EXHIBITION · MWC 2026
A surgeon on call seven days a week — so why keep flying to trade shows?
Fira Gran Via, Barcelona, Spain · Mar 2–5, 2026
From 1,136 targets to 47 companies contacted directly
11 confirmed meetings during the show, plus a 4YFN presentation to 22 hospital buyers
Five video meetings after returning, with one company requesting an NDA first
Story
“A surgeon on call seven days a week — so why do I keep flying to trade shows?”
Running a hospital and a company at once, this founder finally had meetings worth the trip — at their third show.
Emails went back and forth. We never actually met anyone on site.
This wasn't their first show. They'd exhibited at two large ones before MWC, swapped cards, traded emails. Almost none of it turned into an actual meeting.
Clearing a hospital schedule to attend meant the backlog came first on return. Follow-up always slipped, and within days the conversations were hard to pick back up.
Instead of standing at the booth, we took the stage
The biggest opportunity on site wasn't the booth. A slot opened to present in front of 22 Catalan hospital buyers, and they walked 40 people through the product.
Alongside that came booth meetings with Spain's largest applied R&D institute, an Indian edge-AI company, and a local research consortium. Six during the show alone.
“From 29 business cards to actual meetings”
“On the floor I just typed keywords into my phone. Photographed the cards and told myself I'd sort it later.”
This time we booked a face-to-face the moment they landed. Before the cards and the memories scattered, everything went into a managed, ranked list — all the founder had to decide was who contacted whom.
The meetings kept going online after the show. Five more video calls from mid-March to early April, and one of them asked for an NDA straight after.
“If even one of these carries through, that's enough.”
“If just this research institute works out, the show was worth it.”
Before, a show ended with a few emails and then nothing. This time the follow-up kept running and produced five real meetings. Being able to hand off the follow-up a busy founder can't manage — that was the whole difference.
It's your turn
Curious how this was built?
Start building a schedule that turns into results