OK, folks, as they say: “If you snooze, you lose.”
Early-bird prices end later today for our big Startup Day event, taking place Oct. 25 at the Showbox Sodo in Seattle. That means prices will go up, so make sure to gobble up those tickets today for the region’s biggest entrepreneurial confab.
And just to make the decision a bit easier, we’re excited to announce today two new great additions to the speaker lineup for Startup Day: Moz co-founder and CEO Rand Fishkin and Glympse CEO Bryan Trussel.
These are two of the most thoughtful, and well spoken entrepreneurs that we know. (If you’ve got a startup or are thinking about taking the plunge, definitely check out Rand’s blog and make sure to check out this awesome talk by Trussel about the myths of startups).
We’re thrilled to have these two impressive entrepreneurial leaders taking part in Startup Day, joining an all-star cast that also includes former drugstore.com CEO and AOL board member Dawn Lepore (talking about how to construct a board); Smartsheet.com founder Brent Frei (discussing how to revive products on life support) and Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman (talking about managing yourself as a startup founder and CEO).
You can see the full speaker agenda here. I am sure you’ll walk away armed with key lessons that you can apply to your own startup — how to grow it from a seed of an idea to a full-blown business powerhouse.
Speaking of growing your companies, one new thing we’ve added this year is the Startup Demo Zone — a unique opportunity for startups to showcase their offerings to the crowd of investors, entrepreneurs and developers. Participants who purchase a Demo Zone ticket will get to tout their products throughout Startup Day in a special presentation area; meet one-on-one with a leading investor; and earn a chance to pitch live on stage that day to our fantastic panel of VCs and angels, including Ignition’s Frank Artale; Madrona’s Greg Gottesman and super angels Geoff Entress and Rudy Gadre. (Last year’s winning entrepreneur walked off stage with a personal check from a VC).
Slots are limited in the Demo Zone and they are filling up, so make to jump on this opportunity if you’re an entrepreneur looking for a bit of extra exposure or financing advice. This is a super value, so feel free to reach out to me directly if you have questions on the Zone. (john@geekwire.com)
We’ve got a ton of other great things in store at this year’s Startup Day, including experts like Haiku Deck CEO Adam Tratt; designer extraordinaire Kyle Kesterson; and 9Mile Labs creator Sanjay Puri in our Startup Resource Center.
And then there’s the fun-filled Battle of the Geek Bands after party, featuring geek rockers from companies such as Avalara, DoubleDown and ExtraHop. (Just two more slots are available, so reach out to GeekWire’s Daniel Rossi at daniel@geekwire.com for entry fees and other details).
We’ll be back to tell you more in the coming days about some other things we’ve got cooking at Startup Day this year, which is shaping up to be our biggest one yet. But, for now, make sure to grab your tickets while early-bird rates are in effect. If you’re an entrepreneur; an intrapreneur or someone who just wants to get inspired in how to think more creatively about business, Startup Day is the place for you.
Get your GeekWire Startup Day tickets here or below. Looking forward to seeing you Oct. 25!
A big thanks to our sponsors for helping to make Startup Day possible: Wave Business Solutions, Moz, Knoll, Double Down Interactive, the Museum of History and Industry, Avalara, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Budweiser, Amazon Web Services, Hughes Media Law Group, Perkins Coie, 9Mile Labs, Car2Go, and TechStars (which is holding its Demo Day and after-party the day before at the same venue). Startup Day is part of Startup Week, presented by GeekWire and taking place from Oct. 18 to Oct. 30. It features more than a dozen events. For additional sponsor opportunities, contact GeekWire Chief Business Officer Daniel Rossi at daniel@geekwire.com.
Editor’s note: Moz is a GeekWire annual sponsor.
