

Should you launch at a conference? - rudd
http://joelonsoftware.com/items/2011/09/15.html

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nikcub
This is an excellent post. I would like to add that what you get out of a
conference is proportional to the work you put into it. There is no magic
place where you just show up and then become successful.

This includes pre-planning:

\+ Get a list of journalists that will be at the event and email them
beforehand. Don't just mass-mail a pro forma press release.

\+ Track down bloggers from that list that you think may be interested in your
product (because they have written about a competitor, or have written a
feature on the space) and tweet them or email them a quick intro and tell them
you will be at the conference

\+ Do the same for investors. A simple tweet like "@vc would love to grab a
few minutes with you at TC Disrupt to show you a demo of our product which is
xyz etc.". Attending a conference is a great intro to cold emailing or
tweeting somebody

\+ Plaster your website, blog, twitter etc. with information about the
conference and where you can be found. Include clear contact details. I would
go as far as to place contact details on the front page of your site (or a
separate conference dedicated page which is clearly linked to from the
frontpage), along with your photos (so people remember you). This is so when
somebody from the conference lands on your site they remember you and can find
an easy way to get in touch with you.

During the conference:

\+ Use the time you have at the conference to book demos with people you know
will be there beforehand.

\+ Don't just sit and wait at your demo table. Be pro-active by having one
person constantly out and about on the conference floor introducing themselves
to people and handing out cards

\+ Be memorable - plaster yourself in your brand and color with t-shirts or
shirts. Have a gimmick such as handing out sweets. One desk at TC Disrupt had
a basketball hoop with prizes. I always seem to remember the companies that
look good and are out and about.

\+ Make it very clear what your intentions are - press, fundraising, hiring,
partnerships, etc. Have a 30 second pitch for each one of these, a 30 second
demo, and then a 4-5 minute pitch and a 4-5 minute demo. Take down contact
details and place a note beside each contact you get

\+ Attend all the after-parties

Post-Conference:

\+ Attendee's are inundated with information during the 2-3 days of the
conference. Have a way to remind them of who you are and what you do after the
conference. Take down their email. Don't just be another business card in a
pile of business cards. Don't assume that a journalist or investor remembers
who you are when you email followup - always re-introduce yourself

Disclaimer: former techcrunch employee

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fleaflicker
This is all excellent advice but a huge chunk of the attention Trello received
is a reult of the name "Spolsky" being attached to it.

He has a strong personal brand that has been cultivated for a decade.

~~~
nod
Yes, and this post IS part of the continuing launch publicity he's generating
for Trello.

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kristiandupont
Joel is in the other camp than me when it comes to launching. I believe in
getting feedback from the public as soon as possible, but I just realized that
there is a factor that Joel not mentioning here but which makes a big
difference: celebrity.

If you launch something and have a large following like Joel, lots of people
will see it. For me, the "one chance of making a first impression" isn't that
important because very few people are going to get that first (and bad)
impression. For me, the feedback is of higher value and losing maybe a few
hundred potential customers is not a serious threat. But what would happen if,
say, Steve Jobs announced a poorly iterated new product? Millions would try it
out and two things would happen: 1) they would hate it and never try it again
-- the first-impression thing. But more importantly, 2) Steves reality
distortion field would lose many energy-points (or whatever those run on).

If Joel "officially" launches a three weeks old web page with an input element
and a submit button, it could damage the personal brand he has worked hard to
establish. But if you are not a celebrity, and your ego can handle it, it's
possible that you are better off with the launch early strategy..

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mhp
Joel is doing a live chat right now (11 AM EST) at
<http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/1293/onstartups>

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mountaineer
I think in general the "you never get a second chance to make a first
impression" attitude by startups is overblown. It's a big world out there.
That's not to say you should launch something that sucks, but get it out there
if it's interesting.

~~~
crenshaw
This depends. For most startups what you say is true. You can launch 5 times
and most wouldn't notice. But for a startup with a lot of press, a bad launch
can hurt momentum (I'd think). Look at Color.

~~~
spolsky
or Cuil. Or Apple Ping, or Google Wave, or Google Buzz.

~~~
mountaineer
Ok, so if you're a big name, big brand, or have invested big money in a
product you may not a get much of a second chance (be it from customers or
investors/managers).

But, for the rest of us nobodies, there will be other opportunities for news
and first impressions as we trudge along. I launched my first app in 2005 to
no press, just a couple of blog posts. It was almost dead, then NY Times
writes about it 3 months later while covering the topic (Personal Finance).
Every few months a another press mention would popup out of the blue and 5
years later when it got its second NY Times coverage a whole new batch of
people discovered it. Of course, I no longer own or work on it, and I'm still
"working for the man" so what do I know?

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killion
This is a great writeup. The only thing I would add is that if you are a
startup and you don't have press contacts a PR firm is a huge help. We
launched <http://www.ApartmentList.com> at Disrupt and got a similar response
as Trello did because of it.

Or it could have been the Sprinkles cupcakes we handed out.

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brianwillis
_The morale boost you’ll get will be incredible. After months of toiling away,
the feeling you get from seeing real-world people actually start using your
product is the best feeling you will ever get as a software programmer in your
professional life. These are the great moments that make it all worthwhile. We
made something. People used it. It matters._

Ain't that the truth. I shipped some code last week, and then spent some time
at a customer's site demoing the new features and doing one-on-one training.
It's a real buzz to see people use the stuff you made. It's easy to lose sight
of that feeling when sitting in your air-conditioned beige office, divorced
and detached from the realities that your users face, but when someone hugs
you because of all the time and energy the code you just wrote will save them,
it really validates what we do.

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fbnt
Imho, when you're launching a product, if your final goal is to get VC
funding, then go for a tech conference. If your final goal instead is to sell
a product, then you probably want to look at other venues, and spend your
energies in marketing efforts to reach out to your potential clients.

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dmk23
If you have to _rely_ on any conference to gain traction you are in deep
trouble. Make sure you have a solid business that can execute with as little
external dependencies as possible. Launch on your results and accomplishments,
not just stories and promises. People who attend these conferences are
suffering from information overload. Prove something and you'll get a chance
to stand out from the crowd. Generally you'll get way better treatment if you
make them want to be part of your success, rather than be a supplicant
desperate for a lifeline.

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unohoo
Joel - I'm just wondering. With your reputation and clout, how would your
product launch have compared if you'd just announced it via your blog /
twitter / SO ? I wont be surprised if you'd have gotten a pretty good response
via that method as well. I think launching @ conf is even more important to
others who dont enjoy the same reputation / following as you do.

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medinism
Agreed that launching in a conference is useful. Getting a table, not so much.
You may get a visit from a few VCs who will most likely waste your time if
they don't know you. Most VCs send their most junior staff to walk the floors
and results in perceived traction with said VC - not real traction.

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jagatiyer
Secondlife for facebook.Nice!If secondlife was done right, maybe there wouldnt
even have been FB!:P

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pitdesi
Joel completely nailed it - if you can get on stage at a big conference, do
it.

Another question is: Should you go to a conference like TCDisrupt but present
at Startup alley?

We (FeeFighters) did that. We aren't launching anything sexy that TC would
like (We are in payments and even if you are making money and have saved
businesses (including Fog Creek) $75million it isn't sexy unless Jack Dorsey
is running the show) so we didn't bother applying to Disrupt.

We're launching next week at Finovate instead. So we decided to present at
Startup Alley. It isn't cheap. We had to fly out there, it costs $2k for a
table, etc. For us, its good to get out to SF every so often to visit with
friends, investors, partners, etc anyway. Early on, not that many folks came
by our booth (we were in the 500 startups alley, not the main one, so we were
a bit away from the crowd).

Ultimately though, for us the exposure was worth it. We had several good
meetings and customers came out of it - often it was often from folks we met
at an afterparty who stopped by our table the next day. We also did a few
guerilla things that helped us gain even more exposure:
[http://feefighters.com/blog/3-ways-feefighters-disrupted-
tcd...](http://feefighters.com/blog/3-ways-feefighters-disrupted-tcdisrupt/)
Who else can say that top VC's tweeted about them from the bathroom? We then
followed up with some of the VC's who said they love our scrappiness and have
had several email conversations (we aren't actively raising money, but never
hurts to meet w/ VC's).

There are ways you can maximize your opportunities and I think far too few
people did those things. Generally though, if you can afford it, I think it is
worth going even in the alley - but you have to make the most of your
opportunities... We saw folks sitting behind their table, and people who just
weren't very friendly/outgoing. That doesn't work at conferences. Send your
most extroverted people out there. You need to be able to talk and relate to
people instantly.

~~~
ry0ohki
Good job on the marketing. I honestly never noticed your booth, but definitely
noticed the urinal things (I assumed it was something officially sponsored).

