Events

Most startup founders treat events like they’re going travelling: count the days, block the calendar, done. But event tickets don’t come cheap, and the actual affair can eat into your budget in so many different ways, you’ll be left with a hole in your company wallet. You see, the problem here is a simple case of math: one can’t budget for unforeseen expenses. That’s why we’ve put together a simple formula that founders can tweak to suit their business needs. The 2:1 rule nobody talks about Here’s a simple rule: Every single day at an event requires two full days of preparation. This isn’t bureaucratic overhead, it’s the operational reality of doing events properly. Why does this ratio work? Because events operate on a timeline that’s fundamentally incompatible with how startups work. Most conferences lock speaker slots, booth spaces, and partnership opportunities months in advance. You can’t A/B test them or sprint your way in at the last minute. Scaleups and corporates have dedicated field marketing teams who start preparing months in advance for events. They’ve already mapped the venue, scheduled meetings, and briefed their booth staff. If you show up with two hours of prep, you’re invisible. But why should you set aside two days for every event day? You’ll fill them with research, targeting, outreach, scheduling, content, positioning, logistics operations, internal coordination, and post-event planning.  You can’t change your pitch deck the morning of your panel. Events punish improvisation because the stakes are live and all opportunity windows close fast. That’s why a 2:1 ratio is the minimum buffer you need to make showing up worthwhile. A three-day conference isn’t a three-day commitment; you’ll have to set aside at least six days before factoring in travel, team coordination, or what you’ll actually do at the event. Treat it as the baseline for local events that you’re only attending, too. And when you add distance, team members or booth logistics to the equation, that number explodes. The winning formula Here’s what no event organizer will tell you upfront: Total Time = (Event Days × 2) × Distance Factor × Team Factor × Activity Factor Distance multipliers Team size factors Activity type factors What does it look like in the real world? Let’s run an example scenario: Say you’re exhibiting at Web Summit with two co-founders. Calculation: (3 days × 2) × 1.5 (international) × 1.3 (team of three) × 1.5 (exhibiting) = 17.6 days That’s nearly four working weeks of founder time. Not calendar days — productive working days. An entire sprint. A fundraising cycle. A product release window. That’s before you account for the inevitable chaos: marketing materials might get delayed, or your booth might require a last-minute redesign, or one of your team might fall ill on day two. This matters more than you think Startups don’t fail because they attend too many events. They fail because they attended the wrong events and didn’t realize the true cost until it was too late. Most early-stage founders operate on razor-thin runways and even thinner margins. Losing 17 days to the wrong conference can mean missing a critical hiring window, pushing a launch back by a quarter, or running out of cash. The opportunity cost is immense. Three filters to help you decide Preparation is table stakes, but the real competitive advantage is selection. Before you commit to any event, run it through these three filters: 1. Are your top 10 target customers actually attending? Don’t settle for “the industry will be there,” or “it’s a great brand.” Will the specific people who can write cheques or sign contracts be in the venue? If you can’t name at least five confirmed attendees you want to meet, you’re engaging in speculation, and speculation is expensive. 2. Can you get time with decision makers? Networking is not the same as dealmaking. Conferences are full of people collecting business cards and having “great chats” that go nowhere. Look for pre-scheduled meetings, private roundtables, investor office hours, or curated dinners. If the event doesn’t facilitate structured access, you’re paying to work a room. 3. Does the timing align with your fundraising or launch cycle? Attending a major event two weeks before a funding deadline is fundraising malpractice. Exhibiting at a trade show when your product isn’t ready to demo is theatre, not business development. Timing isn’t everything, but mistimed events have the potential to burn capital and credibility in equal measure. The real decision Preparation is hard, but preparing brilliantly for the wrong event isn’t going to yield the results you’re looking for. The formula above isn’t meant to scare founders away from conferences. If you’re going to invest 17 days of founder time, you’d better know exactly what ROI you’re chasing and have a plan to capture it. Most founders wing it. The folks who don’t tend to be the ones still standing when funding dries up. At Sesamers, we’ve spent years inside the event ecosystem, watching startups burn time and capital on conferences that looked good on paper but delivered nothing. The startups that survive and thrive aren’t the ones who attended the most events; they simply skipped those that weren’t relevant, and attended the right events at the right time, with the right preparation. So before you book your next booth or confirm that speaking slot, do the math, and see if you can afford to go wrong.

