CEO Ana Rubio on the ‘priceless’ opportunity to connect and absorb ideas away from the desk

Being a business owner comes with plenty of sacrifices and hard work. Nonetheless, it also has various perks, including flexibility.

For Ana Rubio, CEO and Founder of datalitiks, being flexible enabled her to attend Web Summit 2023 in Lisbon, networking, learning about other businesses, and working in the process. “When the opportunity came to attend the Web Summit 2023 in Lisbon, it was a no-brainer: the biggest European gathering in the tech industry,” she added on a post on LinkedIn.

Additionally, she said that the opportunity as a Founder to leave her desk and time-consuming day-to-day routine in order to dedicate some time to connect, absorb new ideas and think while developing a business, “is priceless”.

This year’s event, the ninth edition since its establishment, was attended by over 70,000 individuals from 153 countries. Web Summit is the product of an Irish company that holds events across the world. This includes Web Summit Rio in Rio de Janeiro, Web Summit Qatar in Doha, Collision in Toronto and RISE in Hong Kong.

Ms Rubio stated that the event, being “the place to be”, had a huge influx of entrepreneurs, investors and curious minds from every corner of the world. “[Everyone] spending time connecting, exchanging ideas and all in all, dreaming [of changing] the world in our own ways,” she remarked.

Local businesses such as Fyorin, a payments and financial operations platform for digital businesses, and MyMamma, a platform to help expecting parents through consultations classes and midwife services, were also pitching on some stages showcasing their business ventures on a European level.

Ms Rubio stated that throughout the event she faced a lot of queueing, testing her patience multiple times, however she highlighted that the opportunities found were “worth the wait.”

“Having the chance to engage with worldwide leaders about such relevant topics like AI – I still cannot get over some of the ideas presented – or climate change is far beyond inspiring. But discovering how other entrepreneurs have successfully turned an idea into something that is tangible and brings value to society is just a great experience for anyone in the alpha stage (start-ups which are in their first years),” she commented.

She also remarked on sharing the experience with Bajada Lyons Group Head of Business Advisory Jessica Camilleri and MyMamma founder Donna Cardona. “Highlighting to me, the importance of meeting the right people to learn, to share the experiences in the start up journey and, obviously, have fun,” she concluded.