Event Spotlight: SaaStr Annual 2018

Last week the cred team had the opportunity to attend one of our collective favorite conferences: SaaStr Annual 2018. As one of the top conferences in SaaS globally (we ranked it in our Top 10 of 2017 in case you missed it), we loved being able to see our clients in action. SaaStr Annual is a massive convention, bringing together people across the spectrum in software as a service from start-ups, to investors, to unicorns such as Hubspot, Basecamp, and Medallia.

We were proud to have a solid line-up of cred clients present to share their insights on investing, building companies, and using SaaS. Some of our favorites included our client Joanne Chen of Foundation Capital, who moderated an invigorating talk to an absolutely packed room around “How do SaaS Companies Build Differentiated Assets in this New World of AI.” We also loved learning from our very own Mike McDerment, CEO of Freshbooks, who discussed his team’s “Unusual Approach to Replatforming” in a talk called “Split Testing Companies.”

An attendee favorite of SaaStr was the opportunity to set up “braindates.” Start-ups could meet with VCs or other companies excited about SaaS. It was an exuberant environment for idea-sharing. One of our personal favorite activities was the Yappy Hour on the first two nights. Attendees could unwind and play with puppies courtesy of Family Dog Rescue.

We are looking forward to SaaStr 2019 and continuing to place our innovative clients at this event!

Want to speak at events like SaaStr Annual? Reach out at hello@credpr.com! 

Speaking 101: The Power of a Short Speech

At cred, we love to collaborate and give everyone on the team a chance to be a voice for the industry. Here is what one of our Senior Associates, Anastasia Hardin, would like to share about how to capture attention when speaking.

In today’s connected, app-for-everything world, distractions are plentiful at any time of day. We’ve all felt that “smart phone reach” before: we’re sitting in a presentation, maybe 10 minutes in, and our mind wanders to that email we need to respond to, the crowdfunding campaign we’ve been monitoring, the engagement on our latest social media post, and oh wait - Buzzfeed just pinged us with another Top 10 article that we just have to read…

How do you keep an audience’s attention when they have the world at their fingertips?

While there are many pointers out there (read more here or here) today we want to focus on perhaps the most important factor: TIME.

As attention has become more of a scarce resource, the length of a speech plays a big role in how engaged and enlightened your audience will be. Keep it simple and short. Listening takes energy which can be draining. Too much information can prevent understanding.

So what is the ideal length of a presentation? Some would argue 5 minutes is enough to get a point across, but in most settings, anything under 20 minutes is the real sweet spot.

And if you don’t believe us - go check out the most watched TED Talks. 80% of them are under 20 minutes.

TED Curator, Chris Anderson, on keeping it short and relevant:

"[18 minutes] is long enough to be serious and short enough to hold people’s attention. It turns out that this length also works incredibly well online. It’s the length of a coffee break. So, you watch a great talk, and forward the link to two or three people. It can go viral, very easily. The 18-minute length also works much like the way Twitter forces people to be disciplined in what they write. By forcing speakers who are used to going on for 45 minutes to bring it down to 18, you get them to really think about what they want to say. What is the key point they want to communicate? It has a clarifying effect. It brings discipline."

Photo Of TED Curator Chris Anderson by Jame Duncan Davidson at https://www.flickr.com/photos/tedconference/9029271822/in/photolist

If you are thinking, “how can I possibly get everything I need to say in under 20 minutes?” -- stop a moment and remember the most powerful speeches you’ve ever heard in person or from history. Chances are, they were short and simple.

Maybe they included:

• Steve Job’s “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish” commencement address ~ 15 mins

• MLK’s “I Have a Dream” ~ 17 mins

• Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address ~ 2-3 mins

• JFK’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” ~ 9 mins

• Winston Churchill’s “Never Give Up” ~ 4:15 min 

If you want to avoid looking out over an audience with their heads buried in their smartphones, then keep your comments short. When you connect your powerful ideas with brevity, you will achieve the greatest impact with your audience.

credTen: The Best Conferences 2017

In the past year alone, we secured 768 speaking opportunities for clients across multiple industries globally. To kick off 2018 and our newest credTen series on our blog, here’s a look back at the best conferences we secured for clients in 2017, in no particular order:

SaaStr Annual - San Francisco

Jason Lemkin’s SaaStr Annual is the go-to event for players in SaaS. This event brought together CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors and veterans for tangible, non-Google-able lessons that the audience loved. Our clients 6sense, Foundation Capital, TapInfluence, and Expensify had the opportunity to grace the stage in 2017.

In 2018, we’re excited clients from FreshBooks, Canvas Ventures, Ridge Ventures, and Foundation Capital will join the lineup.

RampUp - San Francisco

Over 2,100 attendees flooded The Fairmont Hotel for LiveRamp’s annual conference to listen to the brightest minds in MarTech. With quality content and exciting networking opportunities, a handful of our clients came together to discuss the power of connectivity and data-driven marketing. We are continually impressed by our speakers from Unacast, Reveal Mobile, Kespry, Drawbridge, Legendary Entertainment, SafeGraph, Voicera, Cathay Pacific, Bullpen Capital, and Ridge Ventures.

