What if the real power of events isn’t scale—but the moments they create when the right people meet at the right time? In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VdL sits down with Jay Weintraub, founder of Connectiv and one of the most influential event entrepreneurs of the past 15 years, to unpack how industries evolve through connection—not content overload. This is not a conversation about conference logistics or badge scans. It’s about why face-to-face experiences still matter, especially as industries navigate uncertainty, transformation, and reinvention. Jay’s journey began in digital marketing, but he quickly realised that real momentum doesn’t come from campaigns—it comes from communities. Over the years, he’s helped shape some of the most influential vertical events in the world, including InsureTech Connect, and has since expanded his portfolio to Blueprint (real estate tech), Manifest (logistics tech), Medicarians (age tech), and Cumulus (agri/food tech). Along the way, he’s delivered four exits and invested in more than 60 companies—but his core obsession has remained the same: connecting people with intent. A defining insight from the episode is Jay’s belief that events are about capturing a movement, not just hosting a gathering. The challenge is that movements are messy. They’re hard to define in real time. Is InsurTech about new products? New underwriting models? Claims automation? Customer engagement? The answer, Jay argues, is different for every company. The real value of an event lies in helping leaders discover which part of the movement matters to them. Scale, however, is often misunderstood. Growing a conference from 300 people to 10,000 isn’t like scaling software. There’s no single widget. No growth hack. It’s relationship-driven, labour-intensive, and deeply human. Research, relevance, and one-to-one outreach matter far more than buying lists or blasting messages. Data may be commoditised—but context is not. Jay also challenges how success is measured. For Connectiv, it’s not about attendee counts or sponsorship revenue. It’s about impact—how effectively an event advances conversations in industries that underpin the global economy. Touching more lives, in Jay’s world, means connecting more industries, learning across verticals, and enabling cross-pollination of ideas that wouldn’t otherwise meet. A recurring theme is focus. No company can be everything to everyone—and the best ones don’t try. Jay points out that insurance, in particular, touches almost everything, yet no single player dominates every line of business. Clarity about who you serve, and why, is what creates trust and momentum. The episode closes on a powerful reminder: while technology scales information, trust still scales through people. In a world obsessed with digital reach, the simple act of putting the right people in a room—at the right moment—remains one of the most effective catalysts for growth. This conversation is essential listening for founders, investors, and industry leaders who believe growth comes from ecosystems, not silos—and that connection is a strategy, not a side effect. Because the future won’t be built by those who broadcast the loudest— but by those who connect the most meaningfully. And that’s exactly what Scouting for Growth is here to surface.