Approaching Web3 Conferences

Conferences are huge growth drivers for Web3 startups. ‘Everyone’ in the industry gathers in one city, enabling GTM team members to 10x their opportunity that week vs. any given week. However, navigating conferences can be challenging. 

At ETHDenver this year we had lots of high-value and engaging conversations and we were able to fly home with 55+ active leads to follow up with. There’s a key to having so many conversations that make an impact. Here are a few tips from this last event: 

1️⃣ Everybody wants to pitch. People come to conferences to do business and explore innovations. It's the one or few times they can get out of the basement and spread the word. Let them. Treat convos as 'Discovery' and follow up later in-depth.

2️⃣ Make yourself memorable. Most people default to the ‘take a selfie’ strategy but if you didn’t make an impact in the conversation itself they won’t care that you took 1/100 selfies with them. If you don’t have anything creative to talk about or do, then simply smile. Energy always wins.

3️⃣ Short and sweet. There are dozens of side events to be at simultaneously. Keep your convos short and save time for exploration later to maximize your ROI.

4️⃣ Stay focused. Side talks, raves, and parties are interesting but you're there to make as many connections as possible. Keep yourself in good shape, track progress, and keep hustling the next day. You can watch most of the talks online afterward. 

5️⃣ Detailed follow-ups. Most people’s goals are to talk to as many industry professionals as possible. They're not going to remember every face or want to be sold to. Show them real value by following up in detail and giving them time to digest. Sub-tip: take notes immediately after live meetings to curate a great follow-up later. 

If you spend real time with a super valuable lead that’s fair game, actually encouraged, but most of the time at Crypto conferences, as a GTM team member you’re optimizing for ROI. The best way to do that is to maximize conversations and remember to move on from low-value ones. 

I’ll share more about event curation and how you can ‘life-hack’ these events with one day that nets you 80% of your new leads in subsequent posts.

Follow along here and on X if you’re interested in learning more about navigating sales in our increasingly digital world.