Fomo Academy: Tips for a successful Latitude59 (and conference season)
TALLINN - Are you heading to Latitude59 next week? Even for the seasoned conference goer it can end up being a very hectic week. There’s so many events, so many people to meet and even the tempting agenda can take you away from your actual business agenda.
To help you survive Latitide59 and indeed the whole conference season we asked a few locals to give us some tips to ensure we stay on agenda throughout the chaos.
Kicking this off, I’ll go first. Prioritise your conversations. As a journalist, I’ve often seen startup founders at events spend time talking to me while an investor is in the periphery waiting to chat. Investors will (potentially) give you money - I can barely pay my own bills. Unless it is an actual on the spot interview, swap details with the journalist to connect another time and prioritise the investor/customer.
Kärt Siilats, Investor - Sniff out the secret unofficial side events - for example, get an invite to the boat party, people in the know will tell you which one.
Warm intros are the best, find a friend or another founder who knows an investor you're targeting (make sure you pre-qualify well and be sure they actually actively invest in your geography, stage and sector). Get them to introduce you to the investor and try to arrange a meeting outside of the official app, which they don't look at, and sometimes even outside of the official location (they may not all have tickets, they may just be hanging out in Tallinn during the event). Their calendars may already be full, so take it as a win even if they only agree to a call after the conference.
Liina Laas, Founder - Go with an agenda - are you there to sell, recruit, get investment? Try to set up meetings before if it is clear what you’re after. Think first - what do you want people to remember about you or your company after the event is over? What is your plan after the event is over? Make sure your followups are clear.
The real connections happen at after parties when people stop talking about business, connect on a human level. If relevant, they are more likely to keep your company in mind later if you build an actual relationship like a person, rather than relentlessly pitching. Oh, most importantly- have fun 😄
Sandra Golbreich, Investor - Don’t spam all the investors in the app - choose the VCs who are an actual fit and try to set up a meeting with them. Essentially, do your homework, and instead of wasting 80% of your time chasing irrelevant people, put this same effort in the research and getting the intros to those 3-5 relevant people.
You shouldn't just chase VCs but talk to other founders, as well. Because the power of networking can do a lot – those founders can actually make an intro to those desired investors.
Don’t chase every single person with the investor badge (and grab them and try to pitch to them). It doesn't really help your fundraise and on top of that, ruins the potential relationship with the investor - had you not trapped this person in the corner and tried to pour your heart out to them, they might have made an introduction to relevant investors.
The bottom line is, investors aren't walking sacks with money, they are human beings, and they would like to be treated accordingly. So, if you meet an investor at the party over a glass of beer, try to have a normal human conversation before the investor actually asks you what do you do.
Marko Klopets, Founder - Go to side events wherever you can, and just roam around and bump into people at the event itself - it's a good place to catch up with people, because everyone comes together for it.
Have a great conference season!
