How to unlock sustainable SaaS growth via Communities & Partnerships

We're thrilled to announce an In Five Years event on the 19th of November

"How to unlock sustainable SaaS growth via Communities & Partnerships".

The event will be hosted at The Beacon - the beating heart of Antwerp's start-up & Scale-up community!

Be prepared for an inspiring evening, filled with 2 presentations (25 min Presentation - 25 min Q&A per speaker) food, drinks and network opportunities - with free entrance!

You're welcome as of 18h, and the first presentation starts at 18.30h.

So, who are the speakers?

Speaker 1:

Anton Aerts: Anton is an entrepreneur, community builder and innovation strategist. He co-founded Opvang.Vlaanderen and Toekan, platforms that brought together more than 200 local governments in a strong community. Today, he is on a mission to unite non-profits around cooperative SaaS platforms built through participatory development.

Anton's Session: From organizations to communities in SaaS

• In today’s AI-first world, products and processes can be copied, but human connection cannot. Building strong communities has become essential to create belonging, ownership, and lasting value. Supported by real-world cases and his own experiences (ex: opvang.vlaanderen) Anton will show how communities fuel sustainable growth.

Some takeaways:

• Why community building is more important than ever in SaaS
• What community building really means
• How to design strategies, participation models, experiences, and rituals that drive engagement

Speaker 2:

Sofie Boon: Sofie is Product Business Lead at iO and former Head of Partnerships at Mobilexpense. With 7 years of SaaS partnership experience, she knows the day-to-day reality of partner managers: from strategic selection to operations and relationship building.

Sofie's session: The real work behind SaaS partnerships

• Sofie takes you behind the scenes of SaaS partnerships. Many partnership tools emphasize sales administration: commissions, lead sharing and reporting. She'll deepdive into why the greatest impact lies in strategically selecting the right partners, sharpening the joint value proposition, setting up operational processes, and building sustainable relationships. Through recognizable examples, she illustrates why a broader approach is needed, so that partnership managers can spend their time on what truly creates value in SaaS.

Some takeaways:

• Why partnerships are much more than a sales channel.
• Where the real work of partner managers lies, and why it is often forgotten.
• How to structure and scale partnerships step by step.
  

Interested? Please claim your free ticket!

Hope to see you the 19th of November!

In Five Years

Ps: coming by car? Parking Rijnkaai (next to Waagnatie) is 10 min by foot from the beacon.