Asian Builders: Getting Your First Customers, Pilots & Partnerships
Getting from an idea to a first customer is where many startups stall. You need someone to trust a product that barely exists, a way into an industry you may not know, and the patience to get through long sales cycles.
We'll hear from two founders who took very different routes into conservative industries: one bootstrapping alone in finance, one building with a co-founder in aviation.
🎤 Meet the speakers
Hai Mau, Founder, Kausate
Hai came from the data world. Before Kausate he was COO at Y42, a Berlin data platform that raised a $31M Series A. He then entered finance as an outsider with no industry contacts and chose to bootstrap. Today Kausate provides company register data to financial institutions, and its customers include Qonto, Moss and Trade Republic.
He'll share how he found his first customers from zero, why his first big deal took nine months, and what it means to be a solo founder doing both the building and the selling.
Sravan Singh, Co-Founder, Aesterra
Sravan spent more than 15 years planning and consulting on airports and infrastructure, with projects at Amazon Air, Deutsche Bahn and airport operators across Europe. In 2026 he co-founded Aesterra, which uses AI to help airports run their day-to-day operations, from flight delays to passenger transfers.
He'll share how to get a pilot in one of the most conservative industries there is: working with operations teams and senior management at the same time, designing a pilot that can turn into a contract, and splitting the work with a technical co-founder.
Together, their stories offer two perspectives on the same question: how do you get someone to say yes for the first time?
💡 What we'll talk about
Where do your first customers actually come from?
How do you get a pilot when you're new to an industry?
When does a partnership or intro help, and when is it a distraction?
What makes a pilot turn into a paying contract?
Solo founder or co-founders: what helps and what hurts when selling?
What would they do differently if they started again?
Come with your questions, your half-formed ideas, or the deal you're stuck on right now.
🗓 What happens
18:00 · Grab a drink & a slice
18:30 · Panel: Getting your first customers, pilots & partnerships
18:55 · Audience Q&A
19:10 · Breakout session: small groups, swap notes on what you're building
19:35 · Open pitches: 10 slots, 1 minute each
19:50 · Drinks & open conversations
21:00 · See you next time
🎙 Open pitches
Want to share what you’re building? We have 10 slots for 1-minute pitches. Sign up here and we’ll email you if you get a spot.
Slides are optional. Tell us what you’re building and what you need. It’s a good way to practise your elevator pitch and find people to talk to afterwards.
🌏 Who it's for
Asian founders, engineers, product managers, researchers, operators, investors, and aspiring builders in Berlin.
You might already be talking to customers. You might be about to start. Or you might be curious about what happens after you have an idea.
You don't need to have it figured out. That's the point.
📸 A few quick notes
Photos: We'll take a few photos during the event for community posts. Let us know at check-in if you'd prefer not to be photographed.
Spots: This is a free event with limited space (50 people). If you can’t make it, please cancel your registration so someone else can come.
Food & drinks: Pizza and drinks will be provided.
🌱 Stay in the loop
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