# Candidate for Incubator DAO Governor: River **URL:** \ **Category:** Incubator DAO\ **Created:** [October 17, 2021, 10:12pm UTC](https://talk.harmony.one/t/candidate-for-incubator-dao-governor-river/4487 "2021-10-17T22:12:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Creation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Creation](https://talk.harmony.one/u/Creation)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2021, 10:12pm UTC](https://talk.harmony.one/t/candidate-for-incubator-dao-governor-river/4487/1 "2021-10-17T22:12:17Z")
Hi everyone, Please find below my application for the Incubator DAO Governor opportunity! I guess it’s best to doxx myself so you guys know more about me (holy crap this is scary!) Anyways, I’m [River](https://linkedin.com/in/rivertam), a 10+ year entrepreneur within the UK tech community. My background is in hackathons, accelerators, and tech. I started off my career working for a [charity](https://nacue.com/) helping student entrepreneurs turn their idea into a business. During this time I also participated in several hackathons for fun, including: - [StartupBus Europe 2013](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGS2RyHEGm4) (We came second place!) We actually built [Slack but with ‘chatheads’](https://www.dropbox.com/s/t4ekvg8fzblv5od/SideIM.png?dl=0), the team managed to integrate drag and drop for file sharing and web RTC for video calls too! - [SeedHack v5.0](https://medium.com/@RiverTam57/how-to-win-a-hackathon-9394e5236d38) (We won!) Our team built a [time-tracking and personal assistant app](https://seedcamp.com/seedhack-5-0/) that connected with your calendar, phone, and other work tools. I also organised hackathons as well, the main one at the time being [Startup Hacks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkxGprUVOiE), which was Europe’s first invite only hackathon. It was at SH where I first learned about Bitcoin! Through my work I was approached by a really well known entrepreneur, [Lee Strafford](https://www.linkedin.com/in/leestrafford/?originalSubdomain=uk), to run a startup accelerator in the UK called [Dotforge](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/dotforge). Whilst at Dotforge I helped recruit 30 pre-seed startups onto the programme where they received angel investment, mentorship, and fundraising support. In total DF invested around $1m across these startups. In 2015 I founded [The HackTrain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbCUTtzCic0), a hackathon focused on driving forward innovation in the railroad industry. We brought together developers from all around the world to literally hack on a moving train travelling from city to city. The event was so popular I decided to spin it out into a full-time business which we called Hack Partners. Whilst at HP I led the organisation of 15+ hackathons bringing together 800+ developers from around the world. We ran hackathons all around the world including in France, Germany, and Hong Kong. Some sponsors included: Bloomberg, the NHS, Microsoft and o2. The HackTrain, is widely considered to be [one of the best hackathons](https://ljn.io/posts/hacktrain) in the world within the hackathon community. We ended up collaborating with major train operating companies such as [Deutsche Bahn](https://medium.com/@HackPartners/hacktrain-to-run-first-ever-hackathon-at-innotrans-2018-66c1afeda516), [SNCF](https://www.digital.sncf.com/actualites/hacktrain-quand-innovation-ferroviaire-rime-avec-hacking), Network Rail and [Hong Kong’s MTR](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUlb5f8bQsg). I led Hack Partners to generate over £5m in revenue across 5 years and scaled the business to 30-staff. Over the years we achieved quite a lot on a policy and technology level. - We produced a 200-page known as [The BARRIERS Report](https://railway-news.com/barriers-report/) that resulted in government and transport organisations changing their policies on innovation - One of our hackathon teams ended up building a tool called [BusyBot](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1842452/new-app-promises-to-help-you-bag-a-seat-on-those-packed-rush-hours-trains/), that’s now used by 11m passengers every year to find empty seats on busy trains. [Trainline ended up integrating it](https://engineering.thetrainline.com/busybot-helping-customers-get-a-seat-on-the-right-train-facfc582b529) in their mobile app - [Partnering with Network Rail to setup a post-hackathon idea fund](https://www.networkrail.co.uk/news/network-rail-and-hack-partners-launch-post-hackathon-acceleration-fund/) - [Deploying a computer vision AI tool](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7136621/AI-end-leaves-line-predicting-buildups-delay-trains.html) that detects potentially hazardous trees - And one of our hardest products to build… [a social distancing app](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54091539) for key workers in rail As a typical startup CEO I did everything from sales and partnerships to marketing and product management. I take pride in being a relentless individual that wants to be the change I wish to see in the world. And I firmly believe decentralised video games are going to become one of the most significant moments of change in the 2020s. **Why I’d be good for the Incubator DAO** I believe I’d be a great addition to the Incubator DAO because: - I have ran and scaled a startup – I learned everything from hiring to firing, sales to marketing, branding to operations, finance to planning, product management to execution and more. I think having gone through what I can only describe as ‘Hells Road’ as a founder will give me the ability to relate and empathise with fellow founders on their journey. - I’ve ran an accelerator programme – This experience has taught me how and when to advise startups, common mistakes founders make, and the importance of helping startups unblock problems at the early stages of their journey. - I’ve participated in 20+ hackathons and organised 15+. – This experience has allowed me to communicate with developers really effectively and I believe it is a critical skill in being able to mentor them effectively on their projects. – I also know what developers need when converting their hackathon projects into successful long-term businesses, something which I think is critical for the success of Harmony and the Incubator DAO. If you have any questions - please feel free to reach out! ---
**Author:** ![edbong](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/talk.harmony.one/edbong/32/1636_2.png) [@edbong](https://talk.harmony.one/u/edbong)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2021, 4:55am UTC](https://talk.harmony.one/t/candidate-for-incubator-dao-governor-river/4487/2 "2021-10-18T04:55:24Z")
@Creation good to have someone else with hands on incubator experience! ---
**Author:** ![manther](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@manther](https://talk.harmony.one/u/manther)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://talk.harmony.one/t/candidate-for-incubator-dao-governor-river/4487/3 "2021-10-27T19:11:30Z")
Hi River, congrats on getting elected! What’s your Telegram so we can add you to the conversation / scheduling for meetings? Feel free to DM me.