19-24 September

Building the next generation of Tech Entrepreneurs in Romania

WHAT IS #defineSchool?

With #defineSchool we want to help create the next generation of tech entrepreneurs for Romania! Therefore, this is a 5 days program dedicated to students and young professionals with ages between 20 and 26 years who are interested in launching a startup. Hence they will have the opportunity to learn directly from the experience of well known IT leaders and successful entrepreneurs.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

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Trainings

Each day will have a training session focused on different themes: Market Research, Marketing, Financing, Human Resources or Pitching.

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Guest talks

The participants will have the chance to talk and learn directly from well known IT leaders and successful entrepreneurs

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Team work

Throughout the program, the participants will have sessions of teamwork where they will apply the lessons learned from trainings

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Social evenings

Each day will end with a social event that will help participants get to know each other and also to relax and have fun

WHY ATTEND?

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Learning experience

Learn from the best trainers everything you need to know about launching a successful startup

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Networking

Network and share your ideas with other creative and ambitious young people

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Open talks

Engage in open discussions with well known IT leaders and successful antrepreneurs

SPEAKERS & TRAINERS

Alin Păușan

Founder @ Actable100

Alin Pausan is the founder of Actable1000, whose mission is to help 100 startup and tech companies founders solve real-world problems.

LinkedIn

Paul Chirila

Co-founder and CEO @ Around25

Tech enthusiast, out-of-shape developer and really funny guy. Paul is easily triggered by anything startup-related. He co-founded several startups, pitched, raised investment and graduated two acceleration programs.

LinkedIn

Andrei Dudoiu

Co-Founder & CEO @SeedBlink

After 20 years of banking, Andrei started a new life journey in 2018, willing to build new experiences, developing his skills and autonomy as an entrepreneur and support the innovation ecosystem.

Corina Stirbu

CMO @ Wolfpack Digital

Corina Stirbu is a Digital & Marketing Strategist based in Cluj Napoca. Helping tech products, SaaS companies, and startups grow to the next level through data-driven actions & optimization.

LinkedIn

Cristin Iosif

CEO @ Salt&Pepper

Cristin is the co-founder and CEO of Salt & Pepper, a full-service software development company, and Co-founder of #defineSchool. His passion for technology and passing on knowledge is already a trademark.

LinkedIn

Dragoș Duse

CEO & Founder @ Synaptiq.io

Dragos is the Founder & CEO of Synaptiq which uses Artificial Intelligence to design software solutions that provide computer-aided treatment in oncology.

LinkedIn

Malina Platon

Global Head, Key Accounts Program @ UiPath

Malina is currently the Global Head of Key Accounts Program for UiPath, being responsible for building and expanding the business engagements with UiPath most strategic customers across Americas, EMEA and APJ.

LinkedIn

#defineSchool 7th edition

See you there!

LAST EDITIONS

Speakers & Trainers from previous editions

Gina Lupu

CEO & Founder @ Wolfpack Digital

Gina Lupu, CEO and Founder Wolfpack Digital, a digital agency with a team of 50+ based in Cluj covering powerful web and mobile products start-to-end.

LinkedIn

Ligiu Uiorean

Director & Founder @AirportLabs

Ligiu is the director and founder of AirportLabs. Ligiu contributed to large infrastructure projects in Europe and Middle East.

LinkedIn

Magnoliu Stan

CEO @ Smart HR

Magnoliu Stan is currently a Senior Trainer and Manager of the Smart HR company.

LinkedIn

Antonio Eram

CEO @ NETOPIA

He was actively involved in the Romanian Internet and Telecom business. In 2003 he co-founded NETOPIA. With a branch in Silicon Valley, is Romania’s premier mobile marketing and payments provider.

LinkedIn

Voicu Oprean

CEO @ AROBS Transilvania Software

Voicu Oprean is the CEO of AROBS Transilvania Software with the main goal to promote the Romania IT software specialists and their skills.

LinkedIn

Roxana Rugină

Founder @ Simplon Romania & @ Cluj Makers

Technologist and communication expert engaged in social and disruptive innovation. She co-founded Simplon Romania and Cluj Makers. Today she is managing various web projects and mobile applications like Skin Vision.

LinkedIn

Vlad Ciurcă

Co-Founder of Techsylvania and Codiax

Vlad is the Co-founder of Techsylvania and Codiax . He is passionate about building events and communities.

LinkedIn

Daniel Metz

Chairman of the Board Directors @ NTT DATA Romania

Daniel Metz is the businessman who founded 18 years ago EBS Romania SA. At the moment, Daniel Metz is Chairman of the Board Directors at NTT DATA Romania.

LinkedIn

Ana Maria Udrişte

Founder @ Avocatoo

Ana-Maria Udriște is not only an entrepreneur, but a lawyer as well. In 2016, she left founded Avocatoo, a platform for legal services where clients can find a specialized lawyers, molded to their needs and with a fixed cost.

