“We Have Hit An Inflection Point”

at

90318866

Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave

What!?

We have literally no idea.

On this day last year, 1,317 attendees from 19 countries had booked their Web Summit tickets. A year later, and with 7 months to go until Lisbon, we’ve passed 27,000 attendees from 149 countries, all of whom as of today you can meet on our new attendee page.

Web Summit has hit one of those inflection points human gatherings sometimes hit.

When we started out Web Summit with 400 attendees five and half years ago, we never for one moment believed we would be where we are today.

For some, “Web Summit has become the most important and largest meeting place on our planet for those changing our planet most”, a sort of “Glastonbury for geeks” or “Davos for geeks”.

What started as a trickle of curious minds from outside of technology in 2014 has turned into a flood. That flood includes thousands upon thousands of leaders of innovative cities and established companies, policy makers and policy shapers, cultural creators and thought leaders.

Meet our first 27,000 Web Summit attendees coming to Lisbon. So what? (Paddy Cosgrave, Web Summit)

Sponsored Link

91 thoughts on ““We Have Hit An Inflection Point”

  1. ahjayzis

    Never really bashed him before, but GOD, what an insufferable w@nker.

    For some, “Web Summit has become the most important and largest meeting place on our planet for those changing our planet most”, a sort of “Glastonbury for geeks” or “Davos for geeks”.

    He’d sicken your hole.

      1. Joe

        Nail on the head. It’ll be harder not earlier for startups with numbers that big, and you can be sure they’ll be forgotten by Paddy as he licks the rings of the bug hitter attendee’s. All in the name of making him richer. He’s pulled off a great scam.

    1. Broadsheet Spawned A Monster

      He’s a brilliant entrepreneur. You’re a typical boring embittered exiled bogger begrudger crying into your pint in the pubs around Euston

          1. rory

            Hi Ahjayzis, I’m just wondering, why do you select the avatars you have (or have had)?

            It’s an odd thing to ask, so just to clarify, I have no problem with your presence on BS, the question is not meant as criticism.

          2. sǝɯǝɯʇɐpɐq

            I agree with Rory, I mean rory.*
            *-(The guy with no avatar)

            ferjayzissake, what’s the story with your avatar?
            -Will you not fix it?

          3. rory

            Further clarification: I don’t want ahjayzis to fix it. I think they’re good avatars, the current one especially. Just wondering why he/she picks them.

          4. sǝɯǝɯʇɐpɐq

            I knew that already rory.
            That’s why I agree.

            I’m going to make meself two new avatars now.
            Do you want one?

    1. pedeyw

      The point when Paddy Cosgrave’s head went so far up his own hole that he became an infinitesimally small point….

  2. Optimus Grime

    I think “Goin’ full Cosgrave!” is about to become a thing now i.e. Did you hear what guff yer man was saying? Aye I did, he went full Cosgrave!

  3. On The Buses

    He should get him some PR training so he could attempt to stop coming off as such a t***.

  4. jonotti

    I hate this person more than anyone I’ve ever hated.
    He’s basically operating a well disguised scam and he has the cheek to think he or his event are somehow important.

    1. ahjayzis

      Basically.

      He’s the equivalent of the Banqueting Manager of the Yalta Country House & Restaurant taking all the credit for the post-war reorganisation of Europe.

    2. Broadsheet Spawned A Monster

      Why do you spend more than a few moments thinking about the web summit when there is so much life out there to be lived?

    3. WibblyWobblyWillbur

      +1, nail on the head. Having had the utter misfortune of volunteering at the last two Web Summits, and hearing the real story re: the RDS Wifi from having worked there, thus guy is an utter charlatan. Incredible disingenuous, almost laughably inept, and infuriatingly lucky. The jammiest of jammy pr**ks. In many ways, he’s the perfect inheritor of the many builders, bankers, et al. who struck gold during the boom time. In saying that though, 27,000 is fierce impressive…

  5. dav

    de blushirts really showed him, eh? sent him packing with his tail between his legs, eh? soon he’ll be crawling back begging for forgiveness, eh?

    1. fosull

      Jesus dav, will ya give it a rest, for your own sake if not ours?

      This compulsion to use the word “blueshirt” in your every utterance is unhealthy, deeply unfunny and a pain in the hole to have to scroll through.

      I’d even take LJG videos over your tiresome nonsense.

    2. Broadsheet Spawned A Monster

      It’s pathetic how they are now trying to set up web summit lite of their own. Donkeys

      1. Kieran NYC

        Is that you, Daire Hickey? Still angry then?

        Jeez, you’d want an aul anger management course or something.

