Web Summit Lisbon 2022: Deconstructed

Web Summit 2022 kicked off with founder Paddy Cosgrave’s address, informing the audience gathered in Lisbon’s Altice Arena that this year they broke historical records receiving the largest number of attendees ever, and also the largest number of attendees from Brazil – huge applause! 

The opening ceremony included a star-studded cast of speakers including António Costa Silva, Minister of the Economy and Maritime Affairs for the Government of Portugal, Changpeng Zhao, Co-founder & CEO of Binance, Misan Harriman, Chair and Founder of the Southbank Centre & Culture3 whom all shared their own impassioned personal stories and expert opinions. 

Finishing up the evening’s kick-off was a heartfelt plea from Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska to the tech community, informing us that we have a choice to determine where we position technology to shape how the world moves forward. 

The Summit’s four-day event was a stimulating experience where technology veterans rubbed shoulders with co-founders of start-ups, government officials, and CEOs of some of the world’s biggest companies. The common thread was that technology needs to be a force for good to tackle things like media transparency, healthcare, finance, and the climate crisis. The optimism throughout the three days was palpable. Yes, there are those people selling tech for tech’s sake, but then there are those in attendance who genuinely want to change the world. 

Below is a breakdown of my key takeaways from Web Summit’s three days of inspiring speakers and excellent talks. 

Day 1: 

On the first day, I managed to catch Nicholas Johnston, publisher for Axios, Joy Robins CRO for Washington Post, Wes Kaplan, CEO for Cointelegraph. Youtube star Casper Lee, and his cousin Sasha Kaletsky. Colin Campbell, managing editor for Yahoo News, Brian Gleason, CRO for Criteo. Kochava’s CEO, Charles Manning. Jane Geraghty, Global CEO for Landor & Fitch, Joe Wade, Founding Partner of Don’t Panic, Khanh Huynh-Kuerzinger, Head of Brand & Senior VP at Siemen

• Diverse revenue channels are key for media businesses
• Gen Z prefer authentic voices over brand messaging
• Companies must predict where the audience is going to be next
• Commerce will break out into the open web
• Consumers want hyper-personalised experiences that provide value beyond the purchase
• The tech stack will come under increased scrutiny, and there will be more consolidation to help drive cost efficiencies

Day 2: 

On the second day, I got to see Sunil Sharma, MD of Techstars Toronto and Co-Host of Collision. Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of S4 Capital, and Julia Goldin, Global Chief Product & Marketing Officer for The Lego Group. Nicole Muniz, CEO and Co-Founder of Yuga Labs. Co-founder & CEO Michael Gronager of Chainalysis. Laurie Segall Founder & CEO of Dot Dot Dot Media, ex-football legend Alessandro Del Piero and Alexandre Dreyfus CEO of Chiliz & Socios.com and many more

• Expect 2023/24 to be economically tougher than 2021
• China is both an opportunity and a threat
• LatAm and the Middle East will see greater investment as geopolitical tensions create challenges in other regions
• Brands will need to take an audience-first approach
• NFTs and, more broadly, blockchain present huge opportunities for unlocking previously locked liquidity
• Blockchain offers society more opportunities to communicate with each other, brands, and online communities in a more meaningful way
• Security is still a huge issue
• If web2 was about utility, then web3 is about bringing back the fun of web1 
• Healthtech and wearables represent an exciting frontier to democratise healthcare, wellness, and medical treatment

Day 3: 

On the third day, I got to watch CMO of Stack Overflow, Khalid El Khatib. Brendan Eich, Founder & CEO of Brave, and Dean Tribble, CEO of Agoric. Nick Tuzenko, Co-founder and Managing Director of Accel Club, and Dirk Hoerig, CEO at Commercetools. 

• Marketing to discerning audiences requires robust communication, transparency, and conviction
• Your community is a competitive differentiator and should be utilised for marketing activities
• Smart contracts offer up opportunities to engage in cross-border business and have the power to provide an autonomous layer of integrity (no middleman)
• Open commerce will be a driving force in shopping online
• Consumer retention will be more important than acquisition

Greig Dowling
Head of Strategy EMEA
To learn more about how Cadastra empowers brands to transform their businesses and drive
exponential change, get in touch with the team by emailing greig@cadastra.com