The Most Important Panel You’ll Ever Attend | SXSW 2012
This year’s South By South West conference in Austin, Texas, is days away. The excitement is buzzing around communities everywhere and the event invites are pouring in. However something special is happening this year. Los Angeles’s very own Espree Devora (aka The Girl That Gets It Done), has put together quite the exciting event for this year’s SXSW conference. The Most Important Panel You’ll Ever Attend event will be starring an all-star panel of top entrepreneurs from all sorts of industry offering their success to bring on their first 100 paying customers and 1,000 core fans.
I got a chance to chat with Espree this week about the panel and what event goers can expect to gain from the panel. Here’s our conversation;
Since you guys didn’t make SXSW’s cut and are offering such community value, do you think their panel selection process is a little to strict?
That’s a great question. No, I don’t think they are too strict. I think it must be a seriously tough job for them to go from what must be 1000s of panel entries to just a few hundred. The organizers of SXSW really care about their community and I think a lot of people do the best they can do to make the whole conference come together smoothly.
Where did the idea for the event come spark from?
While watching a Mixergy interview I was so inspired by Andrew Warner really grilling his interviewees asking them exactly how they started that it inspired me to ask myself what is the one panel I wish I had when I first launched my company in my late teens. I thought about a blog post I discovered via Tim Ferriss about how important it is to cultivate the first 1000 fans of your brand. You can read it here. The hardest part about being a business owner is how to attract those initial paying customers. Without customers there’s no business. A lot of successful entrepreneurs always talk about what it’s like at 40,000 customers or 500,000 customers, but in my opinion it’s that first 100 that really matter. That’s why I called it “The Most Important Panel You’ll Ever Attend: How to Get Your First 100 Paying Customers”
Tell me more about the bonus mastermind sessions.
We knew people didn’t want to wait until South by to starting taking action toward their success so we convinced two outstanding business owners to do separate mastermind phone sessions with attendees who register for the panel by February 29th. The phone sessions will be held on March 5th and 6th. One mastermind focuses on how to outsource development and programming. People who are on the call will be able to ask Liam Martin, co founder of Staff.com, direct questions about anything and everything outsourcing. On the second call Jonathan Kay, co founder of Apptopia, will answer any questions on how to monetize mobile apps. It’s pretty outstanding.
Are the bonus mastermind sessions online or in-person for those who get the opportunity to take advantage of them?
The mastermind sessions are over the phone on a group call. Anyone who registers for the AppSumo panel by February 29th will be invited to be part of the mastermind sessions.
I see that you’ve put together such an all-star list for you panel. What made you choose the industry players you did?
I chose people who I know and trust. I wanted seasoned entrepreneurs who don’t hold back sharing legit information that equally have a good heart. We have founders of AppSumo, Mixergy, Lujure and Staff.com
What should one expect to walk out of the panel with?
People who are there will walk away with a clear plan on how to both get to 100 paying customers or grow their customer base if they already have one. Plus there will be an opportunity to hang with the panelists during the mixer directly following the panel. Not to mention eats and treats ;) We have giveaways from the panelists companies for every person who attends valued at over $2000 dollars. Really amazing!
Whether you’re an new or seasoned entrepreneur, marketer, or someone looking to scale their new venture, this panel will greatly benefit you. All the details you’ll need are below.
Where: AppSumo headquarters in Austin
When: March 11th 9am (During South by Southwest 2012)
How: To Register, http://appsumo100.eventbrite.com
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