Muditā Magic at Slush
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Last year, I went to Slush and decided to use a bicycle for transportation, which turned out to be quite a memorable choice. This year the weather reports estimated heavy snowfall and tough conditions. Oh boy, they were right. So cancel the biking plans, right? No! My friends from Ampler Bikes lent me an Axel winter version, with spiked tires, and what a thrill riding that bike is! E-bike with winter tires creates a new category.
As I head back home now, I'm pleased to reflect that I relied solely on this bike for all my transportation needs in Helsinki. One particularly snowy morning, as I felt the icy snowflakes on my face, I briefly questioned the necessity of this 'experiment.' However, later at the conference, I met an entrepreneur who missed a key presentation by her business partner because a car journey from the city center took unexpectedly long – over half an hour. So all in all this was a clear win for me.
Big up for the city of Helsinki - If you build it they will come. I saw many people bicycling even in those harsh conditions.
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Schadenfreude means taking pleasure from somebody’s loss. What is the opposite of that? Is there a word for that?
That is a great question that Eric Lagier asked at the Mastercard event at Slush.
Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of this slide, but he showed that Schadenfreude as a word exists in all Nordic languages, but not one language in our region has a word that means the opposite of that. In Finnish that is “vahingonilo”, in Estonian “kahjurõõm”, in Swedish “skadeglädje”.
However, the Buddhists do have the opposite of that. The word is Muditā - the joy in seeing others succeed. Eric believes it so much that he tattooed the word on his hand.
Eric is talking about Muditā:
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A day later, I felt pure Muditā. I've had the pleasure of meeting Evoléna at various European climate tech events and have had some meaningful conversations with her. Her passion for making a positive impact on our planet is palpable. With a schedule packed with meetings at Slush, I didn't have much time to follow what was happening on stage. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I happened to witness the grand finale where a 1 million startup prize was announced.
And she won! This year hasn't been easy for founders, and moments like this provide them with the encouragement they need to keep going. And maybe for all the builders who are fighting out there.
Next year will not be any easier, support everybody around you as much as you can.
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We achieved some victories as well. The three-month-long Mastercard Lighthouse program culminated at Slush. My almighty co-founder Lisett was presenting among the finalists and brought home the victory.
I jumped to the stage with her and blurted out the first thought that came to my head “Small step for humankind, big step for trees”. It probably even does make sense.
I will end this newsletter with a chat I had with Evolena while she was waiting for the jury results.