fariba Rezvani
  • Fatemeh Sadeghi-Nejad
Impactful – $1,000 – $2,500
  • Arash Afrakhteh
  • Mohammad Afshar
  • Nader Ahari
  • Mehyar Amirsaleh
  • Mahmoud Arjomand
  • Siavosh Arjomand
  • Laleh Bashirrad
  • Esfandyar Batmanghelidj
  • Tony Farshandi
  • Ali Geranmayeh
  • Hamid Hamadanian
  • Mehdi Hatamian
  • Nader Motamedi
  • Kamshad Raiszadeh
  • Ali Reza
  • Faraj Saghri
  • Karim Samii
  • Nahid Taghinia-Milani
  • Morad Tahbaz
Thriving – > $1,000
  • Hamid Kazerouni
  • Mahdi Salek