Every year at Geeks on a Beach (GOAB), something magical happens.

People walk in with questions and walk out with direction. Some arrive with big startup dreams, others with ideas still unformed, and many more just curious, tech professionals, creatives, investors, corporate leaders, small business owners, government supporters, university professors, students. 

But what ties them all together is the desire to grow. And that’s what GOAB was built for.

If you’re building a startup or thinking about it, GOAB is where you meet the people who’ve walked your path, are walking it now, or are ready to join you. But it’s more than that. GOAB doesn’t just champion startups. We champion you.

Startup vs Small Business: What's the Difference?

Before you hit the beach with your pitch, let’s break it down: are you building a startup or a small business?

Startups are designed for scale, for fast growth. They’re built around solving a specific problem with a product or service that can be delivered quickly and repeatedly to a wide market, usually with the help of tech and investor funding. These are the high-growth, high-risk ventures aiming for rapid market traction and, often, global reach.

Small businesses, on the other hand, are typically focused on serving a specific community or niche. Think local bakeries, family-run shops, service providers, or freelancers. These businesses can absolutely use tech to grow smarter and faster—but they’re not necessarily designed to "disrupt" an industry.

The best part? GOAB supports both.

More Than a Startup Event

GOAB might look like a startup, tech, and design conference from the outside and yes, we’re proud of that. We host lightning pitches. We bring VCs and angels to the table. We spotlight founders doing real work in SEA. But at its core, GOAB has always been about people first.

Over the years, we’ve welcomed first-time attendees who showed up hoping to pitch their ideas and get funding, only to realize they needed more time, more direction, and more clarity. And that’s OK. We’ve seen some of them decide that the startup path wasn’t for them after all. One might have launched a bakery instead—but used the tech tools they discovered to streamline orders, payments, and logistics.

At GOAB 2024, an entrepreneur wasn’t sure about receiving investor funding (and external influence) for their software development company.

After hearing from other founders and learning strategies at GOAB, they decided to experiment and expand their business by turning one of their services into a separate startup product. To grow this business further, they may need outside funding in the future.

You don’t have to have it all figured out to be here. GOAB is designed to help you explore, connect, learn, and move forward.

Startup? SME? Career in tech? All welcome.

There’s a common thread that runs through every GOAB story: evolution. 

Whether you’re a startup founder trying to land your first check, an SME owner looking to digitize your operations, a developer exploring new opportunities, or someone who just wants to plug into a future-facing community, you belong here.

You grow faster when you’re surrounded by people who are doing the work you want to do. Representation matters. Encouragement matters. And most importantly, access to resources matters.

GOAB offers:

• Direct access to mentors, investors, and startup enablers.

• Real conversations with founders who will tell you what actually works.

• Space to test ideas, pitch your project, or simply ask your questions.

For the Motivated, the Curious, and the Still-Figuring-It-Out

One of the best-kept secrets of GOAB is that it works best for people who are ready.

 Not always fully prepared, not always fully clear but ready to learn, to build, to iterate, or even to change direction. The person who comes with intent often leaves with results.

We’ve seen it happen too many times to doubt it. Founders get funded. Designers find teams. Mentors discover new causes to support. Investors get pulled into unexpected conversations that turn into opportunities. The startups you’ll hear about next year? Some of them started right here.

Let’s Be Honest

There’s no perfect roadmap for startups or small businesses. But GOAB is where you’ll meet people who’ve faced similar choices, hit similar walls, and figured out what worked for them. And maybe that’s what you need right now, less theory, more real talk.

And while we don’t promise instant funding or overnight success, we do promise connection. You will meet someone who helps you take the next right step. But, you have to show up.

Ready to move forward, wherever you're starting from?

🎟️ Buy your GOAB 2025 tickets now — 20-25% off for a limited time
🪣 Get the best deal! Join the GOAB Beach Club, get the biggest ticket discounts and stay connected year-round!

Let’s build better, together. One step, one connection, one beach conversation at a time.