For startup founders, events offer a spectrum of opportunities. On one end, you have the mega-conferences, bustling hubs of innovation that bring together tens of thousands of people. They’re fantastic for broad visibility and getting a pulse on the entire industry. On the other end, you have a different, equally powerful tool: hyper-focused, niche events. These are conferences dedicated to one specific technology, industry or discipline — the International Exhibition for Track Technology, or MCP Dev Summit, an event dedicated to the Model Context Protocol standardization, for example. The value proposition here is simple: if you’re in the industry, you need to be there. If you’re not, you don’t. For a founder with specific goals — generating highly qualified leads, getting deep product feedback, or becoming a recognized expert — such singular focus isn’t a limitation; it’s a superpower. Small events filter out the noise, guaranteeing that nearly every conversation you’ll have is with someone who understands what you do.  This article will explore why niche events should be a core part of any startup’s strategic playbook, and how they can offer a unique and powerful return on investment: Small, niche events offer a set of advantages that you simply won’t find at a massive, general-interest conference.  A room full of your people (and best leads) The biggest reason to attend a niche event is the audience: everyone there is a pre-qualified lead. You don’t have to waste time explaining the basics of your industry; just dive straight into meaningful conversations. This results in incredibly efficient networking because smaller settings naturally enable deeper, more memorable discussions. And as you might know, high-quality audiences translate directly to high-quality leads. A case study by enterprise SaaS firm Zendog Labs found that nearly “80% of leads and 90% of revenue were generated from niche trade shows and events.”  When you’re talking to people who already understand and care about the problem you’re solving, the path to conversion gets a lot shorter. But does that mean such niche events are more expensive? Not at all. In our experience, they’re usually on par with the market, even for much bigger events.   Build your brand and encourage thought leadership Huge conferences make it almost impossible for startups to stand out, while smaller events let you have your 15 minutes. Also since you’re only talking to a specific audience, it’s easier to tailor your communication and branding. Find what people in your industry will find cool, and build on that. For example, we know that geeky jokes and dev-oriented merch are always a hit at technical events.  Exhibiting your product, giving a talk, participating in panels, or even just asking insightful questions in workshops can quickly establish your credibility and position you as a thought leader. This is much easier to achieve when you’re not competing with the marketing budgets of corporations worth hundreds of billions of dollars.  How do we know if this works? Well, we’ve seen some small events like apidays benefit from high fidelity on the part of exhibitors who keep rebooking each year, even for different locations.  Get direct, honest and invaluable feedback The closer, intimate nature of smaller events tends to attract a knowledgeable group of people who are more inclined to share incredibly valuable and direct feedback. These people aren’t passive listeners; they are experts who can quickly spot flaws, validate your assumptions, or suggest improvements you hadn’t considered for your product, pitch or roadmap. Want to know if your new feature makes sense? Talk to 10 people in the hallway track. If no one gets excited, you’ve just received a priceless signal to pivot early rather than build in silence. This is the fastest way to validate your ideas and ensure you’re building something the market actually wants. It’s the ultimate crash course Niche events make for intense learning opportunities. Forget trying to piece together the latest trends from blog posts and webinars. At a focused conference, you’ll be served a concentrated dose of cutting-edge information, best practices, and expert insights over just a few days.  You’ll hear from people building in the trenches, solving the same problems you are, and there’s knowledge to be gained by listening to their mistakes and successes.  Fertile ground for partnerships and integrations What do you call a room full of companies working in the same space? A goldmine of potential partners.  Integrating with complementary services can be a massive growth lever for startups. At a hyper-focused event, you’re more likely to be surrounded by potential partners who understand your tech stack or serve the same customer base. Such events easily foster collaborations that can lead to powerful new ventures and career-defining moments. A goldmine of content Events are a fantastic opportunity to create a ton of relevant content for your marketing channels. Off the top of my head, you can: This content is likely to be highly relevant to your target audience because it is generated directly from the conversations happening at the heart of your industry. A quick word of warning Not all niche events are created equal. Before you commit, do your due diligence. Talk to people who have attended in the past, and check the reputation of the organizers. A poorly run event with low turnout can be a huge waste of time and money. Also, be careful of echo chambers. While it’s great to get validation from experts in your niche, make sure you’re also getting feedback from the broader market to avoid building a product that only serves a tiny, insular community. Go small to win big Choosing the right event is a strategic decision for startups, not an all-encompassing answer. While large conferences offer incredible scale and brand exposure, hyper-focused events provide a different kind of value: precision, relevance and a direct line of communication to a highly qualified community. Niche events will let you generate high-quality leads, accelerate your learning, validate your ideas with true experts, and build a powerful network within your industry. It’s […]

AI is reshaping how people discover information. Search traffic, once the lifeblood of websites, is plummeting as AI tools provide answers and context immediately, eliminating the need to browse to websites for answers at all.  Understandably, companies are responding by going down avenues they can control: newsletters, podcasts, memberships and events. This reality is true for startups as well. You simply can’t rely on Google traffic or algorithms to build trust anymore. You need direct channels, and there are few ways to build trust more powerful than  meeting people face-to-face. Welcome to the ‘post-click’ era Startups have long played by the ever-changing rules set by Google and social media platforms, which are more often than not prone to changing their algorithms and leaving everyone scrambling to adapt overnight.  AI is not only accelerating this instability, it’s almost making Google referral traffic obsolete. Companies need to adapt to this new reality with strategies that let them talk directly to their prospective customers. The media industry, one of the most vulnerable to the changes, is proving to be one of the quickest to adapt. Morning Brew, for example, blends its newsletters franchises with events. In a recent interview, Sam Jacobs, TIME’s editor-in-chief, highlighted how the company went from organizing two to three events per year, to holding the same number of events monthly. Even digital-first players are embracing events. Podcasts like Acquired and All-In now host live events to bring their listeners together. Finimize has built grassroots meetups around its newsletter. The new defense tech media title, Resilience Media, born on Substack, is planning events to connect experts in its niche. Alex Konrad’s new Upstarts ecosystem includes live interviews, an upcoming podcast and curated events. These aren’t just extensions of the content; they’re ways to nurture communities. Startups should copy this strategy. They must consider where their credibility and relationships will be built in this new landscape, especially as visibility is no longer about simply appearing on top of search results or burning money with ads; it’s about building lasting trust in the spaces that matter. Events are singularly effective at doing that. Lessons from after the pandemic If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that being present online is insufficient. Platforms like Hopin promised a future of global, scalable, online events. Even experiments in VR conferences were the subject of occasional hype.  All of that fell short, however. What founders, investors and marketers learned was simple: There is no substitute for shaking someone’s hand, catching their eye, and sharing time in the same space. When the pandemic ended, events came back with a bang. Companies large and small continue to invest in gatherings. Events still carry symbolic weight: just look at Apple’s meticulously choreographed product launches, or how scaleups like Helsing showcase new technologies.  For startups, events can also serve as tools for strengthening internal communications and bonds with their employees and their community. Here’s a great example: Italian travel scaleup WeRoad holds an annual, two-day global gathering of its travel coordinators and staff that strengthens culture and commitment in ways a Zoom call never could. Why startups need to show up Startups live and die on the strength of their relationships. Securing investors, signing first customers, and finding the right partners are all processes that depend completely on trust. These early relationships are crucial. In an AI-driven world where digital discovery is fragmented, saturated and noisy, events cut through the noise. They offer something AI and algorithms never will: human presence. Startups should think of events as essential investments in visibility and credibility. Whether it’s speaking on stage, hosting a breakfast or simply showing up to the right conference — being in the room matters. It’s OK to be selective. It’s OK to pass on events when priorities point elsewhere. And don’t take this to mean the digital realm and AI should be ignored. But in this era where we’re putting AI on a pedestal, founders should not underestimate the power of a physical meeting for establishing contact with investors, talent, or any other important stakeholder.

