We're shutting down ArcticStartup - please help my team find work

http://www.arcticstartup.com/2012/11/01/its-a-magical-world-out-there-hobbes-ol-buddy-lets-go-exploring

by vilpponen • 14 years ago

144 31 14 years ago

vilpponen3• 14 years ago

I'm the guy running the company, or the guy who used to run it. It's been an awesome ride and a great learning experience. Most importantly though, I think we've been able to positively affect the Northern European startup scene in a sustainable way.

The hardest part of all this is to let go of my fantastic team. If you have part time, or full time work for them - please get in touch with them through the contact details in the post.

Hacker News community - you've been instrumental in spreading our news as well.

Thank you everyone.

b6• 14 years ago

I think it would be helpful if you updated the page to say what languages Dmitri speaks.

dsarle2• 14 years ago

Hi,

The languages that I speak are: Russian (Fluent), English (Fluent), Estonian (Fluent), Swedish (Basic, Conversational).

In addition I can understand on a basic level a number of slavic and nordic languages.

Dmitri Sarle

jcfrei• 14 years ago

I just wanted to say thank you - arcticstartup has been a great source for my work on documenting new startups in europe and you've made my job a lot easier. I wish you guys the best.

vilpponen3• 14 years ago

Thank you, very much appreciated! And as said - we're looking for ways to continue it as a community driven thing, so I'm sure it's going to be around in some form. Lots of people reaching out to us currently.

whyleyc• 14 years ago

Well done Antti - it's a big thing to start your own company, and I'm sure even harder to know when to let go. I'm interested in why you are moving on - is it mainly a lifestyle/family decision ?

diegogomes2• 14 years ago

This is so sad. I blog about brazilian startups and I love the blog. It's been a great source of inspiration. I even use the sticker in my laptop. http://i.imgur.com/49a1E.jpg

Just curious. I love the startups & jobs database that you guys integrated to the CMS. Will you continue to run that? Would you guys consider open sourcing it, so people from other countries could use that too?

p0ppe• 14 years ago

It's a sad development. ArcticStartup has been material in keeping tabs on the startup-scene in northern Europe.

regandersong• 14 years ago

We might as well turn this into constructive dialog - does anyone have any thoughts on how to monetize niche online media? Our events went well, but didn't scale.

ankeshk• 14 years ago

There are a few online media companies that are doing really well without organizing events. Copyblogger did really well by partnering with others to develop products that the community could benefit from.

Thats the route you have to take. Partner with others to develop products. You bring the audience. They bring the products that help the audience. Something similar to what EarlyToRise.com did - created a panel of experts each of whom bought their own product to the table. (http://www.earlytorise.com/meet-the-experts/ )

dsarle2• 14 years ago

Yeah, good point. The other thought that we had was to help the audience connect through some form of matchmaking. The e-commerce angle was also evaluated, to create a market for start-ups to promote and sell their products. This could also include a market for discounted startup event tickets and offers.

We have some other thoughts as well, but need to value and compare all the currently available options.

evolve2k• 14 years ago

'He sold out all sponsorship packages and demo stands to Arctic15 in just a couple of months'

Even with the best sales guy it's very hard to sell when there is no market appetite. Sounds like the demand is there, media never needs to 'run out of spots'.

Its a highly valuable market niche and you are possibly underpricing.

I suggest you increase your sponsorship prices drastically.

vilpponen3• 14 years ago

Thanks for the comment!

We optimised the price in a way that we are able to sell out. It was also the maximum in revenue we could have reached so I think we did well in that sense.

The key here, in running a media business, is how do you go about building enough products that will keep you running through out the year - when there are no events (which for us where the biggest source of revenue).

I think this question will also remain a question to answer for the future, no matter how ArcticStartup will run.

willvarfar• 14 years ago

With so much face-time with startups and those wanting to invest in them, did you spot any pain points that could be eased by services you could offer?

As simple as packaging up paper-work or arranging trips to China to talk to manufacturers etc?

iconfinder2• 14 years ago

Ads and running a conference

highace• 14 years ago

Wait, so what went wrong? Were you losing money? Have you peaked at an unacceptable level?

ig1• 14 years ago

ArcticStartup has been one of the shining stars of European startup journalism. Lack of English language coverage is something that afflicts many European startup communities, and I'm sure ArcticStartup has been pivotal in raising the international profile (to both investors and customers) of many of the startups they've covered.

I hope they manage to keep it going and retain the quality of their coverage.

rossjudson• 14 years ago

Class act all the way; I hope everyone lands safely.

sauliuz• 14 years ago

Stay hungry, Stay foolish! Best of luck guys

waxy• 14 years ago

Is there a similar site covering the UK and or western europe ?

smiler• 14 years ago

kernelmag.com for the UK

lleims• 14 years ago

These are the sites I tend to read:

France: http://www.rudebaguette.com/

Germany: http://venturevillage.eu/ and http://siliconallee.com/

Eastern Europe: http://goaleurope.com/

Europe in general: http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/ + http://thenextweb.com/eu/ + http://gigaom.com/europe/

My guess is that sooner or later there will be some publication, in English, covering startups in southern Europe (Italy, Spain, etc).

diegogomes2• 14 years ago

The guys from TNW should definitely hire your team. They're doing a great job covering startups out of the U.S.

simonswords82• 14 years ago

Bad times, sorry to hear the news guys. I'd love to know more about why you've decided to take this path if you can share?

iconfinder2• 14 years ago

Oh, that sucks. We seriously need good blogs to cover european startups.

fotbr• 14 years ago

As an aside, I think this is the best "We're shutting down" writeup I've seen. No complaining about how hard things were, no plaintive pointing of fingers trying to politely (or not) place blame, just a straightforward statement of facts followed by a well worded request to try to take care of your team.

Kudos for that, and best wishes to all involved.

dirtyaura• 14 years ago

Antti and co, I was shocked to hear this. You have become almost an institution for the region and it's hard to imagine world without Arctic Startup. Huge congratulations to all of you for the awesome work you have done for Nordic and Baltic startup scene.

asanwal• 14 years ago

Antii - we sell data on emerging private companies and their investors/acquirers. If you have any structured data about financing events/exits, would love to discuss (email in profile).

We are at www.cbinsights.com

Unrelated: Our team have been big fans of what you guys have been doing for a while. Class act btw on this shut down notice.

pdog• 14 years ago

Ask HN: Who Is Hiring? (November 2012)

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4727241

mikk0j• 14 years ago

This is sad news! Arctic Startup developed immensely in the quality and depth of reporting in the last two years (props to both Antti and Greg on this). Granted it was impossible to keep up a deluge of posts, hastily slapped together or semi-sensationalist like some other European tech media do, but at least weekly, there was a pearl of writing to be discovered at AS. Hope that continues as a community-driven effort.

We're shutting down ArcticStartup - please help my team find work

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