The Next Web Conference Story
A startup point of view of what being part of TNW Conf means
TLDR
What does it mean to be a startup and to be part of a big conference like TNW Europe? Get our takeaways and go back to work!
Amsterdam is back
It’s 13.00 am. Walking out of Schipol Airport. The plane landed with one hour delay and the weather is the one you would expect arriving in Amsterdam although I have to admit that we were more than lucky with two sunny days during the whole conference.
We have a few free hours. Me and William are getting ready to move around the city. We move to the Dam square and then we eat a Wok to Walk which I have to admit is delicious. I’ve been living in this city for 6 months, but my memory doesn’t help much, and William seems to know the city better than me. We stop in a coffeeshop, take a hot tea, relax a little and then we move forward to meeting Lorenzo, our host, pr.co team member, and lucky renter of an apartment right in front of the Conference Venue in Westergasfabriek.
Getting Excited
When we arrive, Lorenzo is still working at the Tardis (if you want to know what I’m talking about, check this out). He’s in the Gashouder, the place where the Conference will take place. The main stage takes your breath away. Light and sound check are on the way. The contrast between the old surroundings and the high tech profile of the conference is amazing while a mixture of excitement and anxiety dwells up in me.
It’s 6 pm and we’re ready to leave our luggage at Lorenzo’s, where we shall also be preparing the hardware, our smart devices and of course, the conference pitch. When we are ready to go to sleep, all we hear is William repeating “Lelylan is an open API, Lelylan is an open API…”
A minor remark about the day: the three gyros’ we ordered in a Greek restaurant close to Westergasfabriek will stay in our hearts for a while. Would you imagine its owners were the first to wish us luck in town?
Day One
We wake up around 8 am. Breakfast, a cigarette and we’re out. We see many people going to the venue; energy is palpable in the air. The queue ahead makes us wonder whether we are late, but actually, startups have a preferential entrance and we’re in.
We search for our booth which is to be found in front of a drinking corner. Hardware is getting placed on the table: Arduino, Electric Imp, Spark, Raspi and more. We connect our smart lamp to TNW network and give it a go. Everything works just perfect and we are ready for visitors. We play the new Lelylan video (soon in a shorter version) on screens to elicit some smile from those wandering around, making them realize how technology does not work always all the time.
The audience
The people at the conference are coming from all over the world. A wide range of age and professions, from average spectators to those interested financially. Presenting Lelylan for the first time in front of such a crowd gives me an adrenalin rush. It’s fascinating to face their questions, discussing what makers and venture capitalists have to say regarding collaboration.
Of course, as we are developers, this makes us tired in no time, but we see the future worth… and the curiosity in the people’s eyes. More and more of them are stopping by! Some of them are also laughing while watching to the video story we prepared for the conf.
Pitch Time
Lelylan was among the 150 selected startups, one of the lucky ones to pitch in front of 5 investors. Needless to say, my legs were shaking as I stepped on the stage, but our assigned 5 minutes simply flew away without any problem.
The only thing that made me think a little after the pitch was the line of questions the investors made, hinting at how VCs still view the Internet of Things as a hip field where little results are coming in from the emerging startups. Anyway, on my way out a Business Angel stopped me, asking for more information about Lelylan and talking about the IoT world, which lead to an exchange of business cards. When the session ended, food was awaiting us.
The Afterparty
After the pitch we met a large number of people. Talking, exchanging ideas, showing around what we do, and playing the game of business cards which is something I’ll never get used to. With some of those people we were able to keep in contact after the conference and I’m looking forward to tell you many stories about this part. After the conference we moved on to have a beer. Me, Lorenzo and some friends of him.
We went into a bar first situated still in the park and had quite a relaxing time with our beers in hand. From there, our way led us to the city centre where lots of people were having “startup chats”. Chats, drinks and new faces; in a welcoming environment. Since there was some music too, the most courageous took good care of not forgetting their dancing shoes at home. I absolutely loved the idea!
In the meanwhile, William, who was just munching on his first “conference experience”, feeling more at home with hardware than 3000 people, decided to head for home. How difficult life can be when you are 24 years old! ☺
Day two
The second day our booth was gone. 75 startups could have their places on the first day and the other 75 had their time on the second. This being said, we could listen to some presentations, catching a glimpse of the hack battle as well as other pitches. All in all, I have to say that the quality of the presentations was varying. Some of them were simply fascinating, while others fell behind my expectations. Still, it was fun in any case.
A VC point of view
Before going to Amsterdam, the Boot startup team asked us to prepare a pitch deck that could be shared with Investors. Having sent it, we found out that Microsoft, Bosch and TechStart were interested in discussing with us our idea. We had a chance to talk with their representatives on the second day of the Conference which proved to be the most insightful part of the conference. The discussions made us realize over which points are we doing well and where can we improve. Thanks to them, now we know that startups shouldn’t be all about technology only.
Where to get funded, who to team up with, how to make a revenue are some of those things you need to have dead clear in your mind, and the only way to validate things is to face reality without being scared of it. This is one of the things we’ll have to remember.
Thanks TNW
When back in Italy, people were asking me how things were in Amsterdam. Upon answering, I tried to be honest: it was exciting and inspiring, but intense and difficult at the same time.
We had the chance to see many startups working their asses off which simply made me smile, because it’s always nice to meet people following their dreams as a lunatic. We’ve received tons of feedback that we are still assessing, trying to understand which could be the best path to follow to make Lelylan the leader in the Internet of Things world. If you think you have an answer, we’ll be happy to add yours to the list, too.
Our three Takeaways
I’m not that good at learning. I thought it for a long time, but the fact is that I need to smash my head pretty hard before something gets inside of me. I think this is a must to have for a startupper, but I also think you can avoid some of the mistakes I made. Your life could be way better ☺For this reason, here you have 3 takeaways I got from TNW Conference.
1 - Get Real
I’m sure you want to conquer the world. Most probably one day you’ll do it. I also know you are invincible. That’s fine to me Clark Kent ☺. The fact is that dreaming is perfect, but there is a moment where you need to move to the reality. You need facts and clear answers.
2 - Be Unstoppable
If you are in the wrong place, with the wrong people, you could think you’re crazy. The thing is that you are, get used to it. Stop telling people they don’t understand. If you really believe in “why” you are making your startup, learn to get unstoppable. VC will tell you are not scalable or disruptive. Family and friends will tell you are loosing time. Fine. Inside, somewhere, you know it’s worth it. I love the only sentence of the following song, which take the whole concept in a really clear way “This negative energy just makes me stronger. We will not retreat, this band is unstoppable!”
3 — Curiosity driven lifestyle
Your startup is not an ending point. Its a journey where you need to be driven by curiosity. Don’t set as goal the success of your startup. It may not happen. Set the desire to learn and to be curious. This way, during the path, much more things will happen. Keep on being curious, in every aspect of your life.
Thanks for taking the time of reading our thoughts and I wish you the best luck, whatever you’re looking for.
This article was brought to you from Andrea Reginato, CEO of Lelylan.