TechCrunch Disrupt? Overrated. Web Summit? A $4,700 mistake I’ll never make again. I’ve burned $18K learning which startup events actually matter for B2B SaaS founders trying to close deals—not just collect business cards. Here’s what nobody tells you: the biggest events aren’t where B2B deals happen. Why “Best Startup Event” Lists Are Useless for B2B Founders Every January, tech blogs publish the same recycled garbage: “50 Must-Attend Startup Events!” They rank by size and buzz. What they don’t rank by: where your buyers actually show up with budgets. I learned this after exhibiting at a 70,000-person mega-conference. Spent $4,700 on booth space, flights, and hotel. Had exactly zero conversations with our target market. The attendees? Mostly consumer startups and the press are looking for the next Uber. According to Cvent, 81% of trade show attendees have buying authority—but only at industry-specific events. Generic “startup” conferences are networking theater. If you’re serious about finding the right startup event strategy, you need to think differently. The 5 Best Startup Events Where I’ve Actually Closed B2B Deals SaaStr Annual – Where SaaS Deals Actually Happen 13,000 SaaS professionals in San Mateo every March. APIDays – The Technical Depth You Need If you’re building APIs, this is your room. 2,000-3,000 API architects who can actually read your docs. Paris is the flagship, but they run 10+ cities globally. What makes APIDays different: it’s deeply technical. No marketing fluff. €3,000 gets you in, and European buyers are way less saturated than US markets. Big Data & AI Paris – Enterprise Buyers With Actual Budgets 15,000 enterprise CTOs and data engineers. I closed two partnerships here worth €400K combined—with French banks and telecom companies that had active Q4 budgets. The French government subsidizes AI adoption, so budgets are real. But your networking tactics need to adapt. Less aggressive, more relationship-focused. €800 for a pass and 3,200€ to exhibit as a startup, totally worth it if you’re targeting European enterprises. Track it on Sesamers so you don’t miss early bird pricing. MicroConf – Where Bootstrapped Founders Share Real Numbers 200-300 attendees max. Everyone’s profitable or trying to be. Zero VC hypergrowth bullshit. I’ve learned more in hallway conversations here than at conferences 50x the size. The attendees are other founders who share actual numbers—not vanity metrics. Churn rates, CAC, payback periods. This is how you measure real ROI from events. Worth every cent if you’re bootstrapped. Industry-Specific Trade Shows – The Secret Weapon Here’s the move nobody talks about: skip tech conferences entirely. Go where your buyers congregate. Healthcare SaaS? Hit HIMSS. Fintech? Money20/20. HR tech? HR Tech Conference. I watched a founder close a $400K deal at a healthcare event while competitors were posting selfies at Web Summit. These cost $3,000 avg, but attendee quality is 100x better. According to Statista, B2B trade shows hit $15.78B in 2024. This strategy works because you’re fishing where the fish actually are. The 3-Filter System I Use to Pick Events Filter 1: Who’s actually attending? Can you name 20 people who match your ICP? If not, wrong event. Use Sesamers to check historical attendee data before buying tickets. Filter 2: What’s your actual goal? Raising money? Go to investor-heavy events. Closing customers? Industry trade shows. Different goals need different event selection criteria. Filter 3: What’s the all-in cost? Ticket + flights + hotel + meals. If it’s over $3K, you need $30K in pipeline to break even. Most events don’t hit that unless you’re strategic. Events I Skip (And Why You Should Too) Web Summit: 70,000 people is networking hell. Consumer-focused despite the B2B claims. Pass unless you need Series A+ PR. CES: Consumer electronics show. Your B2B SaaS buyers aren’t here. I see founders at CES every year wondering why they’re not closing deals. Now you know. TechCrunch Disrupt: Great for press and VCs. Terrible for enterprise buyers. Worth it for launch PR, not pipeline. How I Track Everything Without Losing My Mind I track every event in a spreadsheet: cost, conversations, pipeline generated, deals closed. After three years of data, the pattern is crystal clear. Niche beats broad. Quality beats quantity—industry-specific crushes general tech. The best startup events for B2B SaaS are never on TechCrunch’s homepage. For API companies: APIDays and API World are superior to generic conferences. For AI/ML: Big Data & AI Paris provides European enterprise access that’s nearly impossible to achieve otherwise. Geography matters—European buyers at European events are way less saturated than US markets. Stop Wasting Money on the Wrong Events You have limited time and budget. Most founders can hit 3-5 events per year max. Choose wrong and you’ve burned $15K and 15 days for zero ROI. Choose right and one event generates $500K+ in pipeline. Use Sesamers to find events filtered by your industry and target attendees. See which ones similar founders recommend. Track ROI data. Set reminders for early bird pricing. Never waste another $4K on an event where your buyers don’t show up. Because the smartest way to pick events is learning from founders who’ve already tested them—and can tell you which ones actually matter. Ready to find your next high-ROI event? Start tracking on Sesamers and build your calendar based on data, not FOMO.

