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# FOMO.11: From West Coast to Iran, Kosovo and Oulu
- URL: https://fomo.observer/fomo11-from-west-coast-to-iran-kosovo/
- Published: 2026-04-05T06:00:56.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-11T11:30:37.000Z
- Description: Carmen organised a hackathon in United States, Alejandro analysed the impacts of war, and Liina dived into all-male founding teams.
- Author: Tarmo Virki
- Tags: Newsletter, #Migrated-1775906933246, #Import 2026-04-11 11:30

Hope you are celebrating the long weekend with your families and loved ones. We certainly are. Before escaping for a weekend in Oulu, we ran some amazing columnists’ stories on topics ranging from startup culture to the impact of the war in Iran on startups.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/2026/04/8ac38fd0-3564-490d-bc63-468b877354af_4032x3024-heic-1.jpg)

[CARMEN KIVISILD: Are hackathons for children?When I was inviting people to our hackathon, one guy told me he wasn’t coming because it was going to be a bunch of children. I said okay with a laughing emoji and moved on. But it made me realise that most people have no idea what a hackathon actually is, who shows up, or what it can do for a company.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/2026/04/5ada50dc-a818-4d51-8d78-b97e6964978a_256x256-1.png)Fomo.Observer![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/2026/04/8b96a8ae-1274-472d-9ee5-7620b19c2f28_4032x3024-jpeg.jpg)](https://www.fomoobserver.com/p/carmen-kivisild-are-hackathons-for?ref=fomo.observer)

[ALEJANDRO JIMENEZ: "But he started it!"“But he started it!” is a common cry from my kids whenever I intervene to break up a scuffle. Europe can point to Donald Trump and say the same about his incursion into Iran, a war that affects Europe far worse economically than it does the US, “but he started it!”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/2026/04/5ada50dc-a818-4d51-8d78-b97e6964978a_256x256-2.png)Fomo.Observer![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/2026/04/d9e4f7f6-5ed3-4544-86bb-dc8d10a7231f_1456x973.webp)](https://www.fomoobserver.com/p/alejandro-jimenez-but-he-started?ref=fomo.observer)

[LIINA LAAS: If your idea of ‘the best people’ all look the same, you’re probably building blindThere is a very predictable ritual in startup culture. Every few months, someone runs a piece about all-male founding teams, or the microscopic percentage of funding going to women, or the strange persistence of 996 as if exhaustion itself were a moat. Then a particular corner of the internet reacts as though someone has proposed banning ambition.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/2026/04/5ada50dc-a818-4d51-8d78-b97e6964978a_256x256-3.png)Fomo.Observer![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/2026/04/3029714b-c42e-421e-b64d-f17cff7fd6db_1080x1405-jpeg.jpg)](https://www.fomoobserver.com/p/liina-laas-if-your-idea-of-the-best?ref=fomo.observer)

Although we are focusing on Estonia, we also shared a few more stories from around the world — a bit like a glimpse of foreign news in local newspapers.

I met Chris Cunningham, one of the first members of ClickUp, to get a glimpse of the backstory of this Silicon Valley unicorn. We met a few hours before his speech at TechChill the other week, and, listening to him on stage later, presenting the social media strategies for 2026, I thought back to the interview and realised we had not even mentioned marketing and advertising a word during our discussion.

[Clicking Up: Taking on the giantsRIGA - In 2017, the founding team of ClickUp lived in a single house, working seven days a week to build a productivity tool designed to replace the fragmented “app-for-everything” landscape. Today, with 1,300 employees and a valuation in the billions, the company is eyeing the Baltic states as its next frontier in a David-and-Goliath battle against tec…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/2026/04/5ada50dc-a818-4d51-8d78-b97e6964978a_256x256-4.png)Fomo.ObserverTarmo Virki![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/2026/04/f7ca85dc-e132-42a9-ab1d-ff90b15c438c_2048x1364-jpeg-1.jpg)](https://www.fomoobserver.com/p/clicking-up-taking-on-the-giants?ref=fomo.observer)

Fiona wrote up the story of the 14-year-old edtech founder from Kosovo, who is already creating some nice FOMO on social media.

[The 14 year old building an edtech startup in EuropeKaon Krasniqi is a fourteen-year-old founder from Kosovo. Last week, he donned the founders stage at TechChill to discuss his startup journey with Dealroom’s Head of News, Andrii Degeler.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/2026/04/5ada50dc-a818-4d51-8d78-b97e6964978a_256x256-5.png)Fomo.ObserverFiona Alston![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/2026/04/b53e8f92-b655-4ac2-bd3e-7d10c96529f1_2048x1364-jpeg.jpg)](https://www.fomoobserver.com/p/the-14-year-old-building-an-edtech?ref=fomo.observer)

### FUNDING

Turkish-founded, Estonia-registered, life sciences compliance startup[**Validfor**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/validfor/?ref=fomo.observer) has raised $1.2 million in a pre-seed round led by [DOMiNO Ventures](https://www.linkedin.com/company/domino-vc/?ref=fomo.observer), to modernise validation processes across pharma, biotech, and medtech.

More locally, [**Pickmybrain.com**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/pickmybrain-com/?ref=fomo.observer), a Tallinn-based startup building AI-powered digital “brains” for celebrities, experts, and public figures, raised a €1.8 million pre-seed round to fuel its growth.

### MOVES

Former Beamline and Prototron CEO **Jana Budkovskaja** joined BSV Ventures as a Partner, becoming part of a tiny tribe of Estonian female partners at venture funds.

The new EstBAN board now includes [**Lauri Antalainen**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriantalainen/?ref=fomo.observer), [**Jan Lätt**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-l%C3%A4tt-15a56425/?ref=fomo.observer), [**Martin Gorosko**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/martingorosko/?ref=fomo.observer), [**Jana Budkovskaja**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jana-budkovskaja/?ref=fomo.observer), [**Olga Lustsik**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/olga-lustsik/?ref=fomo.observer), [**Aleksander Tõnnisson**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonnisson/?ref=fomo.observer)**,** and [**Peeter P. Mõtsküla**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ppmotskula/?ref=fomo.observer). Lauri, Jan, and Martin were elected for another term, and Peeter is a new board member. EstBAN awarded Jana the “Lead Investor of the Year” title.

**Sergei Anikin** (ex-Pipedrive) left Bolt after running their engineering for just 5 months and set up his own AI consultancy[ Kodulabor.ai](https://www.kodulabor.ai/?ref=fomo.observer).