How to Turn Your Personal Story into a Business Advantage with Eser Akbaba

In this keynote, Eser Akbaba shares her journey from growing up as the daughter of guest workers in Austria to becoming a journalist, author, and well-known ORF moderator. Her path is a powerful example of how personal background, challenges, and identity can become a real advantage in business.

This talk focuses on two essential insights for entrepreneurs:

• How challenges can be transformed into personal strengths
• How personal narratives become messages that build trust, credibility, and impact

Eser shows how authenticity, clarity, and lived experience can strengthen positioning, leadership, and entrepreneurial presence—without polishing away where you come from.

This keynote is especially relevant for entrepreneurs who want to:

• stand out in a crowded market
• communicate with more depth and credibility
• build trust through real stories instead of empty branding phrases

📌 Language notice:
The keynote will be held in German.
Panel Discussion

Breaking Barriers: Challenges for Entrepreneurs with a Migration Background in Austria and how to bridge them

Following the keynote, this panel discussion shifts the focus from personal story to the broader entrepreneurial landscape in Austria.

Entrepreneurs with a migration background often face challenges that go beyond building a great product or service: access to networks, trust in the market, visibility, financing, and navigating informal rules of the ecosystem.

This panel explores:

• the most relevant challenges entrepreneurs with a migration background face in Austria
• how these barriers show up in everyday business reality
• what actually helps to bridge these gaps — from networks and visibility to mindset and strategy

Panelists:

Kambis Kohansal
Kambis Kohansal Vajargah is a prominent Austrian serial entrepreneur and ecosystem builder who serves as the Head of Startup Services at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ).
Beni Udenku Chiagozie
Psychotherapist based in Vienna and former President of NUNSA (Nigerian Students in Austria), bringing deep insight into identity, resilience, leadership, and the psychological dimensions of entrepreneurship.

Miglena Hofer
Miglena Hofer is a business consultanting agency owner whose company helps internationals start and/or migrate their businesses in Austria. She has been supporting the members of the international community for the past 10 years by making the rather complicated Austrian regulatory system understandable and by helping them navigate it successfully.

TBA

📌 Language notice:
The panel discussion will be held in English.

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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Co-Innovation Factory, 27 Absberggasse, Wien, Austria

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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