Technology conferences are overwhelming by design. Between five parties a night, a hundred booths, and what feels like a thousand conversations, it’s easy to walk away from something like Web Summit Vancouver feeling like you’ve accomplished something just by surviving. But showing up, handing out business cards, and watching panels isn’t a strategy; it’s conference tourism.

At my startup, Caseway, we treated Web Summit Vancouver 2025 as a launching pad, not just of our product, but of our entire narrative.

We had a specific goal, which was to reintroduce ourselves to the world. We wanted to showcase the impressive technology that we have built and to get attention for the right reasons, not just for being controversial. A year ago, we got sued by a case law database for using publicly available court decisions (which are, by definition, public).

The organization didn’t get their injunction and couldn’t shut us down (we never did anything wrong), but it was a brief setback to our momentum. We focused on building our product, skipped the noise, and chose Web Summit as our re-entry point.

Here’s what actually worked for us at Web Summit 2025 in Vancouver.

Don’t spread your team thin. Divide and conquer.

We have three co-founders, and each has a job. There were no overlaps.

Our CTO camped out at the booth. Not to pitch, he just watched how people used the product, where their mouse hovered. He saw in real time what tripped users up. These were things that seemed obvious to us, but weren’t. That feedback was gold.

Our other co-founder focused on meeting people with capital. We rose from angel investors, and Web Summit had a lot of them walking around. She hit the smaller networking events, did a few startup pitches, and got into the right rooms.

I focused on media interviews, appearing in the media area seven times, where I spoke with journalists about what we are building at Caseway and how it will address the access to justice problem.

Be impossible to ignore.

We wore LED backpacks that we had custom-programmed. One of them said, “Stop paying $400/hour for legal fees. Use Caseway.” I got stopped 100 times a day by people who asked what we did. They filmed the backpacks and took selfies of themselves. Even the official Web Summit camera crew filmed it, and they told us it’s going in their official event recap video.

I wanted Caseway to stand out in a crowd of 15,000 people. The average startup booth looks the same. We stood out, and people remembered us because of it. At a technology circus like Web Summit, it cut through the noise.

Skip the big talks. They’re not for you.

I didn’t sit in on a single panel. No offence to the speakers, I’m sure they were smart, but I didn’t fly out to be in an audience. I came to connect and to get noticed.

Instead of trying to meet 300 people, I focused on five key individuals. I had a short list of founders and investors I wanted to meet. And when the opportunity arose, a boat party with only 10 people, including one of those founders, I showed up and had genuine conversations. That’s what matters. Nobody remembers a 90-second pitch at a cocktail mixer. They remember the person who stuck around and actually engaged.

Here’s what I’d do if I were going again:

Know what you’re there for. Sounds basic, but most startups don’t. “Meet people and chat” isn’t a strategy.

Break up the team. Give each person a different mission. Product testing, media, investment.

Reach out to journalists and investors in advance to establish a strong foundation. Don’t wait till you’re at the booth to pitch them. Their schedules are already packed by the time of the event.

You need a backpack, a prop, or something similar. Find a way to stop people. A shirt with your logo won’t do it.

Skip the panels unless you’re speaking.

Most people attended a conference, we went to use it.

Alistair Vigier is the CEO of Caseway.