A Founder’s Guide: How to Leverage Events and Conferences
by Clara Köster
Ready to start planning your event efforts for 2024? Great, because I’m about to walk you through our short guide on leveraging events and conferences for your business. Trust me, it’s not just about showing up; it’s about showing off — in the best way possible!
Why attend events as a founder?
Why should founders care about events? Well, it’s like being in the middle of a bustling marketplace. It’s where deals are made, ideas are born, and connections are forged. You get to rub elbows with industry players. Think of it as your startup’s show-and-tell moment, but with the added bonus of live feedback and potential collaborators or investors. Events can be an integral part of your strategy — especially in the early stage.
Preparation Is Half the Battle
- Set a Clear Objective for starting your event efforts
You’re not just there to snack on free hors d’oeuvres. But rather to dazzle with your insights, charm investors, impress potential clients, or scout for geniuses to join your team. Define what you want to achieve and be clear about one goal. You will not have the time for everything:
- Thought Leadership and Publicity: Establish yourself as the go-to expert in your field.
- Fundraising: Craft an irresistible pitch and identify who’s looking to invest. Show them why they should show you the money.
- Go to Market / Sales: Identify potential customers and understand their needs.
- Talent Acquisition: Find those hidden gems who can turbocharge your team.
Define the overall % of your capacity you and other team members want to spend on events in a specific time frame. People tend to engage in event efforts opportunistically, losing the bigger picture and increasing the time spent on the respective efforts. Distribute efforts based on your internal responsibilities and strengths. Not everyone is a natural networker.
2. Get an Overview of the Event Landscape
Research, research, research. Identify the events that align with your objectives and audience. Some events might offer better networking opportunities, while others are more about learning and inspiration. You can also easily increase your visibility by attending events where not that many companies of your kind or industry are present. Think in target stakeholders you want to engage with to assess if you prefer industry fairs, generalist tech conferences, specialized summits, functional meetups or else.
Bonus (only for you 🤠): Overview Tech Events 2024
Signing up early for events saves you money and gives you ample time to plan and research. Looking for a first overview of what is happening and when in the tech space in 2024: Here you go.
3. Leverage Your Network
…for Insights: Chat with previous attendees and speakers. Which format was worthwhile and why? What worked for them? What didn’t? Tailor your strategy based on these insights, your network can be your guide. They can offer tips on which events or sessions to attend.
…for Discounts: Who doesn’t love a good discount? Your contacts might help you score reduced rates for attendance, accommodation, or even sponsorship opportunities.
…for Speaker Engagements: A speaking slot can significantly raise your visibility. Use your network to get introductions to the programming committee. Oftentimes, your favourite investors have good connections to the organisers.
…for Side Events: The unofficial gatherings can be just as important as the main event. Find out about dinners, parties, and other networking events.
…for On-site Intros: Getting introduced to the right person at the right time can be game-changing. Let your network know who you’re looking to meet.
Let your network know that you will be attending a conference by sharing it on your social media of choice. Your investors might also be interested in showing your company off at an event or introducing you to other present partners.
Structure Your On-Site Efforts
Take time in advance to organize your efforts on-site and get in touch with the right people. As planning the events most likely starts long before you make your personal plans look into event efforts with at least 2–6 months in advance depending on the size of the event. Not planning your efforts on-site and making use of the tools provided beforehand will leave you with a lot of unused potential.
Assess ways to increase your presence
Remember events are not only about attendance but offer all sorts of opportunities to engage: Stage Presence, Hackathon, Side-Events, Exhibition, Sponsoring. Our approach is: Go big or stay home! If you can, find your way to the stage. If your focus is on product or tech talent, engaging as a content contributor to a hackathon can also be highly effective. Exhibition and sponsoring efforts tend to be pricey. To check if they’re worth it, be really clear on what you are being offered and how well the event fits your objective.
Set up your profile
Most events have their own on-site applications. Set up your account, add pictures, and introduce yourself and your company. Alternatively, research other attendees via LinkedIn or the respective event platform.
Promote your attendance
Let your network know that you will be attending the respective event ideally noting your objective and your engagement in case you secured a speaking slot or anything else.
Funnel your Interactions
Find other attendees, skim through their LinkedIn, and contact them via the app. Do this a week in advance to give them a chance to answer and provide them with your contact data. Depending on your objective, transfer your outreach and track your interactions in your CRM’s respective pipeline to maximise your output.
Prepare your meetings
Create a structured approach to your interactions. Who are you meeting? What’s the desired outcome? The most important detail about this part is that you shouldn’t approach people just because you think it’s cool to meet them — you need to have a question or an offer and be curious about how you can work together in the future. Keep a log to track these details.
Have your laptop primed and your presentation polished. Create easy access to your professional network with a QR code for LinkedIn or email contacts.
Focus on the event
Ensure you’ve allocated ample time to fully immerse yourself at the event, aim to avoid distractions from back-home obligations. Have someone ready from your team who can jump in with support for you while you are flying through the event location.
Stand out from a distance
Consider wearing branded merchandise or something eye-catching to increase your visibility, recognisability, and networking opportunities.
Document your interactions
Jot down key points from each interaction. Use tools like LinkedIn for professional follow-ups and to keep your network active and engaged. Come up with a plan on how to efficiently document and follow up with the people you met to take out the pain of manually adding contacts and reaching out to them. If you want to be extra professional on this one, check out our portfolio company, VoiceLine, which allows you to take notes on your conversations via voice and funnel them right into your CRM.
Value is created after the party
The real magic happens post-event. Have all relevant interactions properly documented in your CRM. Reach out with personalised messages, reference your conversation, and propose the next steps.
Evaluate your performance against set goals.
Did you connect with the right people? If you fell short, dive into why. What hindered success, and how can you improve for the next round? Learn from this to ace your next visit.
And finally: Some golden rules
- Maximise Visibility Through Thought Leadership: Aim for the stage, not just a seat.
- Optimise for Targeted Interactions: Quality over quantity. Make every handshake count for your set objective.
- Do Less More Thoroughly: Focus on a few key events or interactions rather than trying to be everywhere. Make each moment count.
- Have Fun and Be Authentic: Let your personality shine through. People connect with people, not just titles or businesses.
With these expanded insights, you’re now armed with a comprehensive strategy to conquer the event world. Remember, it’s all about making meaningful connections, learning, and showcasing what makes your startup unique. So go forth and network like a pro! 🌟🤝🚀
P.S.: Turbocharging event presence to benefit the startups that we invest in is one of our favourite support areas. Now, we’re not usually ones to toot our own horn. But when Annika von Mutius from Empion drops us some sweet feedback, that makes us glow up, we simply have to share it with you:
“Having someone like Cavalry, equipped with a deep understanding of the event landscape and seasoned insight into what aligns best with the needs of an early stage company, proves invaluable in navigating the multitude of formats.”
If you want to discuss what we bring to the table beyond just cold hard cash, hit me up at clara@cavalry.vc. Let’s make some magic happen!
