💡Manny Ataebi told me at Goldenhour yesterday (thanks, AudiencePlus!) to share my founder story here.
Because I really don't have a filter. And that's potentially helpful for others to hear.
The story is too broad. But here is *a* story:
I've been in NYC for two days. Lemme tell you about it.
First, budget:
- I drove
- I parked offsite
- Hotel points
- Conference attendance covered by my super duper best freaking buddies at Apollo.io (thanks, Daniel Cmejla and Harry Sims!!!)
- got around by foot or subway
- brought protein powder for breakfasts
What'd I do?
- Went to the Goldenhour conference
- Met LITERALLY THE MOST IMPORTANT AGENCY LEADER I could hope to connect with, Jen Spencer, who was super duper nice and a fellow UofA Wildcat (Bear Down!)
- Connected with legit B2B heroes like Jill Rowley and Jon Miller
- Met a ton of our ideal customers and I DID NOT PITCH THEM I JUST WANTED TO KNOW THEM AS HUMANS #thisistheway
- went to Apollo.io's soiree in the west village and met a ton of smart people including Michael Jed Lantis who schooled me on partnerships (massive win!)
- met with new customers like Osman Sheikhnureldin and Isaac Lee today and talked Air Traffic Control — Grow Pipeline With Existing Content use cases IRL which is such a freaking gift on so many levels
- Learned a TON from all the attendees at Goldenhour
Now I'm splurging on a hamburger and then driving home.
Total spend: ($98 in gas, $12 in subways, $28 hamburger) = $138
Return: way, way, way, way more than that. Like, a LOT more than that.
It wasn't grimey. But it was hacky. I'm not too proud to beg, borrow and trade for opportunities like this.
Thank you to everyone who made this possible and made this so valuable for me and ATC. Startupping is hard AF, but when you realize there's an army of friends who will literally roll up their sleeves, up level your game, and EVEN HAND YOU A BEER, you have to know you're doing the right things.
Now for the post-burger drive back home to Lexington, MA. Belly full. Heart fuller.