Feb 22, 2019 — Friday Reflections
by Nina Baliga
Pre-SaaStr: What I expected and wrote down before SaaStr & Pager Duty’s Inclusion for Impact Awards
As I look back on my experience at the SaaStr Annual that took place in San Francisco, CA, February 5–7th, I can’t help but reflect on the thoughts I had leading up to the event.
I’ve been following many of the thought leaders in the DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) space on Twitter for the past two years.
Being from Colorado, I don’t get to engage in many face-to-face meetings with these leaders. The distance has made it difficult to develop more meaningful relationships.
Attending SaaStr means I finally have a chance to connect one-on-one and in person with these individuals.
I’m assuming that the attendees in general will be sales heavy. And until we have the kind of money to purchase products from others, we’re not exactly in that market.
With the diversity and inclusion scholarships they gave, I hope that I will see more women of color and people there.
There will be a lot of investors there, and I won’t be planning on talking to them. I’m not looking to raise money. I’d rather just generate revenue.
I see some of the advisors posting tweets about working 100 hours to make your startup work. I disagree, because I didn’t do that. And my startup has grown to a team of 8 people, with limited resources. We were generating revenue within 3 months of launching our business. And we’ve done so much more. I think creating a company based on values of work/life balance, respect and trust is what has made us thrive so far. And I hope to continue that.
My Fears:
The fear of having another seizure is always on my mind. I know that hydration and rest are really the key factors for me to stay healthy. With long networking days, and no immediate access to a place to take even a quick nap, I’m at risk of having another seizure. But those are risks I have to take every once in a while for the sake of the company. I know the risk is low, but I also know that the chances of migraines increase dramatically when I’m dehydrated and tired. That’s my biggest fear in this conference: managing the ability to be “on” all the time and to be my 100% best self.
