I left Microsoft eight years ago to pursue life at a startup. I won’t bore you with the details, but I can say it has been a hell of ride.
This much I can pass on: I was too ignorant to know what I was getting into.
When my first startup went down the drain, I felt like I had wasted 4-and-half years of my life and disappointed family, friends and investors. So, I took some time to reflect what good could come out of the experience. And that’s when it hit me: I should help other entrepreneurs avoid the same mistakes I made. And that’s how the Startup Day conference was born.
I looked back over my first year at the startup, and wondered what could have helped me avoid failure, or fail faster. What knowledge would have been valuable in the early days of my startup? If I could help entrepreneurs get that knowledge in the first few years of their endeavors — or before they even started their companies — that would be a huge success.
I had never hosted a conference before, but I wanted to achieve two things with Startup Day: Get like-minded builders, makers and innovators in a room and make sure there was compelling insights from entrepreneurs who’d share their own startup struggles.
I wanted to expose entrepreneurs to many of the different topics and issues they might encounter or should know about it, from idea validation to technology; from funding to exit; from design to sales. The goal was to give a breadth of topics, so entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and anyone responsible for building something could incorporate the startup mentality.
GeekWire’s acquisition of Seattle 2.0 two years ago has enabled Startup Day to remain one of the flagship events of the entrepreneurial community in Seattle. This year, I am especially looking forward to talks and one-on-one advice with leading experts. After all, in a startup you’re always learning, and it’s important sometimes to step back and hang out with other entrepreneurs to see what is working (or not working) for them. That’s a big part of what Startup Day is about.
Contrary to what some might think, the goal is not to get more entrepreneurs to make the startup leap. Instead, it’s about making sure entrepreneurs have more knowledge to reduce the likelihood of failure, and also to dissuade those who are on the fence and were about to make a bad life choice.
Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. It’s a hard life, complete with sleepless nights, broken relationships and isolation. That’s the reality of a startup, and that’s exactly why I’m looking forward to attending Startup Day this year and hearing from the likes of Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman and RivalIQ founder T.A. McCann.
If you want fluff, there are plenty of conferences to make you feel great about your choices without improving your chances of success. But, if you want real advice and actual help, this is the place for you.
I hope you’ll join me on Oct. 25th at Startup Day, continuing this Seattle tradition as we all seek new ways looking to improve our startups and reach for success.
Marcelo Calbucci is the co-founder and CTO of EveryMove, a rewards program for your health. He was the founder of Seattle 2.0, an organization focused on helping entrepreneurs and startups in Seattle which was acquired by GeekWire. You can follow him on Twitter @calbucci and on his blog.
