If you don't know what TechChill is, here's a good short description we found on their own website: "We are a non-profit organisation with an aim to help Latvian and Baltic startups succeed in the world. We do so by filling the gaps in knowledge, skills, and network." -TechChill
On a windy Tuesday morning the Sampo team made their way onto the ferry. The ferry ride started out calm, but when we hit the open sea the wind started kicking up. Soon the boat was swaying intensely and everyone wasn't feeling so great anymore, but we all survived and made it off the boat in one piece. Next up was getting into the Land Rover, which was pulling a sauna, and headed down to Riga. Driving through the country we were kept entertained by DJ Teodora who dropped some sick beats. Once we crossed the border from Estonia to Latvia we decided to stop at Superalko to get some alcohol to keep us going. Late at night we arrived cold and tired, but we were here.
The next day Mike (our Head Coach) and Linnéa (Marketing Intern) decided to attend a couple of Masterclasses. Mike attended a class about sales and Linnéa attended one about writing. After that the group went out for some lunch and a few drinks managed to get into our system as well. After lunch Teodora (our COO) and Mike attended an investor day event where they mingled and listened to the Startup wise guys demo day.
On the first day of the event Mike attended a Techchill breakfast in a restaurant right around the corner from the venue. His day consisted of meetings and catching up with people. He then went to Printful´s speakers dinner from where he had to leave a little early to start heating up the sauna for the afterparty, he had a lovely volunteer team to help him out. Teodora and Linnéa spent the day exploring Riga and ended up in a few different restaurants and bars with some nice wine menus. In the evening it was time for the official afterparty and the sauna got to play its part. It was a wild party that continued on into the night.
On the second day of the event, the team met up at the venue. Linnéa attended some interesting talks about marketing and startups, Teodora spent the day talking to startups and investors, and Mike spent the day coaching startups.
On Saturday it was finally time to go home. Teodora had left the day before so Mike and Linnéa left early in the morning. The car ride was long and cold and we got caught in a storm. The wind was blowing 9m/s and the rain was pouring down. We stopped for another trip to Superalko and then for a quick lunch before continuing on to Tallinn. After waiting a couple of hours before getting on the boat we sat down in a café and prepared ourselves for a rocky trip home. However, The ferry ride wasn't as bad a s expected and both got off the boat in Helsinki unscathed. See you next time Techchill!
Cheers, Sampo Team