This past December 10-11, we had the pleasure of attending the Dallas Digital Summit at the Irving Convention Center. Hailed as “a premier digital strategies forum with a goal of educating and promoting forward thinking and thought leadership on topics related to internet business and marketing,” this year’s event was a huge success.
For many, it was an opportunity to share and learn about the latest trends in social, mobile, search, analytics, UX, and marketing. For those in the entrepreneurial community