Sesame Summit 2026 – application open

Ben’s List 29

We’re sharing a very good article about climate change from RethinkX that details how technology can disrupt the unstoppable growth of greenhouse gases by 2035. At the same time, I’m sharing two pieces about the threat that Big Tech represents for democracies and human rights. Who can you trust?

And more importantly, why should we bother about other topics covered in today’s list, such as product-led growth, community, NFTs or entrepreneurship, when our collective future is endangered?

Some time ago, I explained how these articles are usually structured, starting with generic insights for founders & investors, then actionable learnings on strategic areas for our own company (marketing, product, community, etc.) and then expanding into more creative and esoteric materials that are dear to my heart, ie neuroscience, quantum physics, music & arts.

Is this prioritization my inner system to keep myself sane? How do YOU stay afloat?

Entrepreneurship

An Exact Breakdown of How One CEO Spent His First Two Years of Company-Building

Unblocking others is your top priority. But regardless of whether you’re focused on fundraising, selling, or product, as a CEO you’re responsible for the output of the entire organization. In my current role at the company, I think of myself as an information router, so my primary job is to unblock everyone else on the team to operate at peak efficiency.”

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The rise of the one-person unicorn

“Software didn’t just eat the world; it spewed out a new one. The internet enabled us to build an intangible global economy, and software is both the mechanism, and much of the output.”

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Product

Product Led Growth: A Guide

“What is product-led growth (PLG)? A simple definition is that it is when your software company offers a free product or free trial and users get value from it before engaging with a sales team.”

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How the latest tech products do early access beta’s

Create exclusivity: Establish the feeling of exclusivity within the early registration process. When preparing a product launch, be sure to incorporate exclusive access to your best customers. They will likely become your evangelists.”

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Community

COMMUNITY: Not Just A Buzzword, But A New World For Events

“Take a step back and ask your community what they hope to get out of being involved. Some will only want content, while others are there to network. Exhibiting brands will be there to generate leads and increase brand awareness. Create a pricing structure that allows for different levels of access, from free to VIP, and monetize your content and networking.”

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Climate

Rethinking Climate Change

“By supporting the clean disruption of energy, transportation, and food, societies can choose to accelerate global greenhouse gas mitigation to reach net zero emissions before 2040 and lay the groundwork for a complete solution to climate change, simultaneously saving trillions of dollars and improving prosperity and quality of life worldwide. But to do so, we must escape the confines of the conventional mindset and rethink what is possible through a larger lens that captures the full complexity of disruption.”

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Media

The Opening

“I’ve always thought the opening would be at the intersection of gaming, online communities, and social networks. Why? Because those are the mainstream consumer experiences where geeks tend to be the first adopters.”

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Policy

China’s Sputnik Moment? How Washington Boosted Beijing’s Quest for Tech Dominance

“The Chinese government has long had twin ambitions for industrial policy: to be more economically self-sufficient and to achieve technological greatness. For the most part, it has relied on government ministries and state-owned enterprises to pursue these goals, and for the most part, it has come up short. “

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Apple is trying to redefine what it means to violate your privacy. We must not let it.

This article reminds me the plot behind The Circle, aka “Privacy is theft”

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Events 2 days ago

Last week, I spent three days at Bits and Pretzels in Munich — a startup-focused event with a distinctly Bavarian flavor. Think Oktoberfest meets startup conference, complete with dirndls, lederhosen, and more beer than you might expect. As someone building an AI-powered event platform, I went in with a specific mission: Observe how startups actually market themselves at events. Here’s what I discovered: GoodBytz: The power of good demos What they did: Robotics startup GoodBytz set up a booth where its robots prepared kaiserschmarrn (a traditional German dessert) all day long. Why it worked: Nothing beats seeing a product in action. While other booths had brochures and demos, GoodBytz’s robots were actually cooking. The smell, the movement and the end result stirred together an experience that people will remember and talk about. The lesson: If you have a physical product, show it in action. The old writing adage generalizes well: Show, don’t tell.  Let people see, hear and touch the product. WeRoad: The bathroom hack What they did: Posted “Missing Investor” flyers in bathroom stalls with QR codes pointing to their website. Why it worked: Pure genius. Every startup at the event was looking for investors, but the “Missing Investor” headline, while a bit on the nose, proved irresistible. Plus, bathroom stalls are one of the few places where people have 30 seconds to actually read something. The lesson: Think about where your target audience’s attention will remain undivided. Sometimes, the most effective marketing leverages the most unexpected places. Emqopter: Visual impact matters What they did: Designed a bright orange booth that displayed their drone prominently. Why it worked: In a sea of grey, white, beige and brown, Emqopter’s bright orange booth was impossible to overlook. The drone was real, too, and proved a real conversation starter. The lesson: Your booth is competing with hundreds of others. Make it visually distinctive and ensure your product is the hero. Quests: Community building using the product What they did: Created a busy, branded booth with accessories (toy car, traffic cones, a bulletin board) and used their anti-loneliness app to build communities among founders at the event. Why it worked: Quests used their product to solve a real problem right at the event, and the busy booth design generated energy and curiosity. The lesson: Use your product to solve a problem at the event — if it’s possible, of course. Demonstrate your value in real time. Dyno: Event-themed marketing What they did: Distributed branded electrolyte packs with the tagline “Your hangover ends. Your pension lasts – with Dyno.” Why it worked: Dyno aligned its messaging perfectly with the Oktoberfest theme. Every attendee was thinking about beer and hangovers, so Dyno’s goodies were quite relevant. The tagline was clever, memorable, and directly addressed a pain point most people at the event might have to deal with later. The lesson: Tailor your marketing to the event’s theme and culture. The more you tie your messaging and product to the context, the more memorable you become. So, what did I learn? Event marketing is about more than just showing up and setting up a booth; you have to understand your audience and create experiences that people will remember. Here’s what really struck me: most startups and even big companies don’t know how to leverage events properly. They book the booth, show up and hope for the best; maybe they bring some branded pens and a pop-up banner. Then they’ll go back home and wonder why they spent €5,000 in exchange for 50 business cards that never convert. The startups that stood out at Bits and Pretzels understand something fundamental: event ROI isn’t about booth size or location; it’s about strategy, creativity and planning. None of the startups above improvised on-site, or planned something the night before the event in their hotel rooms. They laid everything out 4-6 weeks before the event. A solid pre-event strategy is what separates successful event marketing from expensive booth rental.  But what matters most for early-stage startups is that you don’t need a massive budget to stand out. WeRoad’s bathroom stall hack probably cost €50 to print the flyers. A standard booth package at Bits and Pretzels would go for €3,000 to €5,500. The ROI difference is staggering when you compare the cost per meaningful conversation. That’s the difference between simply spending money and investing smartly. Building Sesamers has taught me that helping startups find the right events is only half the equation. The other half is helping them understand how to maximize ROI once they’re there. Good props aren’t a marketing expense; they’re opportunities to meet customers, investors and partners, and strike up engaging conversations.

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New Materials 3 days ago

Lios Group, the Irish startup behind SoundBounce, was a winner of JEC Composites Startup Booster 2018, and has been making significant strides since taking home the award.

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New Materials 1 week ago

Tree Composites aims to accelerate the energy transition with innovative composite joints.

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