LinkedIn

Iulian Pădurariu

Founder @ Cruiser Aviation

Iulian Pădurariu is one of the most outstanding strategy consultants in Romania and he co-founded the first Car-Sharing service in Romania, based – Pony Car Sharing . Currently he is the Founder of Cruiser Aviation , a airplane sharing service.

LinkedIn

Mihai Ivaşcu

CEO & Founder @ Modex

Mihai has more than 10 years of experience in project management, blockchain, FinTech, software development and start-up consulting. He is the CEO & Founder of Modex the world’s first DApp Store, a Smart Contract Marketplace and app ecosystem.

LinkedIn

Adrian Pica

Product Director @ Bolt

Passionate about internet start-ups, product focused, social media, digital advertising, sales, on-line and off-line marketing and experienced manager. He co-founded 2 companies ( Oblico and 150sec). Experienced entrepreneur and marketer.

LinkedIn

Success Stories

The word that best describes the dynamic duo of Alex and Eduard is: #courage.
BEaTech started from a shared idea of Alex and Eduard, both of them participants at #defineSchool 2017 & 2015, an experience that convinced them to follow their entrepreneurial spirit.
BEaTech is an IT recruitment platform, that connects the ideal candidates with the ideal companies by using different services.
This idea won them a lot of acclaim and prizes at several of the competitions where they participated, such as:

1^st place @ JARomania- Company Of the Year 2018, and after that they represented Romania @JAEurope, in Latvia
2^nd place @IdeaJam, late 2018
Finalists @BusinessDrive Cluj-Napoca 2018
3^rd place @DEMO DAY UTCN 2018
They were also chosen at final bootcamp and mentoring for startups by Google- Atelierul Digital

Facebook: https://bit.ly/2HaZhtO

Alexandru Bodea and Eduard Hantig

#defineSchool participants

For Alex, #defineSchool came as a confirmation that he made the right choice to start his own business. Together with his team, he managed to define better their vision, they worked on two startups and now they started their own digital agency

deliverME is an online platform that connects large chains of supermarkets or hypermarkets with their customers, by giving them the possibility to sell their products through it. The business is based on the on-demand economy model, by introducing private contractors that shop and deliver the goods for the customers

NOTIFIER helps you be the first notified about the last advertisements posted online.

iLikeIT: https://bit.ly/2UvhQft

Linnify is a dedicated development agency that can help people with product strategy, UI/UX design, mobile and web development, as well as QA &testing.

www.linnify.com

Alexandru Bogdan

participant #defineSchool 2017

Testimonials

Tudor Pintea

participant

What do you want to become when you grow up? I think you want to be an entrepreneur- a successful one.
#defineSchool is one of the best opportunities to put you in direct contact with a lot of successful entrepreneurs.Their way of thinking made me braver when it comes to start-up ideas and implementing them.They made me realize that having no money for your start-up is an opportunity, not a problem.
Moreover, here you will learn the basics of writing a business plan and how to validate your start-up idea. Apply now!

Johnny Ilca

participant

Defineschool was a fantastic experience where I was surrounded by amazing people all trying to help each other succeed. I’ve built some very valuable connections with all involved and I still keep in contact with many of them. Truth be told, I was hesitant to attend but I’m glad I did.

Patrick Halmagean

participant

One of the really cool things about #defineschool is that you meet relevant people from various business areas in a select location outside the city. Besides having entrepreneurs dedicate their time to you, you also get to hang out with people with the same interests as you, which only makes things better.

Diana Stănilă

participant

The energy of the team behind #defineSchool was one of the reasons that the event was an amazing “playground”. Both the trainers and the speakers contributed to our development in entrepreneurship, listening and giving advice molded to our ideas. I managed to discovered myself, but I was also free to share my ideas with other people. New skills, new friendships and fun would be the keywords that shape what #defineSchool2016 meant to me.

Ionuț Carp

participant

We all know that kind of boring event or project that makes you wonder why you are there.

#defineSchool it’s different in every single way: knowledge, teamwork, fun, practical activities, cool challenges, and meetings with successful entrepreneurs. This project gives you all the necessary information to start your first startup: learning experience, networking and open talks with a passionate community of people. What I love the most about this project is that besides all the business knowledge and skills that I acquierd, it offered me long term friendships and memories that I will talk about when I will become old.

Victor Motogna

participant

#defineSchool represented an opening towards the entrepreneur community in Cluj-Napoca, maybe even Romania. Trainings helped me learn a lot of new things, but more than that, I interacted with people sharing the same mindset, which aided me in broadening my networking skills. Thanks to DefineSchool I am now a part of ClujStartups and I have met people with the same passions as mine and I have attended numerous events in the entrepreneurship domain. I’d recommend anyone to spend their time in this program.

