PIRATE Summit’s Post

Today, attending the Final Burn of PIRATE Summit, moderating the Walk The Plank pitches. All sorts of emotions going through my mind thinking about this being the very last Pirate Summit. It was here, at the very first one in 2011 we introduced the world to” Gauss - The People Magnet”, the very first Social Discovery app for the iPhone (see video below). It was here in 2011 I got my German and European network of entrepreneurs and investors kickstarted. As one of my favourite songs goes; “Maybe it’s better to burn out, than fade away”… so let’s celebrate the #finalburn tonight - and be happy and grateful that it happened (and kept it happening for so long!) not saddened that it’s over! #ARRR! Forever grateful for the safe harbour Manuel Koelman 🏴☠️ and the rest of the band of pirates managed to create for us over these many years. It’s going to leave a hole in the region. But that’s OK. It’s a testament to what the Pirate Summit was and is and forever will be; Irreplacable. “My my, hey hey Rock and roll is here to stay It's better to burn out than to fade away My my, hey hey Out of the blue and into the black They give you this, but you pay for that And once you're gone you can never come back When you're out of the blue and into the black”

It is strange and sad at the same time to write an obituary even before the end. But my #PirateSummit is already over before "The last burn" takes place this Wednesday evening, marking the end of an era. Because I'm on vacation and can't join the last big Summit. Therefore I can already state how much I will miss it and how much it meant to me. Manuel wrote today that the success of a conference is at least 50% in the composition of the right participants. My photos of the last Summits (only missed one) show how true that is. Because in most of the photos I see friends and great people. I even met the most important one, my partner René, at the Summit! But also the many other friends with whom I have been able to celebrate the Summit have been one of the reasons why I have always been extremely looking forward to the PS. Of course, it was also the cool location, the countless international likeminded founders and the great pitches, talks and campfires. But in the end, it was the people that made the Pirate Summit the best event of the year for me. To all these lovely people, I wish you a great last Pirate Summit: Andreas Korthaus, Eva Korthaus, Stefan Bongartz, Michael Keferstein, Sven Giebler, Fabian Jager, Manuel Becker, Nikolai Roth, Cord-Christian Nitzsche, Daan Löning, Steffen Braun, Christian Ternai, Alexander Hachmann, Christoph Kolb, Alex Jäger, Dr. Lars Fink, Frederik Born, Alexander Peiniger, Nicolas Gabrysch, Duc Quyen Tran, Peter Richarz, Ben Sufiani, Engjell Rraklli and many many more. So from the bottom of my heart and with a tear in my eye I shout to you: #ARRRR # #founders #event #kölle #friends

Pirate summit is the only event I enjoyed taking part of since… well, ever. Here is why: 1) Minimal Waste Instead of a 3 floors tomato-shaped booth that would be thrown the next day, a rusted bus for 1 on 1 meetings. All reusable cups, plates, bottles.. 2) The „Odonien“ Vibe It felt like a nice artistic farmer's market focused on stimulating your senses. a great combination of investors, educators, startups, service providers, and "government" (no idea why I used brackets there...). 3) Well being It left me inspired and energized instead of injured after a 5-day "leads collecting" massacre. Maybe there is a good and sustainable future for this horrible practice. Sad to see you go. PIRATE Summit onwards #piratesummit