Tito and the Web Summit

Earlier today I was very surprised to be informed (cheers Mic) that Paddy Cosgrave had claimed in an interview that he built Tito as part of the software efforts of the Web Summit.

This evening, Paddy has posted an apology for the interview, and while I really can’t imagine what brought him to take credit for our work, I appreciate the apology.

Back in 2011, I found myself alone in Dublin after a series of failed business relationships, feeling pretty sorry for myself. Everyone around me seemed to be on the up, including Paddy, who was starting to appear on the cover of magazines, and had connections to extremely high places.

I was impressed with his ability to gather interesting people together, and his ability to grow something at such a phenomenal pace. Wishing at the time to focus solely on building Tito, the product, I figured it would make complete sense to join forces with someone who was building a large scale conference business.

As Paddy mentions in the post, we incorporated a company together, and we had a few kick-off meetings. Ultimately though, it became clear that we had different visions for how to run things. We parted ways, and I continued to work on the product.

Some time later, Paddy got in touch asking if Tito could handle sales for the Web Summit. He became a Founding Customer, helping to co-fund the initial development. The Web Summit has been instrumental in helping to overcome some hairy scaling issues: it hasn’t always been plain sailing, but for the most part, everyone has benefited.

Most recently, as Tito has stabilised and our features have expanded to handle most of the needs of a large conference, the relationship has been pleasant and productive… and as should be obvious, the Web Summit is one of our biggest customers.

Whilst it has been frustrating to have credit taken for something I’ve worked harder on than anything else I’ve ever done, it’s a relief to finally clear the air over this, and to keep the head down and make Tito the very best software we can build, for all of our customers.