Superconnectors

Superconnectors addresses a fundamental inefficiency in startup networking: traditional pitch events focus on what founders have accomplished, but what they actually need are the right introductions to solve their most critical challenges. The platform is supported by partners including Gemeente Rotterdam, CitizenM, and Weave.

Traditional networking events and pitch competitions create misaligned incentives. Founders spend energy crafting polished presentations of past achievements while the audience passively evaluates them. Meanwhile, the real bottleneck for most startups isn't visibility—it's access to the right people who can unlock critical opportunities. There's a gap between what founders need (specific introductions and connections) and what traditional events deliver (generic exposure). This misalignment wastes time for everyone involved and leaves most valuable connections unmade.

Superconnectors inverts the traditional networking format into a three-stage gamified system: Ask (startups present their critical business need rather than their pitch), Bid (well-connected individuals—"superconnectors"—compete to offer the best introductions from their networks to address that need), and Connect (matches are made immediately). The platform is gamified end-to-end, creating incentives for superconnectors to bring their best network connections while making the value exchange explicit and immediate. By reframing the event around need-matching rather than credential-broadcasting, the system aligns what founders actually need with what superconnectors can provide.

Superconnectors demonstrates that reframing the fundamental structure of a networking event produces measurable results. Need-based matching outperforms achievement-based pitching, and the gamified format creates genuine engagement—superconnectors aren't passive listeners but active competitors seeking to provide the best introductions. The success has attracted institutional partners, validating the model's viability at scale. The core insight—that innovation in event design comes from understanding what people actually need versus what traditional formats assume they want—reflects broader principles of ecosystem architecture.