A list composed of the ten most influential companies of today vastly differs from the same list a decade ago. Tech companies play an ever growing role in our exceedingly fast changing society and our lives. Which isn’t limited to software. New technologies are taking over from traditional ways all around us, altering the ways we transport ourselves, communicate, shop or entertain ourselves. The startups of yesteryear are determining the course we set today.
Turning your startup into the new Tesla or Amazon obviously isn’t straightforward. In the Netherlands we are nearing 10.000 startups, but only 2% of which will eventually grow out to become a scaleup. During the TechLeap Summit 2021, the central question was therefore how to increase that percentage. In a three-day conference from the TOBACCO Theater in Amsterdam, top entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors and innovators discuss how the Netherlands can not only excel in consuming these new techniques in the coming years, but also lead the way in producing them.
Events with such a high technological quality as the TechLeap Summit only come to its own if the setting and appearance also have a high degree of innovation. Practise what you preach, you might say. Therefore, we’ve chosen to not to utilise the main stage of the TOBACCO Theater, but rather move the stage to the center of the room. By doing so, we were able to create a 360 degree-experience from six different camera angles, deviating from tradition and giving the spectator the feeling of being an integral part of the event.
This layout also serves as an opportunity to creatively make use of the surroundings of the stage. By cutting a LED wall into six separate parts, we were able to enhance each shot with a dynamic background communicating with the speakers and their topics.
It doesn’t end there. No fewer than six different, simultaneous running Zoom-connections offered the sense of a generously attended event, despite restrictive corona measures. Another sign that technology has become an indispensable link in our work, but also our lives.
In close collaboration with TechLeap, we were able to organize a remarkable event, in which Prince Constantijn van Oranje and Prime Minister Mark Rutte interpreted the Dutch playing field for startups, wise life lessons from the absolute top of the Dutch tech world such as Adriaan Mol (Mollie, MessageBird) and Pieter van der Does (Adyen) were shared and (inter)national investors dished their experiences and best practices out to the public. When all was said and done, we were able to show the world that the digital conference is no longer inferior to its physical counterpart.
