Networking in the Hype of the AI Revolution — Insights from Budapest’s Meetup Scene
Tappointment
?? Developing cutting-edge software solutions & the 1st ?AI-Powered agile retrospective tool connected to #Jira.
I have had the privilege to learn and experience sales in various industries, but not in tech yet. As the freshly appointed Business Development Manager in our organization I wanted to dive deep in the local tech and startup scene. I received the hint from my mentor that there is no better way to do that than to attend conferences and meetups. And sure he was right.????? ?
The aim is to provide a birds eye view of the events I was able to attend in 2023. To summarize the topics, the patterns, and the goals and solutions of the organizers.????? 2023’s tech scene was hectic, the AI revolution exploded into the mainstream with Chat GPT becoming the fastest ever growing app, gathering a staggering 100M users in under 2 months,?meanwhile there were major layoffs of developers and other tech professionals. There might be some correlation between the two, but the layoffs had other reasons as well.?
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The vibe of the scene changed noticeably both in Hungary and internationally. The hype of AI brought about many startups who are leading the revolution, and some who just want to be around and get a share from the light that shines on them. Interesting times, both slowing down and speeding up at the same time. The economy showed the signs of recession in various spaces, while applications harnessing the power of LLM’s bursted into existence with astonishing pace.????? ?
My personal motivation was to build my network, and to learn about the industry, while I represent Tappointment, I am BDM at, and our startup, Sponsmore, the first and only sports sponsorship marketplace in the region.
I think most are familiar with the conference experience. But meetups seem to be a newer kind of concept, where you can explore a topic of your interest in an off-line manner, with like minded individuals at a smaller, more personal event. Usually the structure is the following: arrival, presentation(s), food and networking.????? There are various reasons why an organization would decide to create an event such as a conference or meetup. The reasons might be pretty straightforward,? to generate profit directly from ticket sales and/or thorough sponsorships from industry players or a tender.????? There are many types of people you can meet at such events with many different motives.????? Other reasons might be employer branding, talent acquisition, raising brand awareness, driving user count and so on. Regarding why one might attend, is to build their network, or acquire knowledge, maybe to seek for job or project opportunities, provide services, get a taste for an industry, field or company.
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? Wise meetups
The Budapest office employs around 700 people, but most of them are working from home usually. The meetups that are held at their nicely equipped and stylish office, usually draws an audience. They are quite professional regarding the meetup infrastructure like the audio or presentation equipment, as well as great food. They bring about progressive topics, like women in tech and put great effort into diversity and inclusion. Some other events they organized provided an in-depth tech look at their solutions, and inner workings, as well as inviting relevant founders and representatives of other businesses to introduce themselves to the attendees. My perception is that their main goal with their meetups is employer branding.
The Scale AI value proposition is, if you are using an API for your business, and it generates a lot of cost due to the volume of the interactions, then probably you are better off with a LLM that is trained by them for your bespoke needs. And are proud that they managed to build a great network of professionals that can assist the training by providing the needed training data in their respective fields of operation. The goal of the meetup was not certain for me. But it was rather an interesting look at a company that truly has a great impact with their services.????? ?
Smart Conference was held in Akvárium Klub, in the city center. And was organized by IVSZ (The association of digital ventures). The main topic as expected was AI, and the impact of it. The opening speech was rather optimistic, that we are capable of dealing with the risks and dangers of AI and should not be afraid of what the future might bring about. Some startups introduced themselves. The bigger the event the less likely that a chance encounter might happen with a new valuable connection, but nevertheless not impossible.????? ?
?For anyone in the Hungarian startup ecosystem, I would highly recommend attending the events organized by Startup Hungary. The events usually take place in a startup hub, Király street 26, where many startups and related businesses have offices as well. Their event series “First Monday” is on e of the best experiences I have as far as meetups go. They are held on the first Monday of every month, and have the classic meet and greet, performance, eat pizza & network structure. Let me highlight some of the most memorable ones for me.
SEON (First Monday)
SEON is a risk analysis tool, and one of the most fascinating Hungarian success stories of the last couple of years. I have read and heard many anecdotes about visionary and intuitive founders that have the secret recipe for success. A? good reality check was for me hearing Tamás Kádár speak about the many metrics he is keeping an eye on, and it seemed to me that every aspect of their operation can be distilled down to be represented by a number. And this no nonsense approach to company building goes against the notion that there is some ungraspable special ability that only the chosen founders can have. Researching, measuring, adjusting, testing. It felt like, if someone would stick to this approach, and be strict about it, the results must follow.
