Web Summit by Charles Darwin
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
Charles Darwin
The following statement is often attributed to the famous scientist Charles Darwin, i don’t know if he said it or not but i do believe to absolutely true and relevant when discussing Web Summit.
Web Summit has come to an end and almost everyone has something to say about it. People often ask me if it’s a scam, but I strongly believe that the quote written above describes it the best. I’m not a person that writes long texts trying to prove a point, but in this case, I believe that my opinion can help others gain a better understanding and obtain a different point of view.
So for those who don’t know me, I’m not Charles Darwin, but known as João Jesus to my friends and family and who happens to be the CEO of Cuckuu. I have been an entrepreneur for the past 21 years. Founded Cuckuu 3 years ago with my co-founder Peu Fraga and since then have been a part of the Portuguese Eco System in one way or the other.
We look into our entrepreneur life in a very unique way as we believe it not just takes hard work but takes sacrifice, and the will to risk what others might not do. That is the sole reason we chose to move to India for almost 9 months in total to implement our idea and to get our project going and also why we are living with our team for the last 2 years. One of the most important aspects is to learn that you cannot do it by yourself, it’s the tendency to learn from and with others.
That being said, one of our essential decisions has been to pitch twice at the most renowned conference, Web Summit and once at Collision. Our participation has helped Cuckuu gain the privilege of hearing others’ opinions and criticism that crucially helped us understand different points of view.
So what do people say about Web Summit?
- It’s an expensive platform,
- It’s hard to meet the right people,
- It’s nothing but hyped and doesn’t meet ones’ expectations,
- It’s filled with people who are full of themselves,
- It’s a bunch of things going on at the same time,
- It’s not entirely about Technology but consists of unrelated things like Football,
- The app crashes and the internet isn’t pleasing,
- The organization isn’t much of help,
- It should include more women,
- We get a lot of emails,
- Doesn’t bring anything beneficial to Lisbon or Portugal,
And so on and so forth.
Well let’s be clear, in most of the things that were said above are true but false as well. Confusing, isn’t it?
Let me clear the confusion for you. Web Summit is an Eco System, a humungous Eco System that has been growing profusely since 2010. In a span of 6 years, Web Summit has grown from 400 ‘nerds’ to 50,000 of all kind of people from various areas of work. This number would be enough to impress anyone but most people often see that as the biggest problem.Again, they are not right nor wrong.
Everything is a matter of perspective. Personally, Paddy, David and Daire have come up with such a distinctive idea — a Tech Summit, as thrilling and mainstream compared to any exciting event, such as a music festival or a sporting event. An event that promises to bring media, investors, and popular brands that wish to join hands and create partnerships with startups. A platform that brings in others skills, various talents you wouldn’t know exist in this world. You would witness such an environment only if you are doing things the right way, and more so, if you have the will to do better every year.
I am Portuguese, hence I grew up with the culture of complaining about everything. Honestly speaking, good or bad, people will always have something to say. I’m sharing my opinion here but a lot of people might find it offensive or see it as an attack. But I believe that to see a change, we need to speak up.
At the end of the day the reason why I included Darwin’s quote, is because I believe that to take the most of Web Summit it’s all about change, how we embrace it, we adapt to it and how fast we do it.
So let’s talk about all the issues pertaining to Web Summit.
It’s an expensive platform,
Is Web Summit expensive?
Again perspective.
The prices start from 0 Euros and go up to 10,000 Euros. For investors, 10,000 Euros could either be expensive or cheap if they find the next WhatsApp, Instagram or Uber. But let’s look at the ones that are 0 Euros, an amount a lot of startups have paid. Our company, Cuckuu, was one of them. You might assume we got that out of sheer luck. No, it took a lot of sleepless nights, immense hard work and we had to compete with a lot of impressive startups to be in the Final 67 of Road to Web Summit. We weren’t alone, we were alongside 67 startups that gave their everything like Facestore, Hole 19, Tripaya, Knok,Planetiers, Prodsmart, — these were some of the most hardworking startups we came across.
And then we have startups like Yoochai that started planning a year ago in their founder’s Christina Lock living room.
To be ready for their opportunity, they joined Startup Lisboa and left their living room to be a part of the eco system, then joined Road to Web Summit and that got them to join one of the biggest events in the world for free.
And road to web summit was just one of the opportunities. Microsoft gave opportunities to a few startups, one of them being Inviita, that wanted to be there in a different way so they worked hard enough to get to be a partner of the event and not just another startup.
