Key Insights from Web Summit Lisbon
Networking at Web Summit offers countless opportunities to connect with people and attend events. Here’s what we learned about making the most of it:
- Choose events carefully: There are countless side events, but trying to attend too many can leave you unfocused. Focus on the ones most relevant to your goals.
- Late afternoons get hectic: After 4 PM, it’s harder to have meaningful conversations in the conference area as people rush between sessions or to events.
- Quality over quantity: Evening events are the best place to build genuine connections. Instead of collecting dozens of business cards, we found it better to have a few deeper conversations that could lead to long-term relationships.
What Valos Gained from Web Summit
For Valos, the event was a valuable opportunity to engage with attendees, founders, and investors.
- Booth activity: Thursday brought lots of visitors to our booth, and the questions they asked gave us useful insights into how our product resonates with different audiences.
- Confidence boost: Our conversations with the people visiting our booth reassured us about the demand for what we’re building.
Crypto Customers: A Range of Perspectives
We met a variety of people at the event, and they generally fell into three categories when it came to crypto:
- New to Crypto
This group is interested but hesitant. They worry about risks and often don’t feel confident they understand the space. Questions like “Where do the assets go?” and concerns about volatility came up often. These people need clear, straightforward education on why crypto is a valid asset class and how it connects to traditional financial systems.
2. Casual Investors
Many in this group invested during the last bull run and now mostly hold onto their assets. They tend to focus on major coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, with less active trading. These investors are optimistic about the next bull run but aren’t as involved in day-to-day market moves.
3. Experienced Enthusiasts
This group uses both exchanges and non-custodial wallets, often experimenting with strategies like earning interest on their holdings. They have more questions about how yields are generated and are keen to optimize their investments.
Lisbon as a Web3 Hub
Lisbon stood out as an emerging hub for Web3 innovation.
- A strong community: The city has a vibrant crypto culture, with regular events and co-working spaces dedicated to blockchain and crypto projects, like (TAG poolside )
- Why Lisbon?: Many people have moved here, attracted by the community, the weather, and Portugal’s favorable tax policies — such as no tax on interest income for the first 10 years, thank you for the insight, (TAG crypto tax guy)
- Inspiration for growth: Compared to smaller crypto communities like in Finland, Lisbon’s activity shows how important a strong local network can be for driving innovation.
Web Summit in Lisbon offered valuable lessons, strong connections, and fresh inspiration. The energy at events like this highlights the interest towards the Web3 space and the growing ecosystem around it.