At SaaStr 2023, I had a 12-minute conversation with a VP of Partnerships at a Series C company. No pitch. No business cards. Just asked him about his biggest challenge with international expansion. Three months later, that conversation turned into a $2M partnership deal. That’s what good startup event networking looks like—and it has nothing to do with collecting LinkedIn connections. Here are the 7 tactics that turned me from “business card guy” into someone people actually want to talk to. Tactic #1: Research 20 People Before You Arrive (Not 200) Most founders show up at a startup event hoping to “meet people.” That’s code for wandering around awkwardly. Here’s what works: Before the event, identify exactly 20 people you want to meet. Not 200. Twenty. Pull the attendee list (most B2B events share this 4-6 weeks before). Use Sesamers to see who’s attending events you’re registered for. Then research each target: LinkedIn profile, recent posts, their company’s latest news, what they’re working on. I spend 5 minutes per person. That’s 100 minutes of prep that separates you from the 80% of attendees who show up cold. When you walk up and say “Hey Sarah, saw your post about expanding into EMEA—we just cracked that market, happy to share what worked,” you’re already 10x more memorable than “Hi, I’m a founder, what do you do?” Pro tip: DM all 20 people on LinkedIn two weeks before the event. “Hey [Name], seeing you’re going to [Event]. Would love to grab coffee and hear about [specific thing they’re working on]. Tuesday 8am work?” Pre-booking even 3-5 meetings means you’ve already won the event before you land. Here’s how I pick which events are worth this prep work. Tactic #2: Ask Questions That Make People Think (Not Talk) The worst networkers ask “What does your company do?” Everyone gets that question 47 times. It triggers autopilot mode: rehearsed elevator pitch, eyes glazing over, polite nod, move on. Zero connection. According to Harvard Business Review research, people remember conversations where they had to think, not just recite. Ask questions that don’t have scripted answers. My go-to questions: “What’s the hardest problem you’re trying to solve right now?” or “What’s working surprisingly well in your business that you didn’t expect?” or “If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing about [their industry], what would it be?” These questions do three things: show you’re interested in them (not pitching), surface actual problems you might solve, and make you memorable because most people at networking events don’t ask interesting questions. They just wait for their turn to pitch. Tactic #3: The 10-Minute Rule (Then Move On) I used to have 45-minute conversations with one person at events, thinking I was “building rapport.” Wrong. That’s hogging. Startup event networking is about starting conversations, not finishing them. Research from Cvent shows that 72% of attendees are more likely to do business with people they meet at events—but only if you follow up properly. Set a timer. Ten minutes max per conversation. If it’s going great, say “This is super valuable—I’ve got to run to another meeting but let’s schedule 30 minutes next week to dive deeper. Are you free Tuesday?” Then book it right there. Exchange numbers or grab a calendar link. The goal isn’t to close deals on the event floor. It’s to identify who’s worth a real conversation later. Ten minutes is enough to know if there’s fit. Everything else happens in follow-up. Exception: If you’re mid-negotiation on something big, obviously don’t bail after 10 minutes. But for initial networking? Move fast, meet more people, book follow-ups with the right ones. Here’s my full pre-event checklist for maximizing these conversations. Tactic #4: Kill the Business Card Theater Business cards in 2025 are cosplay. They’re what people who don’t know how to network think networking looks like. I watched a founder collect 83 business cards at Web Summit. Know how many he followed up with? Zero. Because he didn’t actually connect with anyone. Here’s what I do instead: After a good conversation, I text myself their name and one specific thing we discussed. “Alex Chen – struggling with European compliance, mentioned needing help with GDPR.” Takes 10 seconds. No card to lose, no app to forget to check, just a note I’ll actually use. Or skip the middle step entirely: “Hey, let me get your number so we can schedule that follow-up call.” Boom, you’re in their phone. Text them before you leave the event: “Great meeting you. Tuesday 2pm work for that call?” Now you’re a person with a scheduled meeting, not a business card in a pile. The best networking at startup events happens when you think less about “making connections” and more about “starting relationships.” Cards don’t build relationships. Scheduled follow-up calls do. Tactic #5: Organize Your Own Dinner (This Is the Cheat Code) Want to know the real secret of startup event networking? The conference itself is just bait. The real networking happens at dinners, breakfasts, and after-parties you organize yourself. I started doing this at every event: Book a table at a restaurant near the venue for 6-8 people. Invite 3-4 people I want to meet from my target list, tell them each to bring one interesting person. Done. Now I’m having a real conversation over dinner instead of shouting over techno music at the official after-party. Cost: $150-300 for dinner. Value: Way higher than the actual conference ticket. Last dinner I organized at a fintech conference led to three partnerships and one customer that’s now $400K ARR. The conference sessions? Taught me nothing I didn’t already know from YouTube. Pro tip: Track events where multiple people from your target list are attending using Sesamers’ attendee tracking, then organize dinners strategically around those events. Here are the B2B events where this tactic works best. Tactic #6: The 24-Hour Follow-Up (Not “Next Week”) According to Salesforce data, leads contacted within 24 hours are 7x more likely to convert than those […]

Last year I spent 11 hours scrolling through Eventbrite, LinkedIn Events, and random newsletters trying to find startup events worth attending. Found 47 “amazing opportunities.” Went to 8. Got ROI from 2. Here’s the problem: there are over 32,000 startup events globally every year according to UFI Global, and 90% of them are a waste of your calendar and cash. I needed a system. Here’s how I now find high-ROI events in 20 minutes instead of 11 hours. Why Most Founders Suck at Finding the Right Events You know what kills me? Founders who Google “best startup events 2025,” click the first TechCrunch listicle, and drop $3K on a ticket because Web Summit looks cool on LinkedIn. Then they complain events don’t work. The issue isn’t that good startup events don’t exist. It’s that you’re using consumer discovery methods for B2B decisions. Eventbrite is built for yoga classes and birthday parties, not finding where enterprise buyers congregate. LinkedIn Events is 80% webinar spam. Google? Shows you the events with the biggest ad budgets, not the best attendees. According to Cvent research, 67% of trade show attendees represent completely new business prospects. But only if you’re at the RIGHT show. Wrong event selection is the #1 reason founders think “events don’t work.” The events work fine. You’re just showing up to the wrong rooms. Here’s the system I use to find events where