    3. Broadsheet Spawned A Monster

      The biggest bottomhole here is you Dav with your redundant one dimensional commentary

      1. sǝɯǝɯʇɐpɐq

        @Broadsheet Spawned A Monster;

        Excuse me!!!!!

        -Maybe you’re new ’round these parts my friend, but the biggest ‘bottomhole’ here is ME.
        It’s my job, and there won’t be a vacancy until I resign.

        -Maybe you conveniently ‘didn’t notice’, but I have two avatars to feed.
        It’s no easy task, believe you me.
        (I’m wasting me time. You’d never understand until you have one of your own.)

  6. Jess

    I don’t like this guy either but the government had a golden opportunity to increase investment in Ireland and actually put some of their bluster on ‘best small country to do business’ and ‘Ireland as a tech hub’ into action, and completely blew it.

    1. Kieran NYC

      In what way did they blow it?

      Or should the government cave in to every businessman making demands as long as it’s not DOB?

  7. Rainy Day

    “thought leaders” …this is one of the many things stupid people say to make themselves sound intelligent…

  8. Cromuel

    Bad cess to him, etc; however, a large and pleasant conference space and hotels near the airport with good transport links would do the country no harrum.

  9. Polaroid Fluid

    in fairness he did well to leave, all this talk of ireland being some “tech hub” is so much guff, it’s just foreign staffed call centres and brass plates to run your dodgy tax scams from, most irish “developers” here are incompetent muppets.

  10. rotide

    Guy who annoyed us whilst making money here moves to another country and makes even more money

    BURN THE WITCH

    1. Major Thrill

      Jesus no. An expert is expected to know something. A thought leader just does Tedx talks.

      1. Janet, I ate my avatar

        I like the Ted talks on procrastinating when I wake up in a panic at 5am because deadlines

  11. Supercrazyprices

    He’s an event manager. The event just happens to be around the so-called digital industry.

    Hire a venue, launch a website, send some tweets. Done.

  12. J

    @ Majothrill :Okkkk… soooo … that means that BS contributors are more thought leaders than experts? Bodger , can you please update the bios of BS contributors.

    1. Major Thrill

      Not until they’ve all done their TedX talks or at a bare minimum stood in their living room for an hour doing power gesturing.

  13. Jordofthejungle

    While I think even Paddy Cosgrave’s nearest and dearest will probably admit to his teeny tiny tendency toward being insufferable & smug, if those numbers are true, it has done him no harm! His success means he has absolutely no reason to curb the more unpleasant aspects of his personally, however well known they are.

    1. Supercrazyprices

      “His success means he has absolutely no reason to curb the more unpleasant aspects of his personally”

      What does success have to do with being mannerly? Either you were well reared or you weren’t.

      1. Jordofthejungle

        I’m not defending what many say about Paddy’s not so pleasant personality, merely stating that he certainly isn’t going to suddenly turn self-effacing & “mannerly” now. In fact his bullishness & long term penchant for self-aggrandisement may perhaps be the secret of his success & determination!

    1. Plyskeen

      Officially, September-October this year, as the 2016Q2 results are published. And it is not just Web and mobile – Social Networks, Machine Learning, Big Data, Virtual Reality, Internet Of Things… you name it.

      2017 is going to be even more interesting. I wonder who the Lehmans are going to be. And no bailouts this time – as nobody gives about a few geeks who think themselves smarter than they actually are.

  14. Frilly Keane

    27,000?!?!
    All paid up like ?
    That’s some gig he’s put together in fairness
    He must be having it in the Estátio

    G’luck keeping that gaff wiffied

  15. Louis Lefronde

    I won’t begrudge the success.

    It’s just his lack of class that’s galling and then there’s the hubris.

    Well. as they say, pride comes before the fall.

  16. Eoin

    Your company pays through the eye for a stand or even just to go to the Web Summit in the hopes of snagging an investor. Or winning their ‘start up of the year’ competition. But most investors are only interested in sure things. The cream of the crop in there. 90% of companies are too risky for the Web Summits canny investors. So you go maybe once (or twice if you really need a lesson) then never again. Davos for geeks? F U Paddy you rip off artist.

  17. Eoin

    I’m actually quite glad the Web Summit is no longer associated with Ireland. We got enough rip off merchants as it is.

  18. Dave

    The amount of quality Irish bitterness and begrudgery on here is hilarious.

    Ok the man may have notions about himself but you cant fault him or Web Summit for building something successful and moving it elsewhere to build it further.

    Broadsheet flogging a dead horse news story here.

  19. Eoin

    I’ve been to it. It’s a rip off. They make promises that they can’t and don’t care about keeping. Once they got your money they don’t care. I’m at a loss as to why anyone thinks this is great?

Comments are closed.

Sponsored Link
Broadsheet.ie