Munch (First Monday)
Munch is a food waste marketplace, where stores and catering facilities can sell their remaining units of still edible food. The main takeaway for me was that they built their MVP in a truly lean way, using WordPress, and testing everything the most low budget way possible. As well as furnishing their office with discarded furniture. Already having an impact and still not going all in on custom development.
Commsignia (First Monday)
Commsignia is a software and hardware developer company creating IOT devices and infrastructure for the automotive and transportation and traffic control industries. The part of the story that caught my attention the most, is that at one point they already had inbound sales inquiries from top tier car brands, and were not paying attention to them due to the lack of dedicated personnel, and the fact that they were too focused on developing their product. A sure sign that you are creating something of great value.
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Brain Bar is an innovation conference for the broader public. Most of the topics were catered towards the general public, who wish to be fascinated by the newest trends and technologies. This year controversial topics were addressed like the risks of AI, or the chinese battery manufacturing plants being built in Hungary. Representatives of NASA did a presentation. A fashion designer held a fashion show, where all the dresses had some smart functionality made possible by recent developments.
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Obudai Uni VC is one of the newest VC firms to launch in Hungary. They dispose of 10 billion HUF. They are looking to invest mostly in deep tech startups. And the founders and the members are startup veterans. They wish to operate in a venture studio model, where the investor is not passive, but rather a part of the team, and helping the portfolio companies in every way they are capable of. There is a strong sense of experience and deep knowledge of building a successful business.????? AI Crafts - Bobcats Coding
This was the intro event of the newly founded dev company by the founders of the recently closed bootcamp company, GreenFox. Their main statement is that most new projects seek for an efficient and useful way to implement some AI powered features into their solution.????? ?
I attended their second meetup, the first was a technical themed one, maybe too technical in their opinion. So this second attempt was geared towards being more entertaining. They pulled it off. Their office is located on the top floor of an office building, an office penthouse, giving a great atmosphere for the event, as well as the grilled food that was served even before the presentations. They create custom video content for their clients using AI. They mostly create training material for corporations. But this was not their first idea. They pivoted from creating a system that can detect AI video content. Which I found fascinating, and in the future even essential, when deep fakes could be easily created by anyone for ill-gotten gains.
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An intro conf call for the mastermind group started by a London based developer company. I attended among the C-level executives of around 20 other dev agencies from all over Europe. The main takeaway was that the sector slowed down tremendously in 23, and most of them did not acquire new clients. All of their last yars revenue came from past customers, ongoing projects. Shockingly the overwhelming majority had the same experience.
Atlassian Day, Meta-INF????? ?
Meta Inf is the top Atlassian solution partner in Hungary, they are holding multiple meetups and a yearly conference. Last year I attended the conference and some of the meetups. They have a staggering knowledge about the potential in Atlassian products, and some add-ons on the Atlassian Marketplace. As Tappointment, we also have developed an add-on. The first AI powered retrospective tool for Jira, Power Retro. We are proud of it, but rarely have the chance to have the live feedback of other professionals in the field. It was a great experience to meet and exchange ideas with other add-on developers and company representatives from around the Globe. What is their approach, what worked and what did not.
As the co-founder of Sponsmore, we had the opportunity to join the DT incubation program. Which started with a camp, where we could meet the other teams, our mentor, Zoltán Várdy the ex-CEO of TV2, sales professional, investor and entrepreneur in the tech startup scene, and other mentors like Péter Csillag, who told us the personal and professional aspects of his recent exit of Star Schema, a big data analytics company.????? ?
?Web Summit ’23
?Honestly, without these events I would not have the perspective that I have now. It takes effort to attend all these events, but depending on your goals, it's worth it. I have acquired some technical skills, market insights, and best practices. Not to mention the many valuable connections.
I have met many interesting individuals, visionary founders, C-level executives of corporations with vast amounts of experience, VC managers with useful insights , highly skilled developers, sales and marketing people that help up and coming brands establish themselves among the growing number of successful startups in the local ecosystem. LinkedIn, just in person. Should you have a clear aim, you can find the right people that can assist you with reaching your goal.????? ?
I am grateful for the recommendation, to take part in as many such events as possible. And planning to continue on this newfound path.
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Most of these events are promoted on LinkedIn or Meetup.com, or Eventbrite. I highly suggest exposing yourself to such experiences. I am sure I have missed many events of great value, let me know which ones had the greatest impact on you, and what events should I be attending this year?!
Author: Balázs Fáy | Business Development Manager? @Tappointment?