Although it is no news that there are quite a few technology companies from the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley, I didn’t know that there are so many focused on fashion.

At the SF Fashion+Tech event during fashion week I had the opportunity to discover some fashion start-ups and here are a few of my favorites:

On Copious you can sell those Jimmy Choo stilettos you never wear or all your handbags that just sit in your closet. You can also discover all the items other fashionistas are listing — both used and new. Copious is using social tools, and users can love each others’ listings, tweet items and follow people they like. Of course LLXLLQ is on Copious.

Vishal and his team at raf9 have a platform coming up that lets everybody create their own fashion channel. Keep an eye out for upcoming fashion and style channels from models, designers and fashion people.

SNOBSWAP makes high-end designer items available to everyone. By using their platform you can buy, sell, and/or swap luxury clothing, handbags, shoes and accessories. Feeling guilty after all your glamorous shopping? Put your conscience at ease by donating a thing or two to charity through SNOBSWAP.

Stay stylish!

Anna
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Phew… I’m totally exhausted from a long, but fun and enlightening, day at Innovative Sweden.

Today’s topic was The Future of Mobile and companies such as Sony Ericsson, Ericsson, and Innovationsbron were sponsors.

The day started with an opening ceremony with Swedish hors d’oeuvres and lunch buffet by Chef Pelle, which was to die for… I could not stop eating, and wine from West Wines that produced the wine for the 2010 Nobel Banquet. The exhibitors and startups that were pitching were still dropping in from the airport after a long flight from Sweden and others looked somewhat jet lagged, but excited.

After opening speeches by Annika Rembe, Director General, Swedish Institure; Barbro Osher, General Consul of Sweden in San Francisco; and Dr. Arthur Bienenstock, Professor Emeritus Stanford University, Special Assistant to the President for Federal Research and Policy and Director, Wallenberg Research Link Stanford University, the sessions and panel discussions started. The speakers and panelists were true experts in their areas and it was very interesting to hear their views on the future.

Since it was a lot of information to soak in the coffee breaks with kaffe och kaka were really appreciated and also great for networking and talking to people. All of the exhibitors had booths in the exhibit hall, where guided tours were also offered. I was quite amazed by all the cool inventions and ideas these Swedish startups had created, and eager for the evening’s pitches.

Twenty five startups (many of them were also exhibitors at the event) had 1 minute each to pitch (+ 2 minutes Q&A) to a panel consisting of VCs and experienced entrepreneurs, e.g. Nicolai Wadstrom, BootstrapLabs and Wendy Lung, IBM Venture Capital Group, on why they should receive funding.

All the companies pitching seemed great, but the ones that stood out to me were Saplo and Solvatten. Saplo basically because its CEO Mattias Tyrberg pitched in a bright green suit. Solvatten because of their incredible product, a portable 10-liter container designed to purify water saving millions of lives.

What a great event! I can’t wait for tomorrow when the topic is The Key Factors In Creating Innovative Hotspots.

-Anna

Don’t forget to follow my tweets @herringbonefm. #InnovativeSweden
I also posted a few photos on Facebook.
Watch the different sessions livestreamed via the Swedish Institute’s Bambuser channel.

The week-long event is sponsored by the Swedish Institute, which is a public agency that promotes Sweden around the world. And that is exactly the purpose of Innovative Sweden, which is a worldwide tour to generate interest in Sweden. The first stop is Stanford University before it travels on to Toronto, Washington DC, Rio de Janeiro and other parts of the world.

 Traveling around the world and increasing awareness around Sweden will help the Swedish Institute to reach its goal: the creation of “mutual relationships with other countries around the world, whether the issue is culture, politics, trade, or development cooperation.”

Its website also reveals that the Swedish Institute:

• Puts Sweden on the map by using strategic communication,

• Creates intercultural relations through meetings, exchanges and the building of networks,

• Focuses on culture, society, education and science,

• Has some 90 members of staff in Stockholm and Paris,

• Receives annual government funding of approx. SEK 300 million.

Innovative Sweden emphasizes all the great inventions that have come from Sweden (the safety belt, the zipper, tetra pak, the pace maker… the list is long) and the fact that we Swedes still are world leaders of innovation in a variety of fields.

