top | item 15380628

(no title)

Danilka | 8 years ago

I participated in the Startup Alley 3 times and in Battlefield once. Here is my take:

- Battlefield gives you great exposure to investors and gives you some "validation" in their eyes. It is mostly true for noname VCs. If you network well, you will get some good connections out of it. That being said, it will not make your company. Even if it might seem so for a bit.

- Startup Alley is a complete waste of time, unless you sell to other startups. If you are starting something like Twilio, you will get plenty of early adopters in a few days. Otherwise, there is no real exposure, no traffic, no VCs, and almost no business partners. TechCrunch loves to hype it up because they are making $1.7K on each booth. If you are not sure why you want to participate, don't. Stay at the office and double down on your product and customers. YOu are better off spending your money on youtube influencers or what have you.

discuss

order

a9t9|8 years ago

Agree - startup alley is not the place to meet (non startup) customers.

I have been to Startup Alley once with my previous company. We managed to get exactly 0 new customers out of it. So on this point, totally agree with you. I did not expect tons of new business, but not getting a single new customer was disappointing, especially since the product sold well otherwise.

However, I got a surprising amount of good discussions out of it, both at the booth and over lunch. And I had fun. So overall, it was worth the price if you factor in the inspirational component.

bradhe|8 years ago

> because they are making $1.7K on each booth.

Really? How many booths are they selling? That's a pretty small ticket price all things considered.

andreasklinger|8 years ago

The startups technically pay to be part of the entertainment program

The value is in corporates buying tickets

blazespin|8 years ago

Why no business partners? Sounds like an ideal place for biz dev. If not, than the startups there are not thinking strategically. The little guys got to band together to uproot the big dudes.