The (Honest) Truth About International Startup Conferences
TL;DR — You should attend global startup conferences but you must consider some important things (intensive preparations, type of conference) if you want to get it right.
Recently, I have been hearing lots of people talk on the social media in Israel (and Internationally) about the benefits of traveling to exhibit in global startup conferences. This isn’t a new topic, entrepreneurs are arguing this issue quite often. “Should I travel that far just for a conference?” or “will I manage to get an investment or reach new customers as a result of that event?” those are questions that being asked quite often.
During the last year, I have been traveling all over Asia to present our venture. I’m writing to share my professional insights and personal experience for those who still struggle to get a good answer for their concerns.
What are the main things to consider before taking the decision?
Set your goals and expectations
This might sound a little bit obvious, however, people tend to not take it seriously enough and skip on setting the goals. For many entrepreneurs to spend their company’s / personal money on this kind of business travel isn’t an easy choice. Therefore, when considering this kind of decision we must think realistically. The main question to be asked is what do we really want to achieve and is it actually possible to achieve that thing.
I do not want to break the fairytale, however the chances are very low to go to a conference and like in hollywood movies (or in Silicon Valley TV show) achieve a great breakthrough. Tech conferences is an industry and it has a business model. The organizer brings as many startups as possible and only a handful of investors which all hope to get a deal.
Unfortunately the investors are being overwhelmed by startup pitches in one or two days. This situation makes it very hard for them to be open for new ideas and makes it hard for the entrepreneurs to achieve their goals. A recent survey that I saw mentioned the expectations among founders who attended global startup conferences during the last two years. The main expectation were:
- Get massive exposure (PR)
- Get funded
- Business Development / finding new customers
- Talent Acquisition
- Contact with industry leaders / influencers
The results showed that more than 70% of the founders testified that they didn’t achieve any of their goals while the other 30% testified that they either achieved a “strong lead” for their goals or practically achieved what they looked for. The survey draw a gloomy picture and therefore in order to be ready for this kind of decision I think you have to consider the following topics:
Don’t make shortcuts, prepare well
Alright, so you figured out what are your goals. That’s great, now you must get going with intensive and long business development efforts in order to get meetings with the right people during the conference. But before you open your contact list and start searching for leads, you should understand that it’s going to take a substantial amount of time if you wish to make it right. Therefore, think whether it’s worth it or not (this is especially important for small teams of 2–3 people). Why?
Firstly, if you have no intentions to make these preparations you might find yourself wasting your funds without any result. Secondly, it is a big effort in terms of time and you might want to consider investing this time in making other things happen that will give your venture more value than that conference (like developing your product, focus on your customers etc.).
Make sure you choose the right conference
For us, busy founders, we don’t have much time to attend many conferences. There are always things to get done and goals to achieve fast. Therefore, if you have decided to go for it, just make sure that you pick a relevant conference for your specific industry (my recommendation is to choose 1–2 conferences per year and to make good preparations for each one). Choosing the right conference will definately increase your chances to get it right and achieve your goals. Don’t fall for the “cheap” invitations being sent by mail or promoted online (even if they will pay your trip expenses). Choose the right conference for you.
So, should you go for it? Yes definitely. Those are the main reasons:
Get out of the office
Attending large conferences is a great tool for you to know your industry from the inside. During these events you will be exposed to the global trend and get inspiration for your venture’s future vision. In addition, just the fact that you will be in one place with tens or even hundreds more startups in your stage will give you a good feedback and reference on your venture. This kind of feedback is not only on the idea level but also for the entrepreneurial skills that you might have or need to improve comparing to the industry.
Open new doors
My personal experience indicated that the real business activity is not happening during the conference but during the days before/after the main event. That is the reason why I emphasizing the importance of making serious preparations. Many times just the fact that you will be attending a big and prestigious event will open the doors and incentivise local businessmen to schedule a meeting with you, so use it. Our biggest achievements were from meetings that happened outside the conference and therefore I think that this is where you should invest your efforts.
Sharpen your marketing and pitch skills
When was the last time you had the chance to pitch your idea 500 times each days for 2–3 days in a row? Exhibiting in large conference will definitely provide you with this exhausting experience and this is a great opportunity to sharpen your marketing skills. A situation like this can give you the best indication for what sounds better in your pitch and what you should improve (and the best thing is that you have many chances for trial and error immediately).
Bottom line. I think that when it is done right you can get huge value from global startup conferences. And one last thing! If you have decided to go for it, don’t forget to have fun!
Disclaimer
This article was originally published at Start Israel (a major Israeli tech & entrepreneurship magazine) and gained great feedback. Israeli entrepreneurs found this article very useful, so I decided to translate it for the sake of those who doesn’t speak Hebrew (which are probably 99.9% of the world’s population).