There were hundreds of ways you could be a part of it for free, and various opportunities were given to women to be a part and they weren’t taken by all that latter complained.
“Okay so if you have a startup or if you are a woman, you can go for free. How about the others who are just curious and have an idea but lack the skills to execute?”, well for all the others i will tell you what i always told my two daughters, nothing in life comes for free, you need to work hard for it and this is where volunteer opportunities come in play.
Everyone can be a part of it but you have to give something in return even if it was your time. For someone like Tomas Valbom who worked as a volunteer he was rewarded to meet the CMO of Facebook, Pedro Andrade that hacked the web summit like a pro all without investing a single cent, how on earth was it possible? read it here, and Claudia Silva that at the age of forty, with three young kids to take care believes that you have to think out of the box and finding friends and new skills are huge benefits, she already applied for next year, this are the people that change the world and there are a lot more of them.
I met a lot of enthusiastic volunteers at the event, who chose to witness the talks in the midst of their work, came up to me and pitched me their ideas looking for feedback. For people who are at home and thinking, “Oh I can’t afford this”, I want to inform you that Web Summit is not expensive if you go after it, but definitely it’s not an opportunity that will be given to you while you sit on your couch.
It’s hard to meet the right people,
There are 50,000 people at the venue and you’re given 3 days to network. Everyone is after the “right people”, but how many of you have done your homework? How many of you have installed the app 15 days before the event and started networking? How many of you did your research in looking for people on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and tried to contact them? How many of you arrived at 8:30 am to the venue and then left at 3 am from the night summits?
For most of us, this is the closest we can ever get to these people. So we must agree that this platform is the easiest way to approach and speak to people, but easiest doesn’t mean easy. People need to realize that Web Summit promises you an opportunity to network but doesn’t guarantee the end result, the same way that going on a date doesn’t mean you will get lucky. You need to make that person to want you, and that entirely depends on you.
Some talks had a thousand people in the audience but only a few raised questions and even fewer try and talk to this speakers afterwards. Where was everyone? I was there and I spoke to all the people I planned to.
“Investors’ lounge is not for everyone but just for a few lucky ones”.
Yes, definitely. But as soon as they leave that area, they walk around where everyone does and that is the time for you to approach them. Have your story ready, and I don’t mean, “Hi, my name is Joao, my product is Uber for Pasteis De Nata and I need a million Euros for it”. Stop pitching down his throat until he asks you to do so, get them interest by talking to them, do your homework and impress them by how ready you are. Know your business to the fullest so you will be able to answer and be honest when you don’t know. Ask for their opinions and feedback. In other words, it’s not about taking them to bed, but about taking them to the next date and making them feel wanted.
Stop walking around with your pack of friends, I see most people tagged along with their team looking for who they already know to talk to. I would suggest you to get out of your comfort zone at the earliest and communicate with as many people as possible. Not long ago I met Malik Piarali and he used to practice this by talking to a few strangers everyday to overcome being shy, now at the age of 19 everyone knows him in the Portuguese Eco System as an amazing communicator and entrepreneur.
You might wonder, “I am just one person, how can I possibly meet everyone?”. You don’t have to. Making your startup a success is not up to just you, it needs a village to raise it. So, get your village to help you. If you help others, others will help you without doubt. Karma is a bitch but it could also be your best friend.
A lot of people you meet might not be good for you, but they can be a good fit for someone else. So why not help who you meet and who you already know? That’s why it’s important to be a part of our Eco System, in our case Startup Lisboa is our family, but we are also part of Beta I, try and visit our friends in Anje whenever we are in Porto, are a part of Microsoft BizSpark and we are with Vodafone Power Lab that this year gave us a space to work at Web Summit and their support was impeccable. Every Saturday that we can, we go to the Pitch Boot Camp by Spark Agency, that allows us to network with a lot of interesting students and entrepreneurs that would blow your mind and also people from huge companies. We go to all the events organized by Caixa Capital.
All this is not easy, it means you can say bye to your social life but this is how a startup life usually is and what it takes to “make it”.
Then, there are the Night Summits, another event to make connections, not to get drunk or find a date. Like I said, connecting with people is all about your stories, it’s about being a part of what is going on.
It’s nothing but hyped and doesn’t meet ones’ expectations,
On this point, I think the media did create a lot of hype around Web Summit. Sometimes, it’s referred to as a magic lamp that you must rub for a series A, they don’t elaborate on the real struggle that an entrepreneur goes through to get where he is, they don’t mention about the entrepreneur who got 85 nos’ to finally gain a yes, they don’t talk about the relationships broken because of the lack of time to work on them. They don’t talk of those people who dedicate years in bringing up a business but fail miserably and hear “I told you so” by the people around them. All they talk about is the overnight successes that sometimes, takes 20 years.
