GM. This is Needs To Exist (aka NTE), dropping a startup idea that could make conferences actually useful — not just loud, crowded LinkedIn feeds with name tags

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From idea to launch, NTE Zero to One turns your “what if” into “it’s live.”

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Here’s what we’ve got for you today.

• Daily Idea - Find The Afterparty

• Hallway Chatter

The Backstage Pass for Conferences

The One Liner

The underground map for every conference, skip the chaos, find the magic.

The 140 character tweet (or X) version

Every big conference has two versions: the one you paid for and the one you wish you found. This is the map to the second one.

The Longer Story Version

The Problem

If you’ve ever been to SXSW, ETHDenver, or CES, you know the truth:
the real conference happens off the schedule.

Deals get made in coffee shops, not keynotes. The best convos happen in Airbnbs, not auditoriums. And the people you actually want to meet? They’re hopping between Telegram chats, Notion pages, and mystery rooftop parties like it’s a scavenger hunt from hell.

Right now, side events are chaos. Every year it’s the same nightmare, 17 group chats, 9 spreadsheets, and 100 people asking “what’s happening tonight?”

The Solution

A single platform that shows you everything happening around the main event. Think Eventbrite + WhatsApp + Foursquare, built for the nerds, founders, and operators who know the hallway track is the main track.

• 🧭 See it all: Every side event, afterparty, and pop-up in one feed.

• ⚡ One-click RSVP: Tap, done. No more forms, no more FOMO.

• 🗺️ Live map: See what’s happening near you, who’s there, and what’s next.

• 💬 Social layer: Message attendees, share locations, spark real convos.

• 🤖 AI concierge: Ask “What’s worth going to near the Hilton right now?” and get an instant answer from an LLM trained on the event ecosystem.

It’s like having a local fixer for every major conference but in your pocket.

How We’d Build It

Stage 1 – The Scrappy MVP (Weekend Build)

• Stack: Airtable + Softr + Tally + Mapbox + Zapier.

• Scrape side events from X/Twitter with Phantombuster or Apify.

• Embed one-click RSVPs and use Mapbox to plot events.

• Launch quietly at ETHDenver or NFT NYC. Focus on one city, one scene, total density.

Stage 2 – The Real Product (Startup Mode)

• Stack upgrade: Next.js + Supabase + Clerk + Stream Chat + LangChain.

• Integrate calendar APIs (Cronofy, Nylas) and real-time map updates.

• Add LLM event guide (“What’s trending near me?”).

• Build a viral RSVP loop: share → tag → new users → more data → better events.

• Monetize with sponsored listings, featured events, and premium analytics for organizers.

Stage 3 – The GTM Flywheel (Growth Engine)

• Start with crypto, AI, and startup conferences — dense, online-native, and desperate for coordination.

• Partner with event organizers to embed your widget right in their pages.

• Leverage LinkedIn + X ads to target attendees a week before each event.

• Add premium corporate access (L&D budgets) for internal “who’s where” tracking and meeting scheduling.

• Long-term: become the default layer conferences can’t run without.

Why It Needs to Exist

Because every year, millions of people fly across the world just to miss the best parts.

This platform flips that. It’s the backstage pass to the real conference, the dinners, the parties, the rooftop convos that actually move the needle.

You don’t need another event app. You need a map of where the energy is.

The people who use this will be first to know, first to show, and first to meet the ones who matter.

If FOMO had an enemy, this would be it.

The Hallway Track

It’s day two of “FutureCon,” which is somehow both oversold and underwhelming. The keynote’s running 40 minutes late. Half the room is on LinkedIn pretending to network. The real action? It’s happening in the hallway.

Two founders, Maya and Arjun, are standing by a sad coffee urn, holding demo phones and lukewarm ambition. They’re not trying to get into the conference, they’re pitching what’s happening right here: a platform that aggregates every unofficial side event, happy hour, and hallway meetup.

“Basically,” Maya says, “we’re building the app that makes this chaos make sense.”

A guy wearing a Patagonia vest, VC costume level: elite - overhears and swoops in. “Wait, so it’s like Eventbrite meets Tinder for conferences?”

“Closer to Eventbrite meets WhatsApp,” Arjun says, trying to sound calm. “You can see who’s nearby, one-click RSVP, even chat in-app.”

The VC sips his $8 espresso. “So… how do you get density?”

Maya smiles, like she’s been waiting for this. “We start with high-signal conferences. Crypto, AI, YC week. You get one pop, then it becomes the place everyone checks first.”

The VC nods, unconvinced. “Yeah, but who pays?”

Before Maya can answer, another guy — badge flipped backward, energy drink in hand — barges in. “I love this. But what if you added NFTs for RSVPs? Like proof-of-attendance tokens?”

Arjun blinks. “We… could.”

“You should call it Proof of Party,” the guy says, already tweeting it.

Then, chaos level two: a woman walks by with a stack of tote bags. “Does it work for Taylor Swift concerts?” she asks. “Because I went to the Nashville show and missed four after-parties.”

“Technically, yes,” Maya says, improvising. “It works for anything with side events - conferences, concerts, even Comic-Con.”

The VC perks up. “So you’re telling me this is Foursquare for FOMO?”

Arjun sighs. “Sure. But with one-click RSVP, maps, chat, and maybe —”

“AI?” the VC interrupts.

“Yes,” Maya says, giving in. “An AI that tells you where the most interesting people are, what events are hot, and how to get in.”

The VC nods slowly. “Now that’s fundable.”

Before he can finish, someone yells from across the hallway: “Anyone know where the Bored Ape brunch is?” Half the crowd scatters. Maya looks around, every badge in sight, every overlapping event, every whispered “are you going to that rooftop thing later?” and she laughs.

“This,” she says, gesturing to the chaos, “this is the product.”

Arjun checks his phone. “We should just start onboarding people right now.”

They open their prototype, drop a link in a Telegram group, and within minutes, ten people are RSVPing to an “Unofficial Hallway Track Happy Hour.”

Maya grins. “Congrats, we just dogfooded our own startup.”

The VC glances up from his calendar. “If this thing works,” he says, “you’ll kill half my deal flow. I find startups in hallways like this.”

“Exactly,” Maya says. “We’re just giving everyone else the map.”

By sunset, their makeshift event has more people than the official afterparty. Someone’s DJing on a Bluetooth speaker. The WiFi’s down, but everyone’s talking again.

No slides. No stage. Just founders, builders, and chaos that finally makes sense.

And somewhere between the coffee urn and the bathroom line, two founders realize they didn’t just pitch the next great conference tool they built it, live, in the hallway.

What AI Thinks You Should Build Next

We asked AI to scan every startup ever built.
Every funding round. Every app store listing. Every trend curve.

Then we asked one question:
What’s missing?

🤖 The Personal CRM That Predicts Regret — AI models your past DMs, missed intros, and ghosted deals to tell you who you should’ve followed up with yesterday.

🧩 The “One-Tab” Browser for Builders — Merges your research, docs, and chats into a single AI workspace that updates itself as you think.

💡 The Digital Twin for Small Businesses — Every local shop gets an AI clone that forecasts revenue, automates marketing, and negotiates with vendors all on autopilot.

These are the blind spots in startup history —
the gaps waiting for someone bold enough to fill them.

🚀 See What AI Found – Sign Up For NTE Pro

One More Meme