The FirstMark Driven Series - New York

From Design Driven and Data Driven, to Code Driven and Hardwired, FirstMark Capital’s series of NYC events draws the crème de la crème of tech speakers. In 2017, we had Kespry CEO at Hardwired, MapD and Voicera CEOs at Data Driven, and Steve Vassallo, General Partner at Foundation Capital, at Design Driven.

Mumbrella360 - Sydney

Australia is an emerging market for a number of our clients and Mumbrella360 has been THE event that brings together the entire marketing ecosystem. It’s an extremely well-organized show that our clients like MightyHive and MuteSix highly recommend.

Events by The Hustle -San Francisco

Beer in hand at Pizza & 40s, David Barrett, CEO of Expensify was joined by the founder of The Hustle, Sam Parr, to share the ups and downs of his entrepreneur journey. We’re thrilled to also have our badass women speakers from 500 Startups, LiveRamp, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Tophatter speaking at The Hustle’s 2X events in 2018.

The Economist Sustainability Summit - Austin

The Economist’s inaugural Sustainability Summit drew more than 200 leading business executives, policy makers, and investors to discuss sustainable development in the face of rapid global change. Senior Editor Matthew Bishop moderated a conversation with our client Philippe Lacamp of Cathay Pacific Airways.

TEDx - Tallaght, Ireland

In the spirit of “ideas worth spreading,” John Beckett, CEO of ChannelSight, spoke about his life-saving kidney transplant and “How to Harness the Power of Your Biggest Challenges.”

Mobile World Congress - Barcelona

With 30+ years under its belt, Mobile World Congress continues to reinvent itself as the global hub for mobile, telecommunications, IoT and more, gathering nearly 108k attendees in 2017. Life360, Boxever, 500 Startups, and Drawbridge spoke to conversational commerce, marketplaces, advertising, and startup trends.

Mobile World Congress Shanghai and its US debut - Americas - are also worth checking out. Shanghai and Americas editions drew nearly 67.5k and 21k visitors respectively in 2017.

Image from Fiware

INBOUND - Boston

We can’t say enough great things about INBOUND, where our clients Hawke Media, MightyHive, WiderFunnel and TapInfluence spoke in 2017. To sum it up, we’ll leave it to Erik Huberman, CEO of Hawke Media: “It was great! Enjoyed it, got some business; it was solid.”

Slush - Helsinki and Shanghai

Described by many as “Burning Man meets TED,” Slush has expanded globally from its 20,000-person flagship show in the Arctic Circle to Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore, and more to come. Our clients Tophatter and 500 Startups spoke on discovery commerce and fundraising globally.

Money20/20 - Las Vegas

Money20/20 brings together the who’s who in payments and financial services. It's the largest event in the finance space, where we placed Ben Black of Akkadian Ventures, David Barrett of Expensify, and Charles Moldow of Foundation Capital in 2017.

In 2018, we’re also excited to continue working with sister events Shoptalk (feat. Hawke Media, Sphero, and Instacart) and HLTH (feat. Enigma Technologies and Ayasdi).

Web Summit - Lisbon

Held annually since 2009, Web Summit has been called "the greatest tech show on earth" and "Davos for geeks," and continues to exceed expectations for our clients each year. From speaking in front of hundreds (sometimes thousands), to private dinners and networking with the likes of Al Gore, we’ve only heard glowing feedback from our clients Unacast, Enigma, Kespry, ChannelSight, and 500 Startups.

Image from The Independent

And that’s a wrap for 2017! In 2018, we’ll be doing a number of Top 10 conference roundups, so watch this space for the best events you should attend and/or speak at.

Want to speak at these events? Get in touch: speak@credpr.com

Looking Back at 2017

Happy New Year!

We had a Top 10 Countdown of cred's best moments of 2017 on our twitter: @credpr. Here is a recap in case you missed it!

10

Our team took an R&R trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in March! We had a blast hangin' beachside with chips and guacamole.  

9

To date, we've planned 16 events, including Bowery Capital's 5th Annual CFO Summit in October! (PS: in case you didn't know, we plan events - email us at events@credpr.com for more info).

8

We added 8 new members to #TeamCred this year!

7

We enjoyed a year of monthly cred Service events, including wrapping presents for Hamilton Families San Francisco and volunteering at Futures Without Violence's Phenomenal Women event!

6

As 2017 comes to a close, we have nearly 6,500 events (& growing!) in our Airtable Database, and have confirmed almost 1,500 events for our clients!

5

We celebrated three years with five of our clients - we love what we do!

4

We ended the year by moving to a new office at WeWork Montgomery Station! We are so excited to start the year off in our new space. 

3

We are finishing out the year strong by achieving our pre-set goals for 2017!

