How SaaStr Built an Energized Community of Evangelists from Scratch
How SaaStr Built an Energized Community of Evangelists From Scratch
Transcript of How SaaStr Built an Energized Community of Evangelists From Scratch
How SaaStr Built an Energized Community of Evangelists From Scratch
G R E T C H E N D E K N I K K E R , C O O / S A A S T R
SaaStr is definitely the largest community of people who like enterprise software on the planet. It’s a great community of people trying to build companies and learn from one another. It’s pretty amazing to see.”AARON LEVIECEO, COFOUNDER & CHAIRMAN / BOX
“@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende
About us
FOUNDER / ADVISOR
Jason is a 2x founder, 1x VC, and constant SaaS enthusiast
Started SaaStr as a simple blog in 2012
Jason Lemkin
@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende
COO
Startup junkie, 1x founder, 5x early employee
Joined SaaStr in 2014
Gretchen DeKnikker
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2014
2016 10,0003MVIEWS/MONTH
1MVIEWS/ MONTH
TRAFFIC
25 ,000
500
SUBSCRIBERS
30,000
5,000
FOLLOWERS
2 ,000
SAASTR ANNUAL
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2015 2016 201710,000 attendees
3 days, 4 stages
200+ speakers
5,000 attendees
3 days, 2 stages
100+ speakers
- and a dance crew
WHAT IS SAASTR ANNUAL?
2,000 attendees
1 day, 1 stage
20 speakers
Learning via blog - but one voice, one direction 1
Gathering in person - more voices, connecting with others 2
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3 Education platform - packaging lessons for every stage of journey
HOW THE CONFERENCE INTEGRATES
Measure E V E R Y T H I N G
HOW DO WE DO IT?
We have no idea what we’re doing1
2
3
4
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Most importantly…
The community
Single owner/single metric - or disaster
The details really matter
It ain’t software
Process, but not for process sake
WHAT WE’VE LEARNED, SO FAR…
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1
2
3
4
HOW DOUBLEDUTCH HELPS
We can’t trust our opinions…
1
2
3
4
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There’s soooo much more we can do
We need to do speaker prep
…but we can’t necessarily trust theirs either
METRICS
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A good metric…
A GREAT metric also… 3
4
Has an object basis attendees per company, returning attendees by month
Aligns individual goals with overall plan single owner, everyone has a number
1
2
Begins with a number # of ticket sold, % of speakers confirmed
Has a time basis per week, by October 10th
*adapted from LUXr Lean Startup Workshop
WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE DATA? HOW DOES IT SHAPE DECISIONS?
• Agenda - attendee profiles shape content
• Expenses - what we can add and when
• Revenue - scenario planning, fixed vs variable costs
• Attendee Experience - managing venue constraints
• Hiring - who we’ll need when
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HOW WE MEASURE SUCCESS AND ROI
A mix of quantitive…
• Sponsor renewals - closed $1m in sponsors within 60 days of the event - but also new 40% were new logos
• Return attendees - 1000 tickets within 90 days - but also new, 35% return/65% new (only 50% can be return)
… and qualitative feedback
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WHAT CAN WE STILL DO BETTER?
Diversity - have to be committed.
Processes - the right-sized tools that scale
Advisory council - speakers and sponsors
Editing ourselves – a year to plan is a long time
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WHAT’S NEXT?
SaaStr Academy
More events
Co-selling Space
SaaStr Jobs
SaaStr Fund
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WE’RE [email protected]