actual deals happen. Source #1: Reverse Engineer Where Your Buyers Already Go Stop asking “what startup events should I attend?” Start asking “where do my target customers already hang out?” Different question, different answer. If you sell API infrastructure to DevOps teams, you want KubeCon, not Collision. If you sell HR software to mid-market companies, you want SHRM Annual Conference, not Web Summit. This seems obvious but I see B2B SaaS founders at consumer tech conferences all the time wondering why they’re not closing enterprise deals. Here’s my process: Pull your top 10 customers. Google “[company name] + speaking” and “[company name] + sponsoring.” See which conferences they present at or sponsor. That’s where their peers are. That’s your target event list. Takes 15 minutes, beats 11 hours of blind searching. For finding these industry-specific events, I use trade association directories. Every vertical has one: SBA.gov has a comprehensive list, or search “[your industry] + trade association” and check their events calendar. These are where buyers go, not tourists. Source #2: Follow the Money (Where VCs and Partners Speak) Want to find quality startup events? Track where the money shows up. Check Crunchbase for your target investors and see where they’re listed as speakers. Use LinkedIn to follow VCs and watch what events they post about attending. I have a simple spreadsheet: 20 investors I want to meet, their LinkedIn profiles bookmarked, notifications on. When they post “Looking forward to speaking at [Event],” that event goes on my shortlist. If three investors I want to meet are all going to the same conference, that’s not coincidence. That’s signal. Pro tip: Most VCs announce speaking gigs 4-6 weeks before the event. Set Google Alerts for “[Investor Name] + speaking” to catch these early. Registration is cheaper and you can book meetings with them before their calendars fill up. Here’s how I turn those meetings into actual conversations. Source #3: Use a Real B2B Event Discovery Platform After burning months on consumer event platforms, I switched to Sesamers for B2B event discovery. It’s built specifically for founders looking for business events, not birthday party planners looking for venues. The difference? You can filter by industry (API/SaaS, fintech, healthcare tech, etc.), attendee profile (VCs, enterprise buyers, distribution partners), and event size. You can see who actually attended past editions before buying a $2K ticket. You can track which events your network is going to. Game changer. I have filters saved for “B2B SaaS events in North America with 500-2000 attendees” and “fintech conferences with VC attendance.” One click, boom, my quarterly event shortlist. Beats the hell out of scrolling Eventbrite for three hours. Here’s my full system for tracking events without losing my mind. Source #4: Mine Your Network (The 80/20 of Event Discovery) The fastest way to find startup events worth attending? Ask founders who are two years ahead of you what they go to. Not “what events do you recommend” (they’ll just name drop). Ask “what’s the ONE event where you closed your biggest deal last year?” I send this exact message to 5-10 founders in my industry every quarter: “Hey [Name], building my 2025 event calendar. What’s the ONE conference that drove the most revenue for [their company] last year? And which one was overhyped?” Two-question email, 90% response rate, pure gold. Set up a simple Notion database or Airtable with: Event name, Recommended by, Why they liked it, Approximate ROI. After 6 months you’ll have a curated list of events that actually work for your specific business model. Worth more than any “Top 50 Startup Events” listicle. Another hack: Join Slack communities for your industry (SaaStr has great ones for SaaS founders). Search the channels for “conference” or “event” and read what people actually say, not what sponsors promote. Real founders complaining or praising = real signal. Source #5: Check the Attendee List Before You Buy This is my non-negotiable filter. Before I buy any ticket over $500, I demand to see the attendee list or at least historical attendance data. If the organizer won’t share it? Red flag. They’re hiding something. Some events publish attendee lists 6-8 weeks before (especially B2B trade shows). Others have “matchmaking platforms” where you can browse who’s registered. If the event has neither, email the organizers directly and ask for: average attendee seniority, percentage of attendees by role (founder/investor/corporate), and top companies that attended last year. I track this in Sesamers because they aggregate historical data on major B2B events—attendance numbers, speaker quality ratings, and which types of companies typically show up. Saves me from buying tickets to events that […]

I dropped $4,700 on my first startup event trip to London. Flight, hotel, conference pass. Know what I got? Three business cards from people who never replied to my emails and a hangover from the afterparty. That was 2014. Fast forward to today, I’ve attended 200+ events, signed dozen partnership deals, and learned which conferences are worth your burn rate and which ones are Instagram traps for wannapreneurs. Here’s what nobody tells you about startup events before you waste your first $5K. Why Most Founders Pick the Wrong Events The problem isn’t that you’re attending events. It’s that you’re attending the wrong events. According to research from Cvent, 81% of event attendees have buying authority, but only if you’re in a room with your actual buyers. I see B2B SaaS founders burning money at consumer tech conferences wondering why they’re not closing deals. Wrong audience. The best startup event for your company isn’t the one with the biggest brand name. It’s the one where your ideal customers, partners, or investors actually show up. Period. Most founders pick events based on FOMO or where TechCrunch says to go. That’s how you end up at an event with thousands of people and zero qualified conversations. Here’s how to think about this differently. The 3 Types of Startup Events (and Which One You Need Right Now) Type 1: The Mega Conference – Web Summit, SXSW, Collision. Good for: brand awareness, recruiting, media attention. Bad for: closing deals, deep partnerships. Cost: $2K-$8K all-in. My take: Skip these until you’re Series A+ or have a specific speaking/expo reason. Type 2: The Niche Industry Event – SaaStr for SaaS, FinTech Connect/Money 20/20 for fintech, HIMSS for healthcare tech. Good for: meeting buyers, finding distribution partners, learning vertical trends. Cost: $1K-$3K. My take: This is where B2B deals happen. Here’s my list of the best ones for B2B SaaS founders. Type 3: The Local Meetup – Startup Grind chapters, Techstars Startup Weekend, city accelerator demo days. Good for: building local relationships, testing your pitch, finding co-founders or early hires. Cost: Free-$50. My take: Underrated. The ROI-per-dollar is insane if you’re early stage. Your stage determines which type matters most. Pre-seed? Hit local meetups weekly. Pre-Seed to Seed? Niche industry events quarterly. Series A+? Now you can afford the mega conferences. How to Find Events That Don’t Waste Your Time Stop Googling “best startup events 2025” and finding the same recycled listicles. Start with who you need to meet. Investors? Check where your target VCs are speaking (Crunchbase shows this). Enterprise