Innovative Sweden offers an event focused on the fields of Information and Communication Technology, Clean Technology, Gaming and Life Science and is filled with exciting speakers such as Rikard Steiber, Global Marketing Director – Mobile & Social Advertising, Google and Barbro Osher, General Consul of Sweden in San Francisco.

Twenty Swedish companies and startups, such as Solvatten and OrganoClick, are showcased in the exhibition and many of them will pitch for VCs tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

- Anna

Don’t forget to follow my tweets @herringbonefm. #InnovativeSweden

Watch an introduction video from Innovative Sweden.

This reminded me of an event that I recently attended with Herringbone called WomenRock. WomenRock was sponsored by an organization called Fearless Women Entrepreneurs, which is a network for entrepreneurial women founded by Starla Sireno and Laura Guy. The event was very TED like in nature, dynamic and engaging. Many women in attendance were on the edge of becoming entrepreneurs, able to do what they are truly passionate about and to start a new chapter in their lives. Many were also scared of taking this gigantic step, scared of starting a new life, scared of stopping what they are doing now, scared of being failures, and scared of starting all over as beginners and less sure about everything.

Fearless Women Entrepreneurs had gathered some very inspirational speakers that once took this gigantic step in order to show that it is ok to have these scary thoughts and that the speakers once had them too. For example, Megan Casey from Squidoo was once afraid too, but explained that starting your own business takes a lot of things, but mostly it takes guts. Guts doesn’t mean you’re not afraid; it means you do it anyway, she explained, which I found very inspiring.

Not only were there speakers at Women Rock, but also exhibitors functioning as another example of women who once took that gigantic step and started their own businesses. Herringbone was one of the exhibitors. Johanna gladly shared her story of starting Herringbone and how she made her dream come true and we both explained how other companies can get heard in the social media jungle by engaging with Herringbone. See photos from the event on our facebook page.

Steve Jobs probably didn’t attend any Women Rock events, but he sure felt like a big failure when he was fired from Apple and was scared of what was to come. Looking back, we’re all glad Jobs’ life took a different turn and that he continued doing what he loved. I’ll end my blog post with this quote:

“Work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

-Steve Jobs (2005 Stanford University Commencement Speech)

Anna

Some background first: This spring I was finishing my marketing degree at San Francisco State University. One day I was studying with a fellow Swede at a café in the Marina. It turned out to be that the woman sitting next to us was Swedish too. Her name was Johanna (yup… Herringbone Johanna) and she had recently started her own communications agency. The very same day she was going to an internship fair in Berkeley, but we exchanged contact information and I sent her my resume.

Time passed and I graduated in May. My parents flew in to celebrate with me and I enjoyed some time off.

But as a graduate it was now time to join the real world and to start making a difference. Johanna was in Stockholm over the summer, but we kept in touch and it turned out that she had never gone to Berkeley that day and was looking for someone to join the Herringbone team as the company was growing. Hello Perfect Opportunity!

And that brings us back to the question: So why did I join Herringbone? Herringbone met all the criteria I looked for in a company. As it is based in both San Francisco, the epicenter of innovation and technology, and Stockholm, the capital of my home country, it has the international presence a young professional like me is looking for.

A cornerstone of Herringbone is to only take on clients that are socially responsible and provides service or products with a purpose of creating positive impact. This matter is very personal to me, as I’m a strong believer in sustainable business practices and the honoring of the triple bottom line/people, planet, profit. I care for social entrepreneurship and the idea to marry commerce and ethics. When Johanna explained this about Herringbone, she had me at once.

As a small startup, Herringbone challenges me and I wear different hats everyday. I’m able to apply what I learned at SF State, along with my prior work experience from Sweden and I’m learning new things everyday, especially since we are working in a constantly changing environment, which makes Herringbone so much fun.

Herringbone is also an outlet for my passion for digital marketing. As we specialize in social media, I get to take part in a myriad of cool, new technology to help our clients stand out and get their voices heard to build their online communities.

Didn’t I tell you it was an easy question?

Anna Sandgren