2

cred turned 2, and we celebrated with Mutts and Margaritas!

1

We set our goals for 2018 at our Inaugural Offsite in November. Bring on 2018!!!!

We look forward to an exciting new year.

Happy 2018!

Speaking 101: 5 Tips To Present with Confidence

At cred, we wear many hats, and as part of our onboarding process for new employees, we invite them to educate us on a topic of their choosing on our blog. Here's what Gina King, cred's Associate, is teaching us about presenting with confidence this week!

Did you know that 74% of people have Glossophobia? You might not know what it is by its name, but you’ve probably suffered from its symptoms: nervous sweating, fidgeting, or speaking in a timid voice. Glossophobia is better known as the fear of public speaking, and at one time or another, we’ve all suffered from it.

The best way to combat these nervous behaviors is to present with confidence. While it may seem hard to evoke confidence when you feel nervous, relax, and try one or a combination of these five tips before your next presentation:

1. Research your topic inside and out: When giving a presentation, you are the expert. Make sure to research your subject matter thoroughly ahead of time, and be prepared to answer any questions that come your way.

2. Practice makes perfection: Don’t just practice your presentation the night before, plan to practice at least a week in advance to develop a strong comfort level.

3. Don’t memorize: Instead put your material in structured bullet points to remind you what topics or points you want to make. You also won't sound scripted.

4. Find a friend: Giving a presentation can be daunting. Ask a friend, colleague, or loved one to join your presentation. A friendly face helps you relax.

5. Don’t stress!: Stressing about your presentation creates additional, unnecessary nerves. Instead, try a technique that professional athletes use before big games — take a deep breath, and visualize your presentation going well. This combo technique will help reduce stress and build confidence.

Want more tips on how to evoke confidence during your next presentation? Check out this guide.

Speaking 101: 5 Tips to Getting Email Responses

Goodbye, snail mail! Emails have become a standard part of everyday life, serving as the main tool most people use to handle their business and personal communication. According to research firm Radicati Group, the total number of emails sent and received per day will reach 269 billion in 2017. Here are five tips we try and consider here at cred in order to get emails opened and readers responding.

1. Work that subject line. Subject line can make or break the quick decision to open your email. Make it brief and compelling, limiting to 6-10 words. Refrain from including exclamation marks or buzzwords such as “free” to avoid being marked as spam.

2. Optimize preheader text. Keep in mind the text snippet showing a preview of what the body of your email contains. Make your first sentence clear so your reader gets an immediate feel for the message.

3. Offer something to your reader. Let readers know what they’ll be getting by responding to your email. Provide what you can offer and why it would interest them.

4. State a call to action. Give your email a point and describe what the reader should do next. This can be in the form of text, links, bullet points, or a mix of the three.

5. Keep mobile in mind. Most emails are being read on a mobile device. Put your best words forward and dodge the risk of having your reader scroll past your email

Looking for more tips on how to getting email responses? Read the full article here.

Knowledge Sharing with 100 early Stage SaaS CFOs

Yesterday we were onsite with Bowery Capital, an early stage Venture Capital firm, to help put together the 5th Annual CFO Summit. Bowery hosts these Executive Summits quarterly to provide a forum where early-stage growth companies can come learn from experienced executives. 16 CFOs from leading organizations were selected to discuss extremely tactical, hands-on topics, such as 'Planning for Hyper Growth', 'Understanding the ROI of Investing in People', and 'When to Change Systems Based on Growth/Funding'. Formats included facilitated panel discussions, 'tactical' work-shop like presentations, and roundtable conversations, with the main goal focused entirely on knowledge sharing in your role as a CFO.

The Summit, limited to 100 people to keep it intimate, was a great environment where C-level peers could share actionable business strategies and lessons learned.

Check out some of the highlights below!

Speaking 101: 6 Public Speaking Hacks for Introverts

Introverts can make for great public speakers, too! Self-proclaimed shy-guy Simon Sinek, one of the most watched TedTalks presenters ever, shares his tips on how to handle nerves when speaking to large audiences:

1. Don’t start talking as soon as you get on the stage - draw the audience in by taking a deep breath, making eye contact, and then standing or sitting in a comfortable position. Speaking immediately conveys fear and nerves to the audience.

2. Be a giver, not a taker - the idea is to teach and inspire the audience, who’s very intuitive at distinguishing if the speaker is trying to sell a product or idea to them vs. offering helpful insights.

3. Personalize your eye contact - instead of scanning the room throughout your presentation, focus on making eye contact with audience members one by one.

4. Speak slowly - as we get nervous, both our heartbeat and speech accelerates. The audience would rather wait on you than miss out on important information.

5. Focus on your supporters - of course, there are bound to be naysayers in the audience, pay them no attention. Focus on the smiling faces and nods of approval, they’ll make you feel confident while you are speaking.

6. Show appreciation - always say “thank you” at the end of your presentation, especially when met with applause.

Interested in learning more tips? Check out the full article here.