You Collected 30+ Cards at Bits & Pretzels 2026. Now What?
Bits & Pretzels is intense — 5,000 founders + investors crammed into the ICM with beer at 10am. You came home with a stack of cards and zero memory of which conversation went where. The 7-day plan below sorts the gold from the hangover noise.
The 7-day follow-up plan
Day 0 is the flight home. Day 7 is when the trail goes cold. What you do in between is the difference between "I went to Bits & Pretzels 2026" and "I closed three deals from Bits & Pretzels 2026."
Flight back from Munich: sort. LinkedIn-connect. Sleep.
Open NexaLink, sort everyone you scanned by tier (Hot / Warm / Cold) and by language (some German-only follow-ups should be in German for higher reply rate). Send LinkedIn requests to Hot tier with personalized notes.
Personal email to every Hot contact.
Reference where you met. Reference what you talked about. Propose one specific next step. Use this template:
Hi [name] — Great catching up at Bits & Pretzels [Day 2 beer tent / ICM lobby Day 1]. Loved your take on [specific thing they said about their company / DACH market]. Following up — would [15-min call / intro to peer / share a doc] be useful? — [your name]
LinkedIn note + soft email to Warm contacts.
Lower energy than Hot, but still personalized. Reference one detail from your conversation. Don't propose a meeting — just offer help. Acceptance rate is lower; the goal is staying on their radar for next quarter.
LinkedIn-only for Cold. Bump non-replies in Hot/Warm.
Cold tier: LinkedIn connection request, no email. Anyone in Hot/Warm who didn't reply by Day 5 gets one bump email — short, low-pressure, easy to ignore. After this, drop them.
Re-surface every contact tagged Bits & Pretzels 2026.
NexaLink filter: tag = Bits & Pretzels 2026. Send 5-10 no-pressure check-ins to people who didn't convert in week 1 but are still relevant. This is where year-over-year compounding starts.
How NexaLink runs the 7-day follow-up for you
- → Every card you scanned at Bits & Pretzels 2026 is auto-tagged. Filter by tag and you have your follow-up list ready.
- → AI drafts the personalized first email per contact, referencing the session you tagged at scan-time.
- → Reminders auto-set for Day 5 bump and Day 30 check-in. You don't have to remember.
- → When Bits & Pretzels 2027 happens, the same tag tells you which people you already met. That is your warm list for next year — without lifting a finger.
Frequently asked questions
How soon after Bits & Pretzels should I send follow-ups?
Within 72 hours. Munich is a quieter business culture than the Anglo-American conferences — same-day follow-ups can feel pushy. Day 2-3 post-event is the sweet spot, especially if you can reference a specific moment from the beer-tent night that signals you actually paid attention.
Should I follow up in English or German?
Match the language they used. If they spoke German fluently with you, follow up in German — DACH market reciprocity is real. If English was the working language, stay in English. Don't switch mid-thread; pick one and stay with it.
What should the first follow-up email say after Bits & Pretzels?
Reference the specific session or moment. 'Great catching up at the Day 2 beer-tent founder dinner — loved your take on [specific topic]. Following up — would [next step] be useful?' Specificity outperforms generic 'great meeting you' notes by 5x in the DACH market.
What if I forgot what we talked about (it WAS the beer tent)?
Honesty wins in Germany more than anywhere. 'Hey [name], we connected at the Day 2 beer-tent night — refresh me on what you're building and let's grab 15 min.' Pretending to remember details that you didn't is worse than admitting you don't. Munich founders appreciate the directness.
When should I send the second follow-up?
Seven days after the first. DACH inboxes are slower than Bay Area inboxes — 5 days is too soon, 14 days is too long. One bump email at Day 7, then drop it if no reply. Try again at next year's Bits & Pretzels.
Don't lose the connection.
Free on iOS and Android. Scan cards, tag by event, and follow up without dropping a single name.