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  2. Do big investor events work for small startups?

Do big investor events work for small startups?

Natella MƏMMƏD-ZADƏ
2 replies
Hi everyone! Currently, I'm looking for available tech and startup events (such as World Summit) for our products. But I'm not sure whether those events really work for small startups or not. Since there are hundreds of startups around the world it becomes difficult to get your message delivered and grab the attention of investors there. Anyone with experience in such events? Also, appreciate any events that would work for small startups.

Replies

Andrew Glenn
Great question @natellazadeh! If you're looking for investors, then there's a few options you can pursue. 1/ Cold calling/emailing investors: Low probability of success. Let's remember that investors get probably about 5-10 pitches per day. That's after they've filtered lots of noise. The number of cold emails they receive is astronomical. It's hard to rise above that noise and stand out. 2/ Pitch events: Low to moderate probability of success. There are some things that you can do to prepare to enhance your likelihood of connecting with an investor at these. Prepare your "elevator pitch" with a good hook. Like you highlight, lots of startups and hard to grab attention. Having a good hook helps. Also, be open to using these events as a networking-only opportunity. You may not find your perfect investor, but maybe you'll find another startup working on something similar and can collaborate, or maybe you found someone (investor or founder) that knows an investor that would be interested. 3/ Networking: Greatest (although still moderate) probability of success. "But I don't know any investors!" Sure, and that's okay. Start by identifying some that have funds active in your sector. Then start working backwards by trying to find someone that knows both the investor and someone already in your network. Be tenacious. Some investors use this as a screening tool (i.e., "is Natella willing to pursue investment by breaking down barriers?") Twitter is a great place to start engaging with them. LinkedIn as well. But nothing beats meeting them in person and that can happen at the pitch events and investor events. Good luck!
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