Local Voices: Meet the Entrepreneurs Behind Stockholm’s 100 Point Challenge
Australian co-founders give us an inside look at Stockholm’s 100 Point Challenge and how tourists and locals can interact with their city in meaningful ways
What do you think is the best part for tourists and locals to play the Stockholm 100 Point Challenge?
The two founders of the 100 Point Challenge are well-travelled, and are always looking for different ways to experience cities when we go somewhere new.
The reality is that we often only have a few days in a new place.
The temptation can be to squeeze in a quick history-download-via-traditional-walking-tour in between food stops (pre-vetted on Trip Advisor, of course).
While there is no ‘right’ way to travel, this format can feel like just the surface of cities. Consuming content in a way that can feel a bit unoriginal.
We wanted the 100 Point Challenge to be for the adventurous and playful visitor who wants to be actively engaged in their own discovery of a new city.
By the end of the two hours, you should be pretty well-acquainted with the city. You’ll know more about the local histories, cultures, and worldviews, and you’ll have waved down a local for help.
You’ll have taken some interesting polaroids, maybe built something weird, and maybe got a bit stressed. If you’ve successfully made it back to the start location without getting lost, you probably got to know your way around the city better.
If you’ve played your cards right, you might even have a tasty local prize to sustain you and some buddies to share it with during the rest of your adventures.
Can you describe a bit more about the benefits of keeping the 100 Point Challenge in an analogue format?
There are a few things that we wanted to do a bit differently to other city discovery experiences.
We give people an opportunity to connect with each other and the city in a fresh and meaningful way.
The 100 Point Challenge is a team game that requires paying close attention, teamwork, curiosity, and looking at ordinary things in a way you might not have done so before.
We feel that the analogue-style of the game facilitates this direct, immersive experience. There’s no phone or device between you and the experience.
It’s also more social to be met by a real-life Challenge Leader who briefs you on how to play the game. They are also waiting for you when you come racing back at the end with your answers and creations.
Tourists also benefit from receiving local tips from our staff on what else to do and where to eat afterward.
We also wanted there to be a tangible memory of the experience for participants to take home with them.
Instead of taking photos on their phones, teams are given a Polaroid camera to take physical photos. In the end, they’ll complete a photo book of their experience.
What has been the most challenging aspect of running a business in Stockholm as foreigners?
Starting a business of any kind is certainly never easy, and being a foreigner adds another layer of complexity.
There are language issues to navigate, different, and often complex processes to get on top of, and different business culture. Plus, you don’t have the natural benefit of a network as you might in your home country.
However, we have also found that Sweden (and Stockholm in particular) is a fantastic place to be an entrepreneur.
The resources and opportunities floating around for innovative companies in this city are extensive. We were very grateful to receive some of that support last year, winning the InvestStockholm Innovation Stipend for 2019 in the travel & tourism category.
The stipend was also supported by the City of Stockholm and Visit Stockholm, and the award ceremony was held at Stadshuset (City Hall).
Stockholm is trying to send the message that it is a progressive city. Stockholm is really open and encouraging new businesses. The best example of this is that they even did some of the awards ceremony in English just for us!
How do you try to keep things new and exciting for participants who have done the challenge before?
We first started operating in Stockholm in late 2016 with one stand-alone challenge. Now in 2020, we have more than 15 (!) in the city, including our ‘After Dark’ and custom challenges.
Each challenge has a total of 22 individual tasks. When you multiply that over 15 challenges, that’s a lot of opportunities to learn something new about Stockholm!
Cities are also dynamic things, so we are constantly updating our existing challenges to incorporate new and exciting developments. There is also the challenge of navigating a thriving city. Statues get removed, bridges go under construction, and businesses move or close down. The only certainty is that things always change!
We try to embrace all of this change as it forces us to stay in touch with the city. While designing custom-build challenges for clients, we always look for fresh and interesting content. We try to feed these learnings back into our existing challenges.
However, we are also very excited to be expanding our Stockholm challenge area to include two new locations outside of Gamla Stan this year. This is a first for Stockholm’s 100 Point Challenge and is something we are very excited about.
So for those who have already played our two local challenges, Björns Battle and Victoria’s Victory, we will have something completely new for you to experience this Spring.
Now in 5 different cities, what’s the future for 100 Point Challenge in the next few years?
Despite the inevitable growing pains that come with expanding a business into new geographies, we are travellers at heart. One of the most exciting and challenging parts of this whole adventure is going somewhere new.
In 2019, we saw the addition of four new cities, and 2020 will see the addition of a couple more.
We also have some exciting creative projects that we are working on in experiential education, and are also focusing on consolidating and improving our offering in our existing cities.
What has been the most surprising thing about the 100 Point Challenge Venture?
The hallmark of most successful businesses is being agile and taking advantage of new opportunities as they arise.
One of the most exciting and surprising aspects is the overwhelming majority of our business from local individuals and businesses in all of our cities!
It is so exciting to see so many people and businesses wanting a new way to discover their own city, or taking a fresh approach to their office team building activity.
We have really enjoyed expanding our offers to meet the needs of our local customers better. We create a minimum of two local challenges in every city, and also offer three levels of customisation, from a few bonus questions to a completely bespoke experience.
In this way, we ensure we are delivering fresh and exciting games which locals want to play.
Special Offer for
Slow Travel Stockholm Readers
Interested in coming down to play the 100 Point Challenge? Join our Public Challenges on a Saturday for groups fewer than six people. Larger groups can book a private time slot at a time of their choice.
All readers of Slow Stockholm can use the Discount Code SLOW10 for a 10% discount when you book at 100pointchallenge.com
Want to know more about the Stockholm’s 100 Point Challenge?
For custom challenges: https://www.100pointchallenge.com/custom-challenges-europe
About us: https://www.100pointchallenge.com/contact
Learn more about the Invest Stockholm stipend
Explore Stockholm: 100 Point Challenge