Andreea Țicală

participant

#defineSchool really defines school, but not that school that we all know.

In #defineSchool we learn differently. We learn from experience. We learn from mistakes. But most important, we learn together (speakers, trainers, participants) to become the next generation of tech entrepreneurs. For me, this was an amazing experience that took me out of my comfort zone and made me realize how important it is to have a growth mentality, mentality that you can only develop by surrounding yourself with quality people like the people I have met in #defineSchool.

Antoniu Vulpe

participant

I’m a student and I joined #defineSchool because I want to be an entrepreneur. The trainers and guests were inspirational and a great help. The exercises designed for team work were well designed and bonded us in the short week that we spent together. I highly recommend it to those who want to build a startup or are passionate about entrepreneurship.

Tudor Pintea

participant

What do you want to become when you grow up? I think you want to be an entrepreneur- a successful one.
#defineSchool is one of the best opportunities to put you in direct contact with a lot of successful entrepreneurs.
Their way of thinking made me braver when it comes to start-up ideas and implementing them.
They made me realize that having no money for your start-up is an opportunity, not a problem.
Moreover, here you will learn the basics of writing a business plan and how to validate your start-up idea. Apply now!

Johnny Ilca

participant

Defineschool was a fantastic experience where I was surrounded by amazing people all trying to help each other succeed. I’ve built some very valuable connections with all involved and I still keep in contact with many of them. Truth be told, I was hesitant to attend but I’m glad I did.

Patrick Halmagean

participant

One of the really cool things about #defineschool is that you meet relevant people from various business areas in a select location outside the city. Besides having entrepreneurs dedicate their time to you, you also get to hang out with people with the same interests as you, which only makes things better.

Diana Stănilă

participant

The energy of the team behind #defineSchool was one of the reasons that the event was an amazing “playground”. Both the trainers and the speakers contributed to our development in entrepreneurship, listening and giving advice molded to our ideas. I managed to discovered myself, but I was also free to share my ideas with other people. New skills, new friendships and fun would be the keywords that shape what #defineSchool2016 meant to me.

Ionuț Carp

participant

We all know that kind of boring event or project that makes you wonder why you are there.

#defineSchool it’s different in every single way: knowledge, teamwork, fun, practical activities, cool challenges, and meetings with successful entrepreneurs. This project gives you all the necessary information to start your first startup: learning experience, networking and open talks with a passionate community of people. What I love the most about this project is that besides all the business knowledge and skills that I acquierd, it offered me long term friendships and memories that I will talk about when I will become old.

Victor Motogna

participant

#defineSchool represented an opening towards the entrepreneur community in Cluj-Napoca, maybe even Romania. Trainings helped me learn a lot of new things, but more than that, I interacted with people sharing the same mindset, which aided me in broadening my networking skills. Thanks to DefineSchool I am now a part of ClujStartups and I have met people with the same passions as mine and I have attended numerous events in the entrepreneurship domain. I’d recommend anyone to spend their time in this program.

Andreea Țicală

participant

#defineSchool really defines school, but not that school that we all know.

In #defineSchool we learn differently. We learn from experience. We learn from mistakes. But most important, we learn together (speakers, trainers, participants) to become the next generation of tech entrepreneurs. For me, this was an amazing experience that took me out of my comfort zone and made me realize how important it is to have a growth mentality, mentality that you can only develop by surrounding yourself with quality people like the people I have met in #defineSchool.

Antoniu Vulpe

participant

I’m a student and I joined #defineSchool because I want to be an entrepreneur. The trainers and guests were inspirational and a great help. The exercises designed for team work were well designed and bonded us in the short week that we spent together. I highly recommend it to those who want to build a startup or are passionate about entrepreneurship.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the accomodation included in participation fee?

Yes, the accommodation is included in the participation fee, as well as the food, transport from Cluj, activities and other surprises.

The event will be online or onsite?

The event is fully offline. Hopefully, the COVID restrictions will allow it.

Are any skills required in order to be accepted?

No, we are looking for young people eager to outdo themselves and willing to learn more every day.

Do I have to be vaccinated in order to participate?

The event is fully offline. Hopefully the COVID restrictions willIt depends on how the law will be at that moment. For now, you have to be either fully vaccinated or present a negative COVID test.

What if I cannot attend the program in a day?

You invest time and energy so we strongly recommend to participate in the entire program to get the most out of this experience.

Can I talk to the speaker after the training or speach session?

Yes, you can talk with the speakers after the session depending on their availability.

What happens if I don't follow the schedule?

The schedule is designed to give you a unique experience every day. The idea is to be all together so how can we be happy when someone is missing? It’s up to you! Do you want to fully exploit this opportunity or not?

Institutional Partners