Web Summit cannot be blamed for this, nobody’s to be blamed but us. It’s our society that chooses to read success stories that sound like fairy tales. I honestly think this is why they refer billion dollar companies to unicorns, because they want people to believe that magic is what brings success.
Web Summit on the other hand, makes blogs, meetings, and everything else to help startups “hack Web Summit” but sometimes, we go to these events and we find the same “lucky” faces around, because others couldn’t be there because Benfica was playing.
It’s filled with people who are full of themselves,
Well, it’s simple. Don’t talk to them.
People don’t have to care about what you do, you might want everyone to listen to you and your idea, but if they lose interest, it’s not their fault. It’s the lack of enthusiasm in you and because you didn’t catch their attention. Most of them get pitched at least a 100 times a day, it’s your job to keep your enthusiasm intact and grab their attention in the first 60 seconds. It’s your sole purpose to make them say, “tell me more”, they don’t owe you anything.
If you wonder, how do I get them to listen? Well, that’s part of your job as well. Figuring this out might be your toughest task. First, you need to know who you are as an individual, what you do and why will that person care to listen to you? This is why, homework is important. My product is Social Media and I would never expect the Fintech guy to love it, but I can make an effort so he can be impressed by the person I am and love me, and who knows introduce me to his friend who invested in Snapchat. Isn’t that how you build your network of contacts?
Everyone has a shield at the event, and it’s your duty to find the crack. But sometimes the crack isn’t on them, it could be their team members that work with him/her who are more approachable. Use your most important organ, the brain, and grind it to the fullest.
There are a plenty of stories I could share on people who got 5 minutes to pitch. But my favourite is the story of this man who was trying to pitch his idea to an investor at the airport. Since the investor was in a hurry, the entrepreneur had to say the right words, and he screamed his idea in the simplest way possible — “I translate porn”. This arose (no pun intended) an interest in the investor and he replied, “Well this one, I have to hear”. So, find your magic words. Don’t expect people to care just because you do.
It’s a bunch of things going on at the same time,
The reason behind 50,000 people being present at Web Summit is because they’re given various opportunities, and that is why it states, “ 1 Ticket = Access to 21 conferences”. Startups need to choose wisely, need to plan and make sure they achieve as much as possible in the time given. If you go to the event with your team, you must believe in ‘divide and conquer’, everyone likes to seat with their friends instead of being alone,but during these 3 days spread yourselves like never before, see all you can and meet people, because this is an event that’s mainly for networking.
I would suggest you to carry lunch with you, and use the lunch break to communicate with other startups not to stay 1h on the queue, ask what they learned in the talks you couldn’t attend, listen to their pitches and ideas that would thereby, inspire you. ‘We are all in this together’ and I can’t say this enough number of times.
It’s not entirely about Technology but consists of unrelated things like Football,
Welcome to the new world! Look around you, everything is changing because of Technology.
A couple of years ago we could have said why are we talking about our struggles to rent a place while holidaying, but now, all we do is through Booking.com or AirBnb. Uber has made it easy to find a ride, Tinder has helped us in finding love. Yes, let’s call it love.
That’s the reason why Web Summit has it all. The point is to be aware of the times and be in pace for the future. You would agree with me if you’ve witnessed the HyperLoop presentation. I might not care about transportation but you have to be impressed.
Web Summit stands out as a versatile platform because it consists of different talents from various parts of the world that creates a mix of expertise in Technology like no other anywhere. For instance, an idea thought for the energy sector could be of use in bank fraud and that’s how Feedzai came into existence.
The app crashes and the internet isn’t pleasing,
Well, of course, the internet won’t be up to your expectations. There are around 50,000 people relying on the Wi-Fi at the same time as you. Most of them using Facebook Live, tweeting constantly and other Social Media applications. When thousands of people are on Instagram, Snapchat and even Tinder, we got to be fair, there is no data speed in the world that could satisfy 50,000 people at once. Compared to last year when usage of internet was impossible, this year was a lot better and we got to give credit to Portugal for raising their game.
Regarding the app, I can say, I found it very helpful and I think it could improve and I am sure it will.
The organization isn’t much of help,
You might wonder, could the organization help more? Maybe. There is always more that can be done. Do they try to help you? Yes, I believe they do. Especially before the event starts, they make sure the startups get the most out of it. Most people don’t care until 5 minutes before the event starts and then they expect everything to be taken care of.
