Five years ago today, The Tech Capital published its first story.

At the time, I had absolutely no idea whether there would be a second.

That may sound strange now, but it is the truth. Looking back, it is tempting to create a neat narrative and pretend there was always a plan, that every step was part of some carefully considered strategy that inevitably led to where we are today. The reality was considerably less sophisticated. Like many businesses, TTC began with little more than a conviction that there was an opportunity worth pursuing and a willingness to take a risk that, on paper at least, probably seemed difficult to justify.

When we launched in June 2021, much of the world was still finding its way out of the disruption caused by Covid-19. International travel remained unpredictable, events were very slowly beginning to return, and many industries were still trying to understand what the future might look like.

The Tech Capital was also launched during a period when much of the media industry seemed preoccupied with its own challenges. Newsrooms were shrinking, advertising models were changing, and there was no shortage of people willing to explain why starting a media company was a bad idea.

At the same time, I was watching something remarkable happen in digital infrastructure. Data centres were rapidly moving from a specialist asset class to critical national infrastructure, fibre networks continued to expand, cloud adoption was accelerating and a growing number of investors were beginning to realise that the foundations underpinning the digital economy would become one of the defining investment themes of the decade.

Yet despite all of that activity, I felt there was something missing.

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Too much of the conversation seemed focused on announcements, product launches and marketing messages. Too little attention was being paid to the people allocating capital, structuring transactions, shaping policy and making strategic decisions. It felt as though one of the world’s most important industries lacked a platform focused on the business, finance and strategy driving its evolution. Whether I was right or wrong remained to be seen, but I believed strongly enough in the idea to give it a try.

What followed has been one of the most rewarding, challenging, stressful and enjoyable experiences of my professional life.

One of the things that surprised me most was how little time I would ultimately spend doing the thing that inspired me to start the business in the first place. I launched TTC because I loved journalism. I enjoyed interviewing people, understanding industries, following capital flows and trying to explain complex developments in a way that made sense. What I quickly discovered was that building a company required an entirely different set of skills and priorities. Cash flow forecasts, supplier payments, sponsorship negotiations, contracts, hiring decisions and countless operational challenges gradually became as important as any article we published. There were periods when I spent more time thinking about invoices than headlines, and more time worrying about payroll than editorial calendars.

Like most entrepreneurs, I eventually learned that revenue and cash flow are not the same thing, that growth and stability do not always arrive together, and that building a business can often feel like taking two steps forward and one step back. There was a period during those early years when I genuinely was not sure whether TTC would make it. The audience was growing, opportunities were emerging and the business appeared to be moving in the right direction, yet the reality behind the scenes felt far less certain. Looking back now, I realise those moments were some of the most important. They force difficult decisions, encourage discipline and ultimately reveal whether you genuinely believe in what you are trying to build.

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Like most businesses, the reality of TTC is often very different from the version people see publicly.

People see the conferences, interviews, articles, videos and photographs. They do not see the airport terminals, the missed connections, the delayed flights, the lost luggage or the endless hours spent solving problems that nobody outside the organisation will ever know existed. More than once, I have stood at a baggage carousel wondering whether the suitcase containing event equipment required the following morning had decided to continue its journey without me. More than once, I have found myself dragging what felt like half a conference venue through an airport because shipping banners, cameras, microphones and branding materials across continents was either too expensive, too risky or both. By the time some events began, I had already spent days travelling and carrying enough equipment to qualify as a workout programme.

At the time, those moments rarely felt amusing.

Today, they are some of my favourite memories.

Perhaps that is because they remind me that building something worthwhile is rarely glamorous. Success is often portrayed as a series of milestones, but the reality is usually a collection of small decisions, repeated consistently over a long period of time. Most of the work happens when nobody is watching.

The other thing that has become increasingly clear to me over the past five years is that businesses are ultimately about people.

The digital infrastructure industry is often measured in gigawatts, billions of dollars, investment returns and construction pipelines. Yet behind every financing, acquisition, development project and policy decision are individuals taking risks, making decisions and trying to build something meaningful. One of the greatest privileges of running TTC has been the opportunity to meet and learn from so many of those people. Many of the individuals who supported us in our earliest days remain readers, clients, sponsors, speakers, contributors and friends today. Some organisations that took a chance on us when we were still proving ourselves continue to support us five years later. Some readers have followed our coverage from the very beginning. Some speakers have appeared on TTC stages across multiple countries and multiple years. That loyalty is something I will never take for granted.

