Conferences don't sell content, they sell access to a short-lived members' club.

You're in a place with a bunch of people that have similar interests, many of whom you'd like to meet, but wouldn't otherwise have access.

Virtual conferences need to figure this out asap.

(1/7)

https://twitter.com/robinwauters/status/1298581860965122048

The content at the conference is just an excuse for people to gather and a marketing tool for the organiser.

After the event, attendees talk about the people they met, the parties they went to, and maybe the swag. Almost never the amazing keynote.

(2/7)

Hearing stories from at least 2 banks that have asked people to work from home and suddenly realised:

1. Most staff work from desktop machines, not laptops
2. Many use phones and tablets and don't have access to a computer at home
3. No software is cloud-based, so need VPN

1/3 4. VPN software used doesn't support IOS or Chromebook
5. SWIFT machines need physical access and having backups in DRP sites doesn't help in a pandemic
6. Support teams not prepared to support BYOD
7. No tools are in place to support real-time communication - except email

2/3

Wrapping up a week long stay in the Bay Area. Thanks to all the founders, VCs and others in the #fintech community that took time out to meet.

Here are my key learnings (including one massive shock): It's become clear that there are two key reasons why there is such a density of successful #startups here:

First up: A bias to optimism