Meet Minc: Vanja Tufvesson

Meet Vanja Tufvesson! Besides being one of the coaches at our Tech Lab, she is also CTO of Tengai Unbiased, the world’s first unbiased interview robot, and co-founder of Pink Programming, an organization that encourages women to code. It is safe to say that your startup is in good hands!

Tell us a bit about yourself - who are you?
I'm a developer with passion for problem solving, and people. I enjoy deep diving into technical aspects of a solution, as well as understanding team dynamics. I'm one of those people with many interests. When I’m not working with tech I don't spend my evenings coding. I'd rather clear my head by going for a run, doing some yoga or enjoy a good meal with friends.

Besides being one of the tech coaches at Minc, you're also CTO of Tengai. What is Tengai Unbiased, how does it work, and how can it help society?
Tengai Unbiased is developing the world's first interview robot for recruitment. So basically, assisting recruiters with the selection process. It's all about simplifying the recruitment process and providing a fair and unbiased data driven decision support for the recruiter - and of course, saving time. The method is validated by psychometric experts, so that the selection is actually based on behavioural science, and not human bias, which comes so natural to us in a "normal", human interview situation. Our solution is both helping the recruiters become more effective, and unbiased and it's also helping create a more fair and equal job market.

How did your startup journey begin?
After studying mathematics and computer science for five years I never saw myself as an entrepreneur or even someone working at a startup. As soon as I started working as a developer, I realised that there was a lot that could be done to help inspire more women to code. Together with two other female developers I started Pink Programming, an organization that hosts coding camps, events and workshops to encourage and inspire women to code.

When starting this initiative from scratch, I got introduced to like-minded people who had started their own businesses. I realised that the startup community felt very inclusive and I received a lot of help, encouragement, and support, especially from the community in Malmö. This is also when I started opening my eyes for startups and saw the wide range of opportunities within startups. I wish that I already as a student had realised that I myself can realise an idea, and that there is a lot of help and support available. Hopefully this is something I will be part of giving to others now in my role as tech coach at Minc.

What’s the best part of the Tech Lab, according to you?
Personally - I get to meet so many interesting and inspiring people, from a wide range of industries. They all have very different solutions to problems, and all sorts of challenges. I get both inspired and challenged during every meeting, trying to understand their specific journey and challenges and how I can help. Best part of our offering I think is that as an entrepreneur you might not have a tech background just because you're using tech to solve a problem. Here we can help bridge the gap to turn someones idea into a prototype.

You recently hosted an online Tech Talk about how to recruit developers to your startup. What’s the purpose of Minc's Tech Talks?
We get many different questions during our individual coaching sessions with the companies. Some of them are similar though, and during the tech talks we can share our knowledge to multiple companies with similar challenges. Also, during the talks we can highlight solutions and tech perspectives that we find relevant, even if the companies haven't asked for it. For example, the first workshop was about how to create a prototype without coding. If you as an entrepreneur don't know that there are very simple tools for this, how would you even ask about it? Here we have a chance to show you what you haven't even asked for ;)

Lastly, what do you like most about Minc?
Long before I started working at Minc I received a lot of help and support from people working at Minc, although I had no actual connection to Minc and was not enrolled in any of the programs. At Minc, there was a shared passion for entrepreneurship and for getting things to happen in Malmö. The help I got meant a lot for me at the time, and now I want to be part of giving that back to the community.

We are very happy to have you on the Minc Team, Vanja!

About Minc

At Minc, we believe in creating something bigger than yourself. We offer everything an entrepreneur needs to go from concept to market in-house. Our international network of advisors and award-winning programs will help your startup scale faster and smarter. Welcome to the startup house of Malmö.

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