Cympel shares 5 conference lessons learned at TechCrunch Disrupt

Last week the Omaha-based Cympel team—a digital advertising agency—hopped on a red-eye flight to San Francisco carrying a small banner and orange tablecloth and made its way to TechCrunch Disrupt. The Disrupt conference is one of the startup world’s most notable launching pads for budding technologies. Its star-studded speaker lineup included the likes of SV…

About the author: Erica Wassinger is principal of erw public relations, a boutique firm based in Omaha. She works with a handful of e-commerce startups and venture capitalists. She also is a mentor for Straight Shot, Omaha’s first tech accelerator program.


CEO Jesse Hultgren (left) and the Cympel team recently traveled to TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco.

Last week the Omaha-based Cympel team—a digital advertising technology platform—hopped on a red-eye flight to San Francisco carrying a small banner and orange tablecloth and made its way to TechCrunch Disrupt.

The Disrupt conference is one of the startup world’s most notable launching pads for budding technologies. Its star-studded speaker lineup included the likes of SV Angel’s Ron Conway, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Meyer, the Winklevoss twins and even Mark Zuckerberg himself. Hundreds of startups previewed, demoed and debuted their companies in Startup Alley and on stage through the Startup Battlefield.

On Monday, in the media section of Startup Alley investors, media and potential clients met the orange-shirted Omaha team.

“We’re in the midst of Straight Shot now and have seen first-hand the value of networking and really putting ourselves—and Cympel—out there,” said Jesse Hultgren, the company’s CEO. “Disrupt gave us the chance to introduce Cympel to hundreds of potential partners, all within a three-day conference.”

When asked if the expense, time and energy were worth it, the three-person founding team’s answer was an emphatic “yes.” Hultgren went on to share that Disrupt gave the team a platform to meet individuals at Microsoft, Samsung, Chevrolet, AOL, SAP and many more. He said each member has a long lead list they’re focused on following up with over the next week.

With the experience of TechCrunch Disrupt under their belts, the Cympel team had these bits of advice for other startups planning for a major conference appearance:

  1. Know your elevator speech and anticipate tough questions about your business. Courtland Caldwell, Cympel’s chief technology officer and a former competitive speaker, said the frequency he used the elevator speech astounded him. “It was the most important tool I brought to Disrupt.”
  2. Practice talking to total strangers about your business. “We watched our booth neighbors miss multiple conversations with highly influential people because they didn’t just go into the aisle and flag them down. You have to be your most outgoing version, and then some,” Hultgren said, explaining how he met an executive from Silicon Valley Bank.
  3. Even when you’re not presenting—present! Disrupt only allowed startups a booth on the floor for one day. Cympel’s head of design Juliano Dasilva said he treated the conference like an opportunity to “hunt and gather” a larger network to help grow his business.
  4. Highlight your founding team. Advice dolled out during keynotes with Greylock Partners and Sequoia partners signaled the value VCs place on founding teams. “It’s clear that VCs recognize they can tweak your business model, but they can’t change chemistry and drive of founders,” Caldwell said.
  5. Look to other startups for collaboration. Dasilva shared that founders shouldn’t view other startups as competition but rather look at them as an opportunity for collaboration and partnerships. You never know what a brainstorm between two founders might lead to.
Credits: Photo courtesy of Cympel.  

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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