customers? Find the industry conferences they attend. Distribution partners? Trade shows in your vertical. I use Sesamers to track B2B events by filtering for my industry, geography, and attendee profile. You can see who actually attends before dropping $2K on a ticket. Game changer. Here’s my full system for finding events that don’t suck. Pro tip: Check the speaker lineup and attendee list 90 days before the event. If you don’t recognize at least 30% of the names as relevant to your business, skip it. That’s your filter. Startup Event Networking: Stop Collecting Cards, Start Closing Deals The goal of a startup event isn’t to “network.” It’s to start conversations that turn into revenue, partnerships, or funding. Different objective, different tactics. Research shows that 72% of attendees are more likely to buy from exhibitors they meet at events. But only if you have a follow-up system. I’ve watched founders have brilliant booth conversations and then… nothing. No email, no LinkedIn, no meeting scheduled. Here’s my 3-part framework: Before the event, identify 20 people you want to meet and DM them. During the event, have real conversations (not pitches) and book follow-up calls before they walk away. After the event, email within 24 hours with something specific you discussed. My full networking playbook is here. The founder who schedules 5 solid follow-up meetings beats the founder who collected 50 business cards. Every time. Use this checklist to nail your pre-event prep. What Nobody Tells You About Startup Event ROI My co-founder thought events were vanity spending until I showed him our spreadsheet. Track this: cost per event, meetings booked, deals in pipeline, closed revenue attributed to event leads. That $4,700 SF trip I mentioned? Zero ROI. But a $1,200 trip to SaaStr generated two partnerships worth $400K in ARR. According to Statista, the B2B event market hit $15.78 billion in 2024 because this stuff works when you do it right. The average B2B event delivers 4:1 ROI within 18 months if you follow up properly. But here’s the thing: most founders don’t track any of this. They go to events, feel busy, post on LinkedIn, and call it marketing. That’s not strategy, that’s theater. Here’s how to actually measure if an event was worth your time and money. Mistakes That Kill Your Event Results I’ve made every rookie mistake. Showing up without researching attendees. Pitching drunk at an afterparty (yes, really). Forgetting to follow up for three weeks. Attending events just because they’re free. Each one cost me deals or credibility. The biggest mistake? Treating every startup event the same. A pitch competition requires different prep than a networking happy hour. A trade show booth needs different materials than a speaking slot. I documented all 9 mistakes I made so you don’t have to. Also: stop going to generic “entrepreneur” events. The best startup event for you is specific to your industry, stage, and current business needs. A fintech founder at a general “tech mixer” is wasting time. That same founder at FinovateSpring? Gold mine. Virtual vs In-Person: When Each Actually Works Post-pandemic, everyone’s asking: should I fly there or Zoom in? Wrong question. Ask: what’s my goal? Virtual works for: learning content, early-stage relationship building, staying visible without travel budget. In-person works for: closing big deals, deep partnerships, recruiting senior talent. Here’s my decision framework. I spent $50K on flights in 2023 to figure out that for our API SaaS, virtual demos work better for initial […]

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.

The best pavilions don't just house startups; they create ecosystems where meaningful connections happen naturally. This isn't just about pretty signage or strategic booth placement — it involves understanding how people navigate events and engage with spaces.

At Sesamers, we’re always looking to be the first to learn about the latest trends in the startup and tech events space. That’s why it feels like a privilege that Sesamers was invited by Olivia Hervy, chief ecosystem officer of VivaTech, to the exclusive kick-off VivaTech 2026, alongside key partners.  As Europe’s largest startup and tech event prepares for its 10th anniversary, scheduled for June 17-20, 2026 in Paris, being part of this circle of industry professionals gives us early insight into what promises to be VivaTech’s most ambitious edition yet, with significant expansions and new experiences that reflect a decade of growth and evolution. Major infrastructure expansions After calling Hall 1 and 2 at Porte de Versailles home for a decade, VivaTech 2026 is relocating to Hall 7, a new three-floor building that the event will occupy fully. The venue now features 30% more exhibition space across three floors; upgraded infrastructure; excellent internet connectivity, and a much larger business center. The building has 12 dedicated restaurant areas, providing ample dining options to better accommodate the growing crowds. The centerpiece is a brand new, 2,200-seat main stage where the event’s most significant announcements and keynotes will be held. Greater business focus Building on 2025’s  success (180,000 attendees, 14,000 startups), VivaTech 2026 introduces several business-focused improvements: Doubled innovation showcase The “Garden of Innovators” concept has been expanded upon, with organizers promising to double startup participation, product announcements, and exhibition surface area compared to previous editions.  Located on the first floor, the welcome area will showcase exemplars of innovation through the centuries to remind attendees of humanity’s continuous drive to invent and create. Germany takes center stage For 2026, Germany has been selected as the “Country of the Year,” and VivaTech will highlight the nation’s contributions to the European tech ecosystem with an eye towards strengthening Franco-German technological cooperation. Thematic villages  VivaTech 2026 introduces a new organizational approach: We have four dedicated thematic arenas, each of which features its own startup village and specialized programming: Each thematic village will feature startups building in those sectors, creating focused ecosystems where attendees can explore innovations that cross-pollinate within a concentrated area. Every theme features its own dedicated stage, which will host talks, panels, and presentations tailored to that sector. An additional Executive Arena will cater specifically to marketing and tech leaders, providing a hub for C-level discussions and strategic content. “Revolutions in Progress” VivaTech2026’s theme emphasizes ongoing technological revolutions, with particular focus on: Special anniversary experiences To mark the event’s 10th anniversary, VivaTech 2026 will feature several special events: Looking forward With its tagline, “VIVA LA REVOLUTION,” VivaTech 2026 positions itself not just as a retrospective celebration, but as the launch pad for the next decade of European tech innovation. The expanded format and new experiences point to how the event is evolving from a showcase into an increasingly sophisticated business platform for the global tech community. VivaTech 2026 builds on last year’s impressive satisfaction metrics (92% of exhibitors satisfied, 82% of attendees planning to return) while substantially expanding capacity and capabilities to serve the growing European tech ecosystem.

