How to Make the Most of Conferences and Events
Events are important ways to get to know the ecosystem. Through them, you get to meet people and to lift your head out of your own startup to see what the wider ecosystem looks like.
The problem is, there are so many events it’s often hard to understand which to spend your time on and why you should be going to them.
We’ve put together a short list of recommendations for where to find good events in the Israeli ecosystem (and how to know they’re good for you).
Why should I be going to events?
Each event can provide different values, amongst them meeting industry figures such as investors, meeting other founders at similar stages to yours (one of the most valuable resources you can have), or learning about a topic you’re looking to further understand.
As a whole, we think the biggest benefit you can take from an event is connections. Whether the event is a conference or a cocktail hour, the initial connection you make can allow you to meet with the person again, who can in turn introduce you to more relevant people.
As a founder, your time is your most valuable resource. While we think events are important, you should also know why you’re going to the events you select and what you think you’ll get out of them so that you’re not wasting your time.
How can I prepare for an event?
It’s important to prepare well for events in order to gain the most out of them. Take the necessary time to review the participants and pinpoint those you want to connect to most. Learn about their backgrounds and the current companies they are involved in so that you can converse at a level that’s of interest to them. At times, even if you know exactly who you would like to speak with at an event, coming up to them and getting their attention is challenging. If possible, we highly recommend trying to go to the event together with someone who is well-connected. That person can introduce you to the people you’d like to speak with on the spot, and a warm handshake is always more powerful than a cold one.
What kinds of events are there?
Conferences
Most conferences are held on an annual basis. Some of these also have quarterly smaller sessions. These are typically bigger events, often cost money even for startups to attend, and are filled with content. Many conferences offer subsidized passes for startups, or have pitching competitions where startups can access the conference free of charge if they participate.
Conferences are events where preparation is crucial. Pinpointing contacts in advance is something we highly recommend doing. In some cases, we even recommend reaching out in advance to set up short intros over Zoom in order to make the most of your in person meetings.
Many conferences have a 1:1 meeting system. In our experience this is a highly valuable part of a conference, and should be well utilized. Spend time selecting and scheduling your meetings in advance.
Finally, often conferences are an excuse for people to all come together at one time and date, but the essence of the conference is the events around it. Make sure you know what the after conference events that people recommend going to are, and that you have found a way to register for them if needed.
There are a range of general events as well as verical specific events both in Israel and abroad. Listed below are a small selection of the more interesting ones in our opinion.
ISRAEL
ABROAD
Competitions
There are many startup competitions and pitches. Two of the bigger ones in Israel are The Pitch and Calcalist+ Startup Competition. While signing up for a competition seems like an attractive idea for some, we urge you to remember why you want to participate before you commit. We recommend finding founders who have previously participated in the competition to ask them how they found it.
Events
this category refers to every gathering, meetup, and cocktail event out there. There are some of these every week in the industry. They are usually more casual, free to attend and only require a simple online registration. As an early-stage founder, unless you’re speaking in one of the two above-mentioned categories, these are probably the events you’ll be getting most value from.
A few examples for events over the next month:
How do I find events?
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Almost all events are posted on LinkedIn by the group running it. Many events are run by VCs, or have VC sponsors or speakers. We recommend following the VCs most relevant to your industry on LinkedIn. You can also just search for the term event on LinkedIn and many things will come up!
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Apart from LinkedIn, there are websites like Lastartup that list all events in one place.
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Big corporations like AWS and Google have startup programs, and run many events that are more content focused. We also recommend looking on their websites.
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We recommend looking at the people speaking at each event, and seeing whether those are people you want to be learning from and could gain value from. It could be that they’re incredible people but specialize in an industry far from yours.
So what do I do once I reach an event?
