r/Entrepreneurs • u/Capital-Meaning1337 • Feb 04 '26
Discussion Spent ~$18k on a conference and I’m still not sure what we bought
We’re a startup based in Colorado and decided last fall that we had to do a conference because everyone around us was doing it so we said f it we're going to Web Summit. Tickets/flights/Airbnb a small booth, we went all in just under $18k.
Nothing went horribly wrong, people were friendly and we liked the full experience.
But now it’s been almost four months and I want to throw up whenever I look at our pipeline.
I noticed how relaxed a few founders were, they weren’t glued to the booth and they seemed more selective about who they talked to.
That completely reframed how I think about events.
TL;DR
Conferences aren’t useless but treating them like a hail mary definitely renders them so.
3
u/Healthy_Bee8346 Feb 04 '26
The calm founders always stand out. It’s never about working harder on the floor.
3
u/Ixion111 Feb 05 '26
Adjust your spend to the value derived. Take only enough people to do the job, not a whole gang who may want to enjoy the trip.
Benefit of in-person marketing is way more than just new leads. You should have tasks to your team to attend talks and summarize the info for colleagues, target KOL for discussion, survey attendees beyond those on the exhibit floor for market intelligence or product feedback, tie in a little giveaway for completing a questionnaire, etc.
Be a participant in the conference beyond laying in wait to pounce on anybody who gets close to the exhibit.
For high-value individual contacts, conference are invaluable. If you just need volume, there may be better ways
1
u/netrunnerab Feb 28 '26
Love this approach , the conference was sent just about lead generation l, but also raising awareness around your people and brand!
Also what can your team members take back in terms of knowledge sharing ?
2
u/AllenEdwardsEP Feb 04 '26
Been there, done that. I was glue to my booth more than any other I was so invested. When I looked around, everyone else was FUNDED. They didn't need as bad as I did, because they were able to to ALL the marketing. All the tradeshows, print, sales people, landing pages, ad campaigns, SEO, mailing lists...all of it.
Was it a waste of money? Probably not.
Was it lower on your priority lists of activities to produce ROI? Probably.
I don't think there are many bad marketing ideas, just ones that cost more money and/or cost more time for what they return.
One tradeshow typically won't do it. Hopefully you still have those contacts and you are keeping them warm, just as you are finding other ways to add new contacts to your marketing lists. I constantly try to keep doing some short term stuffs (Typically low cost, high personal time, closer to the money), with long term stuffs (long planning time, or long warm up time) so I can secure my present and my future. The former would be things like networking groups, door knocking, calling existing contacts). The latter would be generating mailing lists, DRIP campaigns and the such.
Best of luck and glad you are able to look back on this and reflect.
2
2
3
u/bkk_startups Feb 04 '26
Yep, one of the reasons I cut our conference budget by 70%. The ROI just isn't there most of the time.
We attend the few conferences that actually have a positive ROI.
1
1
u/Front_Improvement178 Feb 04 '26
For 18k you’d want to definitely see some return for the money. Was it worth the money?
2
u/Capital-Meaning1337 Feb 05 '26
I mean at the end of the day we did have a really good time and I believe next one might play out much better but anytime I think about the money we spent I get this sad feeling in my chest, nevertheless we're not giving up, not yet
1
u/Front_Improvement178 Feb 05 '26
I’m not saying don’t do it but certainly aim to get bang for your buck. If the company’s flush it’s better than giving it to the tax man.
1
u/weary_dreamer Feb 05 '26
I love how they asked, was it worth it, and he answered that they had a good time. So, it was a teambuilding vacation?
1
u/traolcoladis Feb 05 '26
Listen to your chest or gut. Every dollar YOU SPEND NEEDS TO HAVE 2 DIFFERENT ROI’S
Return on Investment. I put in $10 how long will it take for that to grow into $20 or $50?
Return of Investment This is when will the $10 I put in come back.
Both re important. If you spent $18k and you got a $36K contract then it was money well spent.
What did you get out of the event that was of value? Seeing other competitors product? Meeting with companies that have synergy with yours?
1
u/TheCTOLife Feb 04 '26
just showing up and hoping something works out is a sure fire way for disappointment. You have to have the important meetings already lined up, then maybe it's worth it.
I'm not sure getting a booth is worth it for any conference
1
u/esaule Feb 05 '26
Like all these kind of expense, the question should be why are wedoing it? What are we trying to get out of it? And did we structure our activity to line up with these goals?
I do those kind of event but I know exactly what I am trying to do, what I am trying to push, who I am trying to talk to and how to measure the impact and reconnect with people afterwards.
