WebSummit, Dublin – should we participate?

By Ashish Gyan on September 25, 2014 5 Comments / 3751 views

Hello Dear Rodinhooders,

Needed some seasoned advice.

I am a Food-Preneur with a small start up called KabuliWalla

which I started with 3 friends.

We had applied for the Websummit which is to take place in Dublin in November. We got through but not completely, so now instead of the usual €9450 ticket price, a 3 member team is eligible to participate & attend the conference for a €1450 which includes a stall space for a day for us.

Considering that the above amount is the sum total of our seed fund pooled in by the co-founders, we’re in a fix as to what to do. Instinctively, I feel its a great opportunity, logically we might not be able to afford it.

We have no one with prior experience to guide us on this one…So sincere request if someone could guide us as to the pros and cons of attending the summit.

You can connect with me on Twitter – @ashishgyan

Thanks

Ashish

Comments

Ashish Gyan

5 Comments

Rachit Mathur September 25, 2014, 6:17 am

Hi Ashish

Last year our startup Findyahan.com was selected as Alpha Startups in Dublin web summit and we went there all excited. The 2 day summit was on 30-31st october. Our showcase date was 30th which was first day of the summit.

Luckily we had a very nice corner stall so got a lot of visitors but they were all fellow participants. Not one VC/Investor ventured into the Startup hall. No doubt the speakers in the main hall and conference were excellent.

Next day(31st) we were selected for a 1-1 investor meet. Our time was 11:00am. We reached there 15 minutes before and entered the hall where we were supposed to meet investors. The hall had around 10-15 other startups as well. Soon it was 11, then 11:15, then 11:30…no one showed up…at 11:45 someone from the summit came and said they are running 15 mins late…so we waited…12:30 they finally came and said sorry the meet is cancelled…investors couldnt make it !!!

Its very good if someone is sponsoring your trip and you want to party as they organise awesome parties…but to get funded or noticed its crap.

Its aimed at european startups or amercian. Indian startups no one cares there.

Felt really cheated after coming back from Dublin that they promised soo much and delivered so less. Being a startup and tight on cash it was the worst decision we took.

Hope this helps !

Rachit
Ashish Gyan September 25, 2014, 6:34 am

Thanks Rachit,

Did you guys get opportunities to network otherwise..?

Was there ANY VC/Investor present during the duration of the conference..?

Thanks

Ashish
Rachit Mathur September 25, 2014, 8:31 am

Ashish,

The VC’s which were present were there on stage for the “pitch competition” and were not easily approachable unless you were pitching.

Networking for us wasnt that great as all the angels whom we “bumped” into were looking at european or us startups and had no interest of investing in india.

So if you are exhibiting 1 full day is gone into that…and you have only 1 day to attend conference and network.

Also if you exhibiting on day 2 the turnout is far to less.

Like us if you are exhibiting on day 1 the crowd will be a lot but when u go out to network on day 2 most of the “influential” people have flown out.
Amit Shroff September 25, 2014, 11:24 am

Hi Ashish,

Its the same story across all awards. Including the one conducted by IAMAI. We participated last year for best eCommerce content for Print a Wallpaper – http://www.printawallpaper.com, india’s first custom wallpaper store, but we found competing with big brands who are already established like https://www.caratlane.com/ etc.

So my thought is what is use of participating into an award when an existing player can keep participating year on year. Imagine if flipkart participate every year for best eCommerce category, do you think any new start up will ever get a chance.

No body simply no one support any start-up, specially in India. If you have a good financial backup, you will see long list of people ready to invest in your venture other wise no body would even entertain you.

Just a quick suggestion – you need to improve the visual look and feel of your website, the images used are low quality, try replacing it with better images. I am not too impress with the website and with this site definitely I would not recommend that you don’t participate in any awards.
Ashish Gyan September 25, 2014, 11:35 am

Thanks Amit for the invaluable feedback.

Still working on bettering the site..will keep in mind. Thanks.

FYI The WebSummit is NOT an awards platform.

Thanks

Ashish