On behalf of the team (myself actually) I would like to thank everyone, who has supported this blog. Thanks for the encouraging words in TestMarket’s fanpage in Facebook and other channels, like Ekspress.ee story.

Who doesn’t know yet – last week I was invited to Ministry of Economic Affairs to pitch my blog in front of small audience and the honorable jury.  I showed the promotional video that I prepared for Stanford University audience in summer 2009. I have to admit the video looks a bit funny, because I am saying there that I do not need Facebook and Twitter. That is not true of course.

I explained the jury that for me TestMarket.eu is a one-man-band. And if I would stand by and look at this project, I would consider myself very stupid, yet self-confident. The bottom line is that I consider having a lot ( and I mean A LOT) to learn in this area of tech blogging, but I am still going ahead with the blog bull-headedly.

What am I missing the most? That Estonian startups would be even more active in letting me know about their plans and ambitions. That one day I would find partners in this project that would share the „light and fun“ burden of covering the Estonian tech scene in English. That this blog would have more win-win partnerships with people and institutions that share the same goal.

That I would have more time to look at TestMarket.eu from the business point of view and start testing crazy ideas. It is incredible how many interesting plans I have. Some of them will be realized very soon.

As I told the jury – it is all too much fun and that’s the core. But – believe it or not – if some people think monetizing a blog in Estonia is not possible, then my case proves the opposite.

What else makes it fun? That I receive surprising feedback from all over the world. From Lebanon and Dominican Rebublic, for example, where people ask me if Estonian technology sector has any medical supplies to sell. Or from China, where Mr Chang wonders how much does the Estonian jammer cost and how it works. I wrote a post on a company developing jammers two years ago.

So the jury gathered for 30 minutes and announced me as the winner. I received a small testimonial and will be given „a little something else“ during the grand season-opening business gala, organised by Enterprise Estonia and The Chamber of Commerce in September 7 at the Estonian Concert Hall. Additionally I am going to proudly represent our small nation in „European Enterprise Awards 2010“ final next spring in Budapest.

Anyway, stay tuned for more stories on Estonian startups. Coming this week: Vecly and Baltic Digital Archive. I will be in Garage48 event this weekend with my eyes open. Also in pipeline: lost and forgotten Estonian startups. How to cover a startup failure? Estonia – a hub for global cyber terrorists?