Yes, they have flaws like any other event, but they do try to help as much as they can. Of course, petty things like expecting a seat when you reach the venue 15 minutes late after they told you to try and be there before the doors open, they obviously cannot stop the event for the late comers, stop the traffic, help you with an adaptor for your laptop or to change your pitch deck 5m before you go on stage, it’s impossible to be of help to everyone.
In my experience, luckily, I’ve found help when needed and I can guarantee that you will too if you make reasonable requests in a polite manner. Again, I’m not saying I agree with everything that’s happened this year, the all entrance situation stood out as a disappointment and I hope they work on it.
It should include more women,
Being a father of two girls, I have to say, I am all for more women, but I might get in trouble here since I am not one of them and I might not fully understand the challenges they face in this environment.
I strongly believe that women have benefitted gloriously through Web Summit. Around 42% of the attendees were women and they gave around 10,000 tickets free solely for women.
So I believe Web Summit are doing their part, now it’s up to us, we need to change our mindset and push our daughters to believe they don’t have to just dress in pink and look pretty, but go out there and do anything they want. Women don’t specifically need anyone’s help in wanting a ‘special’ place because they’re not any different. So, let’s not blame Web Summit.
We get a lot of emails,
I have to agree on this, they do send a lot of emails, billions of emails are send in a period of 10 months.
It’s too much to digest and the biggest problem is that after some time you start ignoring these emails and sometimes they could consist of really important information that would be of help.
We did an effort to go trough all of them and it really paid off, we got invitations for dinners, parties and side events that gave us loads of great opportunities to meet the “right people”.
I think they should work on filtering the consistency of emails and hopefully will get better with time, I believe it’s just the growing pains of having such a big community.
Doesn’t bring anything beneficial to Lisbon or Portugal,
Now this is a big one. Of all the things I hear, this is precisely the reason why I decided to express my views. It’s funny how I hear people who haven’t been to the event say this more often. People that are not part of the Eco System and people who aren’t aware of how startups can help countries to grow.
Joao Vasconcelos has been one of the most helpful engines of startups for a long time. His work started in Startup Lisboa and now (his) love for startups is spreading to the government. I never knew Joao that well but I have heard of him and all I hear are amazing things. I have seen him before and now as the Secretary of State for the industry sharing startup posts, and creating awareness of startups in Social Media. His interest in startup exhibitions to talk to people and learn about their ideas has brought about change very needed in Portugal. His efforts to make people believe that they can create and implement ideas, has inspired students to graduate and create their own jobs instead of looking for one and more create jobs for others.
Web Summit is absolutely bringing money in to the country but is motivating a whole generation as well. These values cannot be accounted on Excel sheets but they’re building their revenue for the coming future, creating a proud generation that will stop considering being Portuguese as a short coming. I believe we need to be proud and appreciate people like Jaime Jorge from Codacy, who won Web Summit in 2014. He proved that it’s something possible and all it takes is hard work. Startups like Uniplaces where they raised over 20 million showed us we could do it. Filipa and Lara from Chic by Choice inspired every woman out there that women aren’t anything less. Farfetch, by being the first Portuguese unicorn, has proved that success is a door away. Now it’s time for Portugal to have the belief to achieve and stop complaining without trying.
I heard people talk about the amazing video created by Vhils for the Lisbon Eco System, and there have also been complaints that they displayed Lisbon as a city of slums.
Come on! Portugal is not about sky scrapers and just the pretty new recovered areas, it’s about the rich culture, history and people, all kind of people. We are a country that works hard and makes things happen. A country that got in boats and discovered most of the world. When did we become a country full of whiners? I hope to see a country asking ‘why not?’ and not just ‘why?’
It’s not Web Summit alone that will do this for Portugal. Web Summit is like a drop in the ocean, it’s all of us and our responsibility to bring the world’s attention to our country and show them our capabilities, and why we deserve to be in the center of the world again.
Like Gary Vaynerchuk said in his amazing talk at Web Summit, “Stop crying and complaining, no one gives a shit. The only people that care about your crying are the losers around you”
So, these are my views on Web Summit. Views of an entrepreneur who is on a roller coaster along with his team. There are times I want to give up, but then I look around to my team, to the eco system, to our friends and to my partner Peu and I remember why I got into this in the first place, our reason.
We want to change the world one tick-tock at a time.
João Jesus, Cuckuu CEO
