Where Swiss start-ups can meet the former CEO of Apple

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Stefan Kyora

08.01.2016
Worldwebforum startup

On 29 January John Sculley, former CEO of Apple & Pepsi, Ambarish Mitra, CEO and Founder of Blippar, and Kirsty Nathoo, CFO & Partner at Y Combinator, will be launching the first ever WORLDWEBFORUM/Next Generation event at ETH Zurich. Participation is free of charge.

Trainees, students and young entrepreneurs are invited to join the first WORLDWEBFORUM/Next Generation. They can hear digital masters as they share their experiences and secrets to success in the world of digital technology by way of keynote speeches, interviews and panel discussions. In addition respresentatives from Archilogic, Dacuda, Electric Feel and Selfnation will discuss with the key note speakers and the audience. Places are limited. Please apply online before 20 January 2016.

John Sculley rose to international fame as the CEO of Apple from 1983 to 1993, and is regarded as a marketing genius. He started with Pepsi-­Cola as a trainee in 1967. By the age of 30 he had become the company’s youngest marketing vice president, and in 1977 became its youngest-­ever president and CEO. Steve Jobs attracted him to Apple in 1983, seeking to bring his visionary marketing approach for multinational groups to Silicon Valley. Success soon followed with the first Macintosh computer: during his time as Apple CEO, the Mac became the best-­selling computer in the world. John Sculley ultimately ousted Steve Jobs and quadrupled the company’s revenues, but had to leave Apple in 1993. Since then he has been active as an independent entrepreneur and investor. He has supported a whole range of start-­ups, has been active in Big Data analytics, and has helped establish leading biotech and healthcare firms, some of which he remains involved with to this day.

John Sculley has always been driven by delivering exceptional customer experience – this was already the case at Apple, long before the smartphone era. Now he is lining up against his former employer with the start­up Obi Worldphone. Its eponymous smartphones are to be cheap and technically sophisticated, with the focus being on the custom user interface Lifespeed and the design.

Kirsty Nathoo joined Y Combinator in 2010 and has helped it grow from funding 27 companies per batch to over 115 companies per batch. In total, Y Combinator funded over 800 start-ups which have now a combined valuation of over $30billion. Kirsty is Partner and CFO of Y Combinator and has overall responsibility for managing the finances of the company as well as advising founders on various issues including incorporation, cap tables, stock option plans, fundraising and financial forecasts. She has an MEng in electrical and information sciences from Cambridge University, and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Ambarish Mitra is the CEO and Co-Founder of Blippar, one of the world’s leading visual browser and fastest growing augmented reality player.  Under his direction, Blippar has grown from groundbreaking idea to an industry leader with 200+ employees, 10 offices and 50million+ users (post-Layar acquisition). Blippar has been recognized as one of the fastest growing companies by CNN, CNBC, UKTI, Forbes, FastCompany, etc. and is ranked number 9th in CNBC list of most disruptive companies. As the CEO Ambarish is leading the development and execution of Blippar’s long-term strategy, vision, and overall direction.

WORLDWEBFORUM/Next Generation is brought to you by the Canton of Zurich, eZürich, ETH Zurich and ETH Entrepreneur Club in cooperation with WORLDWEBFORUM. It is a satellite event of the WORLDWEBFORUM, taking place on 28 January in Zurich.

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