Europe recorded €108 billion from exhibitions and events in 2024, according to UFI’s latest data. The continent welcomed 102 million visitors to over 2,000 certified exhibitions across 17 countries; Web Summit Lisbon set a record with 71,528 attendees in November 2024, making it the largest edition to date; and Stockholm’s Techarena secured just over €1 million from VC firm BackingMinds to expand internationally. By any reasonable measure, Europe’s events space has absolutely crushed the events game. End of story. Fin. However, from where I’m sitting, the elephant is still lurking quite comfortably in the room. At the risk of being ostracized, I’ll go ahead and ask the question: Why are some of the most innovative companies on the planet still schlepping to Austin for SXSW to make their biggest announcements (Salt Lick and Stubbs BBQ’s aside)? The room vs. the world Looking at the numbers: Europe’s events spark more meaningful connections per square meter than anywhere else on Earth. In 2025, VivaTech set records with 180,000 visitors, a 10% increase from a year earlier. MWC Barcelona authoritatively anchors a circuit stretching from Kigali to Las Vegas. The continent plays host to an estimated 32,000 exhibitions annually, generating 4.3 million full-time equivalent jobs. These are numbers you cannot take lightly. But walk into any European tech conference and you’ll witness something that should make every one of us reach for the Advil: major announcements received by something akin to a boisterous golf clap from 500 or so people. And that’s it. Those announcements then usually disintegrate into the digital ether, seemingly never to be heard of again. Meanwhile, across the pond, a throwaway tweet about the same topic has the potential to garner upwards of 50,000 shares and three podcast invitations faster than you can drink your morning coffee. But data and numbers don’t lie, and when it comes to events, they’re frankly embarrassing. Europe’s events sector processes roughly €108 billion, and is  extraordinarily efficient in bringing decision makers together in the same space.  European startups consistently struggle with what should be the easier bit: translating those promising conversations into sustained media coverage, investor attention and market validation. The great muppet caper Picture this scene playing out roughly 847 times per week across Europe: Monday: A Finnish startup leveraging AI presents a true breakthrough in supply chain management/optimization/operations to 200 logistics executives at a specialized track. The demo is genuinely impressive. The potential is genuinely massive. The audience is the very definition of target market. All the right pieces are in all the right places. Tuesday: Three tech publications publish brief summaries, perhaps even covering the entire conference, and not just the logistics breakthrough. The fledgling company’s LinkedIn post gets 47 likes (including the founders’ mothers, university mates, and the intern). A single podcast interview is scheduled for three weeks later. It may or may not happen. Wednesday: The story is now less alive than disco was on July 13, 1979. Look that one up, kids. Now let’s compare the same actions to the American playbook, which, if I’m honest, makes me simultaneously impressed and nauseous. The same company makes the announcement at a Bay Area-based event (yep, you know it as well as I do). It generates immediate response across a variety of channels from some  truly influential voices and some noise makers, but enough to garner the attention of major media (print, podcast, and pulp) outlets within 48 hours. It then spawns derivative content, and creates a sustained conversation that drives real, true, business development for the startup for weeks. The difference here isn’t the quality of the innovation; it’s how the messaging was amplified. Folks, you can hate me for saying this, but this is where Europe is getting schooled. There is no stopping in the Red Zone Take one look at today’s media landscape, and you’ll leave with a rather morbid impression. The problem isn’t structural fragmentation; it’s an endemic contraction. Leon may be growing, but European tech media is shrinking,  at precisely the wrong moment. A brief reminder: TechCrunch, long the go-to outlet for European startup coverage, quietly shut down its entire European operation in 2025 when private equity firm Regent LP acquired the publication.  Digital Frontier, the London-based tech publication that launched in early 2024 with a team of 20, “paused” operations just a few months ago, making all 16 staff members redundant.  Business Insider cut 21% of its staff in 2025, citing “extreme traffic drops” and AI disruption. Just days ago, we all found out that The Next Web, once one of Europe’s flagship tech conferences and media brands, was shutting down its events and media operations after nearly 20 years. The Financial Times, which bought TNW in 2019, confirmed it was winding down the business by the end of September following a “strategic review.” Conference attendance had dropped to 4,500 in 2025, less than half of pre-pandemic levels. The failure to capture content The folks at Black Unicorn PR earlier this year put together a guide that reveals something anyone working in European tech media already knows but pretends isn’t true: “Unlike the U.S., which has a few dominant tech media outlets and an emerging class of star indie writers, Europe hasn’t yet consolidated its practitioners’ knowledge in one place.” Stop and think about what that really means for a second. Sure, we’ve got strong regional players, and I salute Sifted, EU-Startups, and Tech.eu doing the do. But the lack of a unified amplification machinery, by definition, puts Europe at a disadvantage over Silicon Valley stories that are destined to be heard in Phuket faster than you can finish reading this sentence. To put it bluntly, European tech events suffer from content capture failure. The most valuable insights surface within conversations, at roundtable discussions, and networking sessions that generate no permanent content.  Unlike American events, which increasingly operate as content factories designed for social media amplification, European conferences optimize to create value in the room rather than post-event content distribution. All that […]