The same applies to the people who have helped build TTC from the inside.

While TTC may have started as a one-person operation, it stopped being one a long time ago. Every person who has joined the business has helped shape what it has become, whether through journalism, research, events, operations, commercial partnerships or simply by bringing perspectives and ideas that made us better.

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Founders often receive more credit than they deserve because they are the most visible part of the story, but businesses are sustained by teams. They survive because groups of people decide, every day, to move in the same direction and continue building together. When I look at TTC today, one of the things I am most proud of is not the audience we have built or the events we host, but the people who have helped make it possible.

Looking back now, I realise TTC has become intertwined with a significant part of my adult life. It has shaped where I have travelled, who I have met, how I spend my time and, in many ways, how I see the world. It has been a source of immense pride, occasional frustration, frequent anxiety and countless opportunities. Like most founders, I have probably given it more time, energy and attention than was ever sensible. Weekends, holidays, flights and family gatherings have often doubled as opportunities to answer emails, review contracts, finish articles or prepare for the next event. Even this blog is being written as the family waits to sit at the table, from the newest member of the clan, who is 1, to the oldest, closer to 90. Yet if I were transported back to June 2021 and given the choice again, I would do it all over without hesitation. Not because it has been easy, but because it has been meaningful.

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The first five years have been remarkable. Now it’s time to build the next five.

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If there is one lesson these past five years have reinforced, it is that businesses are ultimately built on people. Relationships, trust, reputation and consistency matter far more than most realise. Another is that progress rarely happens in a straight line. Some of TTC’s biggest opportunities emerged from setbacks, mistakes or moments of uncertainty. Perhaps most importantly, I have learned that the best businesses are built with patience. In a world increasingly focused on immediate results, meaningful things still take time.

Five years later, TTC reaches well over one million people around the world each year through its journalism, events, videos and social platforms. We engage with investors, operators, policymakers, advisers and technology leaders across every major digital infrastructure market. Yet despite that growth, the mission itself remains remarkably unchanged. We exist to provide intelligent, independent coverage of the business, finance and strategy shaping digital infrastructure.

If anything, I believe that mission is becoming more important.

For all the change we are witnessing, I remain convinced that independent journalism has an important role to play. Not because there is a shortage of information, but because there is often a shortage of context, perspective and understanding. The digital infrastructure industry does not need more noise. It needs more clarity.

The industry we set out to cover five years ago has become one of the defining investment and policy stories of our time. Artificial intelligence is reshaping infrastructure requirements. Energy has become a strategic consideration. Digital sovereignty is increasingly influencing political and investment decisions. The scale of capital flowing into the sector continues to grow, while the conversations surrounding it become more sophisticated, more consequential and more global.

The most interesting stories have not been written yet.

Neither, I suspect, has the most exciting chapter of TTC.

The next phase of the business will look different from the first. Our events will continue to evolve and improve, but increasingly, my attention is returning to the thing that inspired this journey in the first place: journalism. Independent reporting, thoughtful analysis and trusted information have never been more valuable than they are today. In a world where information is abundant but trust is often scarce, I believe there remains a significant opportunity to build something genuinely useful for the people making decisions across this industry.

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Before the end of this year, we will take a significant step in that direction with a launch that I believe will help define the next phase of The Tech Capital. For now, however, that story can wait a little longer…

Today is simply an opportunity to reflect.

To everyone who has read an article, attended an event, appeared in an interview, spoken on one of our stages, partnered with us, sponsored us, challenged us, supported us or simply followed the journey from afar, thank you.

The Tech Capital would not exist without you.

Five years ago, there was no certainty that a second story would follow.

Five years later, for the first time, I genuinely feel like the best stories are still ahead of us.

And for that, I could not be more excited. The next chapter starts tomorrow.

João Marques Lima

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If you’re curious about how TTC began, the original launch broadcast from June 14, 2021, streamed while much of the world was still emerging from Covid-19 restrictions, is still available to watch below.