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Why Are Conferences Important For a Startup?

Updated: December 8, 2020 by Agnes Talalaev

We, with the WebARX team, have gone to a handful of conferences. Some have been very specific to our field some not so much, but what all of these conferences have in common, is that everywhere we go, there’s always a great value to be found.

For us, conferences are a great opportunity to meet like-minded people, new customers and investors. This was our goal this year when attending the Latitude59 event in 2019.

We also attended last year and we are extremely happy for the experience (and the investors we got on board) as well as opportunities to network with key influencers that can help to grow our startup.

This year we again proved ourselves how important these kind of events are and we are happy to share our learnings and experience with you.

The Opportunity to Learn From the Best

What we have learned is that it’s all about constant learning and connections that can take us to the next desired level as a company. No entrepreneur, no matter how talented, can know everything about everything. This is why we need to connect, discuss and learn for each other.

For WebARX it was the second time to attend Latitude59. As the previous year was pretty successful, we decided to come again. We saw again that it’s really beneficial to meet clients and talk with them face to face at conferences. There is just so much traffic and you can get instant feedback and test different approaches on how to present your product or services.
– Tauri Kärson, COO of WebARX

A conference like Latitude59 gave us the chance to connect with the right people and to be fair, business is about who you know not what you know, so we couldn’t give up a golden opportunity like this by staying home.

You Never Know Where You’ll Meet Your Next Customer

There’s always some great stories to tell after a conference and a conference has so much to give at no risk. No matter what industry you’re working in, you’re almost guaranteed to pick up something if you attend such a conference.

The great learning that we got is that you never know where or when you will meet your next customer.

The surprising part was that almost every person attending the conference was either an investor or a potential customer. Since we are building a product for developers and agencies who build web applications, still our customers can also be website owners. There was no one who would have answered a question “Do you have a website?” with a negative response.

We did find one customer at the afterparty while waiting in restroom queue.

At the afterparty, waiting on the line to the bathroom, there was a guy who had 2 of his sites hacked just a few days before the conference. The whole situation was pretty funny. We even took a picture together.
– Oliver Sild, CEO of WebARX

And yes, the real magic with that kind of events is that you never know when or where you will meet your next investor or customer. It can be in the dining area, in the restroom queue or even at the bar while having a refreshment.

Connections at Latitude59

This year, we were focusing more on general exposure. We were positively surprised to see a lot more potential customers this year.

Attending such conferences is a strong part of marketing and sales work. As we have seen from our previous experience, to make a successful sale we need to communicate with the potential customer. Latitude59 was the place where we had the chance to communicate with our potential customers and give a product demo to explain the main features and benefits of the product. – Agnes Talalaev, Head of Marketing at WebARX

We were also prepared to meet new investors for the upcoming seed round. Since last year we had the opportunity and found investors by attending Latitude59, we hoped for the success to continue this year. Fortunately, we found some really good connections to move forward with.

Through the new connections, we got some extremely valuable feedback about how different people understand our product and how they feel about it.

Why Are Conferences Important?

Since we have attended several conferences, we have seen that they have a fantastic turnout. The key to a successful event experience is research and taking the time to dig deep enough even before the event.

We would say that the conference met absolutely its objectives. Latitude59 is an interesting conference for us because it’s a potential place to find new customers, for example, a lot of the new startups who have not given enough effort to protect their websites. So it was a really good place where to raise awareness about possible cyber threats and many of the people we talked to have already signed up to try WebARX out. – Tauri Kärson, COO of WebARX

If the research has been done well, there’s a great opportunity to find your next biggest customer or investor from such an event.

Our main tips for you to get the most out of the Latitude59 in 2020 is to download the app in advance, connect to as many people as you possibly can. Invest in the demo booth and invite those who you are looking for meetings.

PS! A great little extra is to use the sponsor options as well. We were happy enough to rule the WiFi world at the Latitude59 in 2019 and it generated a lot of traffic and new sign-ups to WebARX portal.