Walking through the sprawling halls of IFA Berlin 2025, it’s immediately clear that this isn’t just another trade show. This year’s edition solidified IFA Next as Europe’s premier showcase of consumer technology startups, an event where innovation meets practical applications in a comprehensive hardware-focused startup environment. The heart of European consumer tech innovation IFA Next has evolved into Europe’s hub for the latest on consumer tech. It’s where the continent’s most promising hardware startups converge with global visionaries and industry pioneers. This isn’t just marketing speak — Hall H25, dedicated entirely to consumer-focused hardware, was in many ways the largest and most influential gathering of consumer technology startups in Europe. The centerpiece was the Dream Stage, where bold ideas are shared through keynotes, panels, and highly anticipated pitch battles. Unlike other tech conferences, IFA Next maintains laser focus on technologies that will directly impact how people live, work, and interact with their environments. The Dream Stage is also where Europe’s next consumer tech unicorns are spotted far before they take flight. The finale of this year’s IFA Next Pitch Battle 2025: Breakthrough Battle saw founders presenting concepts to investors, media, and industry experts, competing for visibility, investment, and growth opportunities. Complementing the Dream Stage was the IFA Lab, an interactive testing ground where exhibitors, investors and industry  professionals collaborate to bring innovations from prototype to store shelves. The Lab is where Europe’s startups refined their ideas, engaged with industry experts, and pushed new technologies from concept to market reality. Hall H25: Europe’s consumer tech capital Hall H25 was home to what has become Europe’s largest dedicated consumer technology startup space. Beyond the sheer numbers, the hall is an indicator of how mature Europe’s hardware ecosystem has become. IFA Next specifically champions hardware solutions that people can touch, use and integrate into their daily lives. The diversity and ambition on display were remarkable. Both European and international startups presented solutions spanning healthcare, sustainable products, and cutting-edge tech for everyday use.  What stood out Addressing a critical gap in healthcare technology that affects families across the world, Coro, which won an IFA Innovation Award, accurately measures milk supply in real-time during breastfeeding. This is exactly the kind of practical, user-oriented innovation that defines IFA Next’s positioning. LeydenJar Technologies‘ groundbreaking battery technology deserves special mention for fundamentally rethinking energy storage for everyday devices. This startup is tackling what will arguably be one of the biggest challenges for consumer electronics as AI-powered devices become ubiquitous in European homes: more energy storage while keeping the dimensions small. Dtablet’s medication management solutions address  healthcare challenges that affect millions of European families. Their focus on reducing dosing uncertainty represents the practical, user-centered approach that characterizes Europe’s tech startups. Paptic’s bio-based, recyclable packaging materials are made from renewable wood fibers, a distinctly European approach to sustainable products. The startup won multiple awards, demonstrating how European startups are leading global sustainability trends. Unframe showcased immersive applications combining virtual reality and artificial intelligence, a bellwether of  next-generation digital experiences. The startup’s user-centric approach to VR and AI reflects its emphasis on practical applications over pure technological spectacle. Broadcasting innovation: IFA’s Twitch strategy One of the most forward-thinking aspects of IFA 2025 was the creation of dedicated Twitch live rooms for presenting products and news in real-time. Modern users expect interactive, accessible content about the products that will impact their lives, so this integration of live streaming represents a crucial evolution in how innovations reach their intended audiences. Sessions like “Retro Tech Rewind” with IFA CEO Leif Lindner were specifically designed for Twitch, demonstrating IFA Next’s commitment to making innovation accessible beyond the convention floor. This approach to content delivery could set new standards for how European startups engage with their markets. Europe’s consumer tech ecosystem at scale What makes IFA Next compelling is its comprehensive approach to nurturing consumer-focused innovation. It’s not just about displaying finished products; the focus here is on creating an environment where startups can connect with VCs, retail partners, buyers, and over 4,500 journalists. This ecosystem brings together everything from AI-powered home devices, smartphones, laptops and sustainable products to smart health solutions and wearable technology. With dedicated spaces for both demonstrations and retail networking, IFA Next bridged the gap between cutting-edge research and retail opportunities, a critical pathway for European hardware startups. While cities like London, Berlin, and Amsterdam host numerous tech conferences, none of those events match IFA Next’s specific focus on hardware innovation or its ability to connect startups directly with the global consumer electronics retail ecosystem. Samsung’s strong AI focus Samsung has put in a lot of time and effort into comprehensively integrating AI across its consumer product ecosystem. Take for example Its AI-enabled refrigerator: besides keeping your groceries fresh, it can propose recipes, and even identify missing ingredients — it’s a masterclass in how established brands are setting the bar for startups to reach and surpass. Samsung also showcased its expansion beyond traditional consumer electronics into B2B applications. Its IoT systems and 3D building visualization software demonstrated how consumer tech innovations can scale into commercial applications — a pathway many European startups at IFA Next are actively pursuing. The future of European consumer tech IFA 2025 has demonstrated that Europe’s technology startup ecosystem isn’t just thriving — it’s defining global trends. From sustainable packaging solutions to revolutionary healthcare devices, European startups at IFA Next are solving real problems with practical, scalable solutions. The combination of established electronics giants setting innovation benchmarks, ambitious startups developing market-ready solutions, and innovative presentation formats showed that IFA Next has become more than Europe’s largest consumer tech startup showcase: It’s evolved into an essential preview of European technology leadership. For anyone interested in understanding where European consumer technology innovation is heading, IFA Next represents the definitive annual checkpoint. The innovations showcased here by European and international startups will likely be the everyday products of tomorrow, and Europe’s leadership in making that transformation happen is becoming undeniably clear. As Europe’s premier consumer tech startup showcase, IFA Next […]