Utilize Tech Conferences for Launching Startups?

1 point·kineticac··3 comments

Anybody have any experience with launching an application in or at the same time as a tech conference? Which ones have you done or are planning? How are you getting in there and into the PR?

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I don't recommend it. Conferences happen on fixed days. It's very unlikely you'd otherwise launch on that exact day. So you'd either be launching late or early, both of which are dangerous. You'd either sit on something launchable and risk having a competitor launch first, or launch something incomplete that users disliked.

You should distinguish between a product push and media push.

You'll find that you can say you're launching even if the functionality has already launched a few days before hand.

This has been the case for some iterative launches for me, so maybe it's different for a site launch.

We launched Tipjoy at a publishing conference. It wasn't a good idea, as TechCrunch posted a story a bit early while we were on a flight. I think my exact thought at the time was: "fuck!"

If I were to do it again, I would have an open-to-anyone site for a few days before "launching" at the conference. I fixed more bugs in the first 24 hours of launch than the previous week of development. (and keep in mind this dev time was mid YC push)

Thank you both (pg and ivan) for the suggestions! I will definitely lean towards distinguishing between the product and media pushes.

And when you were coordinating the conference push, was it actually integrated or announced at the conference? Or just alongside the buzz with some other form of PR on the same day?

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