The Next Web
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
The Next Web (TNW) was an Amsterdam tech media and events company founded in 2006 by Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten and Patrick de Laive. It grew from a 280-person conference in an Amsterdam church into one of Europe's most recognized tech brands: a news site reaching 8-10 million monthly visitors by 2016 and a flagship conference hosting 17,500 participants by 2019, plus a coworking business. On March 5, 2019, the Financial Times purchased a majority stake in TNW.
02 / The Next Web FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
After a strategic review, the Financial Times decided to wind down TNW's events and media operations in 2025 — the model that had made TNW famous no longer fit FT's portfolio. Founder Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten framed it as an era ending: as digital became the norm, TNW's role had shifted from breaking new ground to celebrating what had already been achieved.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten and Patrick de Laive found The Next Web in Amsterdam; the tech news site launches in 2008.
- Financial Times takes a majority stake
The Financial Times purchases a majority stake in TNW on March 5, 2019.
- Media and events wound down
Following a strategic review, the FT winds down TNW's events and media operations by the end of September 2025 — the last conference is held in June — while coworking continues; in December, Romanian SaaS marketplace Tekpon acquires the TNW media and events brands.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
The Financial Times communicated the wind-down decision to staff in June 2025 after a strategic review.
- 02
TNW's events and media business ceased by the end of September 2025; its final conference was held in June at Amsterdam's NDSM with over 5,800 registered attendees.
- 03
The TNW Spaces coworking business continued to operate as usual.
- 04
In December 2025, Tekpon acquired 100% of the TNW media and events brands from the FT to revive them.