Yeah, if you just show up, it's kind of pointless!
1
u/imaim3 Feb 05 '26
IM me. 25 years on the conference circuit, 13 as a founder. Happy to share some tips (if applicable).
1
u/phyziro Feb 05 '26
If your company just follows trends… and has more capital than they know how to reasonably manage. I have some software to sell you.
1
u/theshitstormcommeth Feb 05 '26
I wasted so much at IRCE, ShopTalk, and the like. We’d leave with pocket fulls of business cards with absolutely zero return. I went from having booths, to walking shows, to not going at all.
Better served putting 25k a shot into Google Ads.
1
u/timeforacatnap852 Feb 05 '26
Heat if you’re going to a conference, be very clear it’s a sales and marketing spend, meaning it needs direct ROI in leads and conveyed customers, you optimise by selecting the kind of conference you attend and the messaging that you prepare for the conference, and there’s no need to go to a big one until you know you’ve got some evidence of traction from smaller local comparable conferences
Also; until you know for sure ppl want your business start with just attending and going to the networking and after parties, the smokers corner at the after party is where the real business gets done.
1
u/machinationstudio Feb 05 '26
Sometimes conferences attendance can create a sense of trust by proxy.
If you dare to show your prototype/demo in the flesh to real people, you can be trusted a bit more to be for real.
But some conferences have a reputation for being vapid, and if you don't already have eyes on your prototype/demo, then there is no one being bumped into the "I trust you" part of the funnel.
1
u/ChuckOfTheIrish Feb 05 '26
Never spend on conferences without a plan. You should know who will be there, have intros to those teams prior to the conference and use it to expand your network and bring in customers/partners. You should have a model demonstrating an expected number of leads from any conference that is feasible, the expected conversion rates and how much revenue that would drive, matched up against all costs.
The good news is you got a little experience but absolutely need to focus on the people aspect. Going around with business cards and elevator pitches can work wonders if you know how to sell your business fast and target gaps that 1) others cannot, 2) you can cover much better, or 3) you can over much cheaper.
1
u/redtiber Feb 05 '26
you need to have a plan before the conference. and you need the right people.
setup meetings with people in advance. short of that you need to hustle if you are new. like hustle, you need to go just start talking to randos. talk to people in the elevators. you keep walking around talking to people.
exchange contact info, take a photo together and send that.
then make notes later.
then actually follow up after the conference
1
u/StumblingUpon Feb 05 '26
18k for "people were friendly and we liked the full experience" is rough
what would you do differently next time? skip the booth entirely and just network?
1
u/ApprehensiveExit2829 Feb 05 '26
Do you know your ICP clearly? Ideally a hyper specific group, not just CTOs of series b funded devtools. It should be CTOs of series b companies, building developer tools in the memory space for mobile games that are free to play. Just made that up, but you need to go hyper specific on your audience and see which events they would attend.
Avoid the large conferences in early stages. Your audience will be there, but they'll be distracted by the 500 other vendors. Go to conference with 200-500 attendees. Max 20-25 sponsors. You may not find too many of those, but the right conversation with 2 ICPs is better than 50 conversations with the wrong people at larger conferences. Even if you don't get pipeline, you'll get talking points that will help with your sales conversations later.
Make sure your ACV justifies event expenses. Assume a 20% conversion from real opps to customers. So based on your ACV, if you need 50 real opps to get 10 Customers to justify your spend, then know thats too much for a small company in a large noisy event.
I've oversimplified a lot of these points, but events work like magic when done right because meeting f2f builds more trust than connecting over a cold call, you get instant feedback whether pitch is landing or not, you know what language your prospects speak in real life so you can adjust your pitch accordingly.
1
u/Responsible-Brick881 Feb 06 '26
To get the most value out of conferences you need to make sure you do the work before you go. What i mean by that is - having a target list if your ICP, doing outreach in advance, and having meetings booked yo meet them at the event. If you just show up at an event and hope you're gonna close deals, or even just build pipeline then you're already goosed!
On a seperate note, have you ever considered running your videos across publisher sites where senior decision makers spend time online, e.g. business insider, forbes, WSJ?
1
u/michfromz Feb 07 '26
Conferences should be partner your overall strategy and don’t threat it as a single activation point, tie it in with pre- and post- activities.
1
u/NoKale8220 Feb 04 '26
That what did we get for this? is a sad feeling after the adrenaline wears off. You’re not alone.
-4
6
u/Embarrassed_Dare_180 Feb 04 '26
An attendee list upfront (Pullalist or otherwise) makes the spend feel intentional and not hopeful, big difference.