#006 Sensing the Scene. First Paid NoCode Gig. Trolled by Hackers
After settling into my new city, Lisbon, I set a goal for September and I think I did: Sense the scene! Also, two unexpected events occurred: I got my first paid nocode gig and was trolled by hackers.
After settling into my new city, Lisbon, I set a goal for September: Sense the scene! So I've been meeting new people, having coffee with them, visiting coworking spaces and incubation centers, stalking LinkedIn profiles, and asking for introductions. Let's see what the scene looks like:
Coworking Spaces
LACS
IDEA Spaces
Second Home
Devazuka
Base
NOW (No Office Work)
Impact Hub Lisbon
Startup Lisboa
NKOOWOORK
There are many coworking spaces talking about community, but I think Resvés deserves the "all about the people" badge.
Yayem Lisboa is the coolest. However, it's far from the city center.
I'll visit Hood this week, and I'm super excited about it since I heard very tempting feedback regarding the place. It's more than a coworking space with the other facilities, and I liked the feeling passed to me when I visited their website.
Incubators
Impact Hub Lisbon
Startup Lisboa
Demium
I liked the approach of Build Up Labs: Running a tailored program for each entrepreneur based on their goals and needs.
I'll visit Demium Lisbon next week; let's see what happens.
Other Organizations
Moviinn (a relocation and integration company for expats and companies moving to Portugal)
HERE Partners (Fundraising advisory, government grants consultancy)
Startup Portugal (a non-profit organization with the mission of promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in Portugal)
aicep Portugal Global (Trade & Investment Agency is a government body focused on developing a competitive business environment that contributes to the globalization of the Portuguese economy.)
Callmea (A platform for startups to find out if you can receive European funds or tax benefits)
My First Impression
Everyone is helpful and welcoming here, and that's very uplifting. Sometimes I made silly mistakes, but nobody cared: There is a Lisbon brunch of the global Impact Hub network, and -as you guessed- it's called Impact Hub Lisbon. I went to their office to meet the director, but he wasn't there. I took a picture of his room, sent him via WhatsApp, and asked, "Hey! I'm in front of your room, but you're not here. What should I do?"
He was extremely kind when he called me a couple of minutes later and explained where I was. “Tolga, I think you're in the land of our competitor, Casa do Impacto, which means Impact Hub in Portuguese.” He was giggling. Guess what? I managed to find the right Impact Hub the following week 😋
Me as a Trojan Horse
I had decided to volunteer for startup-related communities before I moved to Lisbon. I attended the Startup Grind Lisboa event two months ago and met some very nice people. They were looking for volunteers, so I applied, but they rejected my application (don't insert a sad face here).
I didn't give up. I joined the 351 Portuguese Startup Community by invitation of Francisco Leal, a super friendly person from Talent Protocol. It is a community of founders that has been serving the ecosystem for three years. While I was introducing myself to the community, this post was shared by Fernando:
We are looking for people who want to build together the next chapter of the Portuguese ecosystem! If you want to contribute, you can sign up to become a volunteer here.
This time I was accepted. I volunteer at 351 Community and for Portugal Tech Week, the largest innovation festival in Portugal. 🎉☀️
First Paid NoCode Gig
Not everything is all about startups! I've been working hard to improve my nocode skills. I like the journey; everything's going well, and I'm learning new tools, etc., but I hate APIs. 😠
I got my first paid gig, and it's from the 100Days of NoCode community. I'll craft a learning material about automating document workflows and the product called Portant. If you want to learn how to do that, please shoot.
Anthony's Magical Touch
I joined different nomad communities in Lisbon to meet new people from all around the world. I don't like attending the "let's have a beer and chat" events. Coworking Together events, Let's Learn This and That events are okay for me. I enjoyed attending the Lisbon Digital Nomads' Coworking Together Wednesday meetups a lot.
I met Anthony, founder of Indie Worldwide, at one of those events. We chatted and asked the typical questions, like where are you from and what do you do. He gave me the sticker of Indie Worldwide, and he wanted me to believe that it was a limited edition :) He claims that he printed only 300 stickers and washed ten of them by accident, so I got one of the 290 rare stickers.
Two weeks later, he shared an indie hackers coworking event. My inner voice was: "I'm not an indie hacker, but I don't think anybody can stop me from joining. I have the sticker!" I went there, and we worked together. I met more new people and had coffee with them. Unfortunately, I had to leave early to catch the director of Impact Hub (don't laugh!).
Before I left, Anthony took a photo. We said goodbye to each other and went back to our own lives. Two hours later, I saw Anthony's tweet asking, "Who had to leave early?"
Let's see what life will bring to me as I continue to explore the city and the scene. Stay tuned!
Ciao,
Tolga