It was my first time participating at the Web Summit and I can tell you without a doubt that this event is simply GREAT!

There were 70,469 of us participating this year together with the biggest names in the industry, I’m talking about: AWS, Google, Microsoft, SAP, etc…. Most of them presented their newest and most advanced innovations.

Here is a summary of the pros and cons of participating in this year’s Web Summit!

1. It allowed us to see what other entrepreneurs like you are doing around the world. Also we got to see the legends in the business, names like Edward Snowden, Brad Smith, Guo Ping from Huawei and many others. There were also many exhibitors with fresh new ideas and solutions at the Summit because they have a rather welcoming selection process.

“So you gain a whole range of ideas and learn more” – As an entrepreneur we  are driven by ideas and continuous learning.

2. As an exhibitor, the Summit allowed us to get a different understanding of our users on several levels: the message, the form, and the content. This is giving us space to adjust and do a better job in the future.

“You gain direct feedback from users and feel emotions”.

Your existing and future users are your best allies in the development of SAAS software.

3. As an exhibitor you can create awareness about your product to prospect clients. Our Osortoo tools really helped us for this purpose and I strongly recommend you to organize a contest or give an incentive on tablet/computer during your exhibitions. The image below is our stand at the event and in 3 days we collected about a hundred prospects.

Register here and one of our advisors will be able to assist you.

The goal is not to promote Osortoo here so let’s go back to our experiences at WebSummit ???? !

“Without customers your company wouldn’t exist, and before you become a customer you’re often a prospect”.

4. Participate in round tables where you have the opportunity to exchange ideas and meet with experts.

5. The city of Lisbon is beautiful, and the food is great, I recommend you take a few more days for the trip. You could also check out the Night Summit if you are not too tired in the evening.

6. A word of advice, if you want to participate as an exhibitor, go with 3 people, if not minimum be 2, otherwise it will be very tiring. Believe me.

You can also check out the other stuff at the Websummit. You can participate in pitches in front of investors, attend events around the Web Summit, get interesting discounts etc….

Try to plan your time beforehand, because times can overlap. So make a list of meetings, conferences, round tables you want to attend. Download the official mobile application, it will save you a lot of time and it will keep you organized.

7. Best of all, Yes we have received $10,000* of credit on our DigitalOcean account thanks to their Hatch program here.

I like the slogan of their campaign: “Scale up. On us. ”.

Just this made our trip worth it!

Finally, it was a great experience, and clearly one that should be repeated. So go there, don’t be shy, talk to people and you will be surprised to see how people are willing to share their experiences and ideas with you.

You’ll learn a lot there and surely become a better entrepreneur. If you have already been at the Web Summit feel free to share your experience below or give some tips on how to make a successful exhibitions.

*For DigitalOcean Hatch program: The trick is the credit is only available for 12 months so you probably won’t use 100% of it, depending on your needs.