Sesame Summit 2026 – application open

Jörn Leogrande

In case you somehow missed all the buzz about Wirecard over the past couple years, here’s the TL;DR backstory, for context: Wirecard’s meteoric rise from being just a small startup in Munich back in 1999 to eventually dominating the German stock exchange in 2018 soon exploded in flames in 2019 after the Financial Times reported accounting irregularities in Wirecard’s Asia Pacific operations.

After months of deep investigation, 2 separate auditing firms (EY & KPMG) both found an estimated 1.9 billion euros missing from Wirecard’s balance sheet which of course caused the collapse of the company in 2020 with the fallout still ongoing today.

When Ben & I first met Jörn Leogrande in person, it was during Slush back in 2018. At the time he was leading Wirecard’s Innovation Labs which is how we connected in the first place since Jörn was on a mission to share his innovations – and innovation thought-leadership – with more global audiences.

We agreed that because most innovation approaches are designed to boost marketing efforts, they often miss focusing on the hard work of developing new solutions/technologies. One example of this kind of hard work would have been evolving the status quo business model of events in order to better anticipate potential industry disruptions – ie. a global pandemic – before those disruptions actually occur. Since the world went into lockdown in March 2020, all in-person events had no choice but to adapt, for better or for worse.


Rewinding back to before the pandemic, how was your experience working on truly innovative ideas/solutions within Wirecard’s Innovation Lab?

Well, “before the pandemic” – that sounds like a thousand years ago. The main objective of Wirecard Labs back then was to build internal communities to accelerate agile thinking and innovative solutions. In other words: employee engagement was the key to our success. Constant communication was most relevant for Wirecard Labs so we did spend a lot of time in internal workshops, events, screening sessions and planning meetings. Most of the time Face-to-Face but also with a good degree of video conferencing back then.

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What’s an example of an innovative idea/solution that you brought to life – or helped to build?

We built a truly innovative solution for AI-driven price negotiations in e-commerce. This was something that had never been done before, and merchants and consumers were really keen to use the solution.

What key lessons did you learn while promoting that innovation on stage(s) at event(s) around the world?

I always found it interesting to talk about numbers and hard facts when presenting at events. Inside the innovation community there is no lack of brilliant ideas – but what’s really coming out of this? How big were the financial investments? And how successfully did the handover process work? What were the KPIs? These are issues that every innovation manager is interested in – but rarely ever shares in public. As innovation specialists, we are not magicians – everything we do should be based on numbers and concepts.

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As one of Wirecard’s limited public-facing speakers who was still on stage at events in 2019, how did you face the growing scrutiny around the allegations of fraud stemming from the Financial Times investigations?

As the innovation lead at Wirecard, I always had the tendency to focus on the future strategy of retail and payment and not so much on our balance sheets. When you look at most of my presentations from 2019, I was not talking about Wirecard – instead I was concentrating on some future developments. Looking back, I have to say that I made it too easy for myself with that strategy. But I was not aware of the full extent of the misery the company was in at the time.

In this age of flashy marketing campaigns and trendy buzzwords about innovation, do you have any suggestions for how to cut through the noise & figure out how what’s actually relevant / worth paying attention to?

Like I said before: I think that numbers, results, KPIs or engagement factors are much more relevant than nice images and rendered videos. Innovation departments and Labs should not see themselves as satellites but more like service departments inside companies. In my experience, this approach is more sustainable, more measurable and more successful than many other innovation strategies.  Involving and engaging the entire enterprise in each step results in stronger adoption of an innovation culture to drive change in order to give a company staying power in an ever-changing and ever-demanding world.

More broadly speaking, which innovation(s) within finance/ payments are fascinating you the most these days?

It might sound old but I think that now is the time when AI and machine learning will really start gaining momentum. This hypothesis has been prophesied a lot in the past. But the radically-increasing digitalization due to Covid 19 has led to the breakthrough of digital intelligence. This includes areas like fraud management, customer engagement, real time payments and data-driven offerings.

Now that the world of events has shifted (mostly) online, how has your experience taking part in or speaking at virtual events been so far? Which online events did you enjoy the most?

I have to say that I personally enjoy the smaller online events with intelligent networking capabilities very much. There is also one aspect to highlight. With most of us sitting in our home offices all day long, busy doing Zoom-calls – it is the unexpected interactions that we are missing most.  Events that understand that they have to provide at least a bit of unplanned interaction will be most successful in the future. People want to discover new experiences – from the security of their home offices. But if a conference or an event is just the continuation of a Zoom-call it might not be successful in the long run.

And last but not least, what have you been up to since leaving Wirecard?

I left Wirecard in August 2020. Back then I had the idea to write a book about my journey with the company. I did a few pages and sent it to Random House and suddenly had a publishing contract. “Bad Company” came out four weeks ago in German and will also be available in English shortly. But there are no concrete timelines to share. Right now I’m taking a bit of time off to think about what I should do next. If anybody has a good idea – please feel free to share it with me.

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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.

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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. 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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. 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