Transcript

Accelerating Ideas That Change the World | Love Dager | TEDxBerlin Salon

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G92-xNGNlT8
Video ID: G92-xNGNlT8
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[music] Um, LO is a Stockholm based tech entrepreneur, you'll be happy to know, and an investor and a community builder. Of course you are, my love. Look at that name. Focused on sustainability, fintech, and impact driven innovation. Now, what's super interesting is that you run Hack for Earth, which is I don't know if you guys have heard of of Hack for Earth. It's a global hackathon per uh platform. And what I find interesting about this, it's it's all in the ethos of the stuff that I believe in because you're mobilizing citizens, companies, and cities to deliver solutions aligned with the UN sustainable development goals. And we've all seen what happens when you let governments run things in America, for example. >> Exactly. And we basically just thought that we are a lot of billions of humans on this world and why are we letting just a few elected politicians or unelected politicians in some cases set all of the goals for this world create all the solutions for the world. We cannot be waiting. So we started hack for earth for citizen-driven innovation where we really want to enable as many as possible to to create solutions and be part of the change and really do the impact. And what's come out of that? >> A lot of solutions. >> No, but like for example, give me a solution that you think because I I've always found that fascinating that we live in a place where actually we live in the world. We choose what we want. We choose where we spend our money. But you almost can only vote with your money. Well, you can vote, which most people shouldn't be allowed to do, I've decided after America. But actually what what you can do in terms of creating citizenship um led innovation I think is insanely unique. >> No but so I can give you an example actually from just one hour ago. So we are here in Davos now actually because we're doing a hackathon just before now. So we had our awards ceremony just in the other room and the winner was a company from or a group of friends I should say they they will be a company now after this uh group of friends from Nigeria and they wanted to create vertical farming for Nigeria. So vertical farming as you might have heard about is usually sort of a high techch thing and you see it in containers but you see it mainly in developed countries in sort of a solution to less labor more technology more yield >> and less space >> and less space yeah >> but they want to do this the lowest tech possible so they're using just PVC pipes and water tanks and it's all manual but you can do it anywhere >> and they will then give h give those extra yield s that we are happy to have here in Europe but where it's most needed in developing countries. >> So now what happens they've won and what will happen with them and what will they gain by having won this? >> So we um we actually have a method called build hack uh no dream hack build. So first we work with citizen from all over the world. >> Totally need to brand that love dream hack build. I'm just saying because that would work right. Come on. >> Yeah of course. And with first you dream and you come up with what you want to have in the world. Then you have the hackathons which is the main activity that we do of course where you create solutions but as a hackathon is mainly 48 to 72 hours. It's something very short. So solutions are early early stage at that point and then the build stage is an acceleration program. So now they have one they will enter the acceleration program and they will make this into a real startup and we will help them along that way. So loads and loads of people put ideas in and you decided what did what's the criteria that you decide >> that they're successful on? >> Well, it's a bunch of different criterias, but mainly it's about impact. So, we want them to be able to do as much positive impact in the world as possible. And that means a few things. It means that it has to be doable. It can't be the most expensive solution out there. It has to be also somewhat scalable. But scalable can mean many things. in the sense of like PVC pipes is very scalable because it's available all over the world. Um and most of all it has to be something you can do now. So we are all about like actionable impact. So there is no space in today's crazy crazy world out there to come up with these well maybe there's some space for moonshot projects but there's also so much space for things we can do now that will make an impact within you know six months or one year perhaps. And I think that the way the world has sped up, right? Do you guys find that that everything seems to be going faster? Why not have innovation come to embodiment in a faster way? Because honestly, entrepreneurs are desperate to embody anything as quickly as they can. And what you're doing is giving them the opportunity to do that. Um, what I found interesting when I met you is that I have this theory that when people um, we had Saf talked about this that when you have somebody create impact once with purpose and passion, it becomes addictive and then they want to do it again and again and again. And you're about 12 years old and absolutely the embodiment of that which I think is so impressive. >> I guess that's Thank you. >> You're anytime. >> Yeah. No, no, but what she's referring to is that aside from Hack for Earth, I also started Stockholm Fintech, which is much more sort of normal as a startup community, we support fintech companies within Stockholm and in the Nordics to um grow and raise capital and sort of meet new customers and so on. And I really think it's as you say, if you start doing impact, it's almost like a drug. >> Yeah. >> You're making a difference on the world and you cannot stop after that. So, yeah, I totally agree. And I want to add to that AI is only helping this sort of addiction of mine. AI has made it. Have you heard about the age of builders as a as a term? I think that's a great term. You should use it more often. But basically before there was maybe the age of the entrepreneur or so on and of course industrialism if you go even further back. But now anyone with an idea can be a builder. So uh someone like me who has too many ideas but maybe are not like a so technically advanced I'm not a coder programmer or anything like that and also um without a like a big team without a huge investment there is so much you can do there's so many tools out there and AI is such a big force in making anyone with an idea be able to create it and I think it's super powerful >> no I agree especially because in terms of women it's something that there are far less barriers and boundaries and hoops you have to jump through to do this. When we met earlier, we were having a conversation about um capitalism versus kind of innovation and uh innovation and commercialism because um I as as an ex M&A lawyer very long time ago, don't tell my mother I'm not doing it anymore. Um there's a place where I think that the way we created stakeholders and made them into purely shareholders, it took wealth into these silos that are inaccessible to people. So therefore, investment becomes inaccessible, right? And I'm interested when you do and so for example, women get 2% of all the the venture capital funding that's available in the world, then they don't seem to it's not a number that gets better, it's a number that gets worse. You see, I slide women into everything that >> you should. How [laughter] in your hackathon thing is this something that the people that go through it do they tend to be men more than women or do you tend to attract both both? >> We actually have like a very good uh level of diversity in our hackathon which I want to contribute somewhat to uh the the engagement from women and also from uh the developing countries if I may call them. So >> there is so much >> America was it? Oh no, I thought I see you mean the global south. >> Yeah, exactly. Got it. Global south. >> Um, basically I think in our startup sphere in here in Europe specifically is still very male-dominated and then there are good initiatives but the further we go away from Europe, the more engagement is just grassroots. Everyone who is engaged and then the technology on top of that is really leveling the playing field. So if if you require a technical developer like a programmer, it's going to be very male-dominated. But you don't do that anymore. So with tools, AI, but also such things as just our acceleration program does not require the solutions to be technical. Like go just go back like 20 years. No startup so to speak. It was a tech startup. A startup could have been, you know, at some point the UN was a startup if you see it that way. >> That's actually very true. >> Yeah. So I think we're getting back to that. We had a period of tech entrepreneurship where it was only the tech bros of Silicon Valley that could create change and now I think we're looping back to anyone who wants to build can build. >> So do you think that when you look at the process of of hackathons is this something that can be scaled so that more and more companies can come through this way or will it will it then become too stylized and systemized then we'll run into the same problems again? Well, I have an interesting take on hackathons if you coming from a hackathon organizer, which is that the more >> let's say you don't believe in them, it's going to ruin it all. >> No, I believe in the I believe in the process very very much. >> But I see there is a quite clear trend that the more prize money you put on a hackathon, the uh less uh reality is built into the solutions. Do you see what I mean? the more you're trying to compete to what do I think the jury will choose and less what solution does actually what what problem does my solution actually solve. Uh so we always support our winners with um different types of time basically we we do introductions to VCs for the money aspect. We help them build out and we help them find other team members and really sort of get it to reality building and uh not just great that was a good idea. Here's a check. >> What is it that you need to make more of what you are already doing and have? We we we would like to find more partners out in the world like partner organizations that have these engaged youth communities. That is truly the enabler. We know the process. We don't know all of the youth in the world and we can teach the process. So if someone out there or out in the internet know uh sits on sort of an organization that works with youth that are engaged um especially in the global south especially with women we are happy to partner with them and and uh make hackathons basically involve more people in citizen-driven innovation. >> I love that. I think you're really impressive and I think what you do is really really impressive and so it's been a real it's been such a pleasure to learn about the way in which you've processed things and especially because when you look at some things that have done amazing like the what is is it called the X-P prize? What is that one called? >> I know which one you're thinking. >> Yeah. And they there's enormous amounts of money given and it did create some fascinating things but I think the more grassroots ability of bypassing systems is a wonderful thing. So thank you very much. >> Thank you very much as well. >> Yeah. Thank you for that. [applause]