From November 6 to 9, 2017, in Lisbon, Portugal, our Managing Partner Erdem Mümtaz Hacıpaşaoğlu attended Web Summit 2017. Positioned as Europe’s largest technology event, the summit brought together 15,000+ companies from 166 countries and over 60,000 participants.
The central thesis of the summit was clear: for a Turkish startup lawyer to stand on the same plane as the world’s leading tech operators is a strategic positioning for the “Turkey-to-global” flow — particularly critical for early-stage founders considering a flip-up into the U.S.
Web Summit’s positioning
Launched in 2010 to enable networking, Web Summit quickly evolved into a meeting point where tech giants showcase new products, investors build portfolios, and startups step onto a global stage. Amit Singh (Google), Gillian Tans (Booking.com), Werner Vogels (Amazon) and Brad Smith (Microsoft) were among the speakers.
Why it matters for a Turkish startup lawyer
Through his Lisbon meetings, Mümtaz had the opportunity to observe tech-focused legal practices in Europe and North America and to refresh cross-border scaling strategies for Turkish ventures.
Highlights from this summit
- Scale: 166 countries, 15,000+ companies, 60,000+ attendees
- Speakers: Amit Singh (Google), Gillian Tans (Booking), Werner Vogels (Amazon), Brad Smith (Microsoft)
- Positioning: Europe’s largest technology event
