Day two of SXSW was mainly spent in the Hilton going to technology talks and startup related events. Contrary to day one where the panel I attended wasn’t very helpful there were two panels that were insightful on this day.
It was the LEAN STARTUP: Check Yo-Self Before U Wreck Yo-Self, Startup Metrics of the Masters and Exploring the Top Startup Accelerator Programs panel
The first one was not a panel in its normal sense but case study presentations from Airbnb, LivingSocial, HubSpot, & Rally Software talking about measuring success and lessons learned related to pivots, metrics, and growth.
AirBnB was particularly interesting talking about how their introduction of the professional photography service have impacted the business growth chart hugely, but also how little changes in how they offered and implemented this service lead to the significant take up it now has.
Just as the day before with Eric Reis’ talk there were honest tails of startups that didn’t work and takeouts on the importance of pivoting, measuring as well as tracking cancellations and user happiness.
As for the accelerator panel, despite the equity set up being different over in the US compared to Europe, it was really informative and entertaining. The panel referenced Techcocktails ranking of accelerators from last year and provided advice on what to look for when it comes to choosing or looking into accelerators like:
And when it comes to the level you have to be at when you join an accelerator, the expectation is that you get to the next big level meaning you can join with as little as just the idea or with an already up and running business.
Tomorrow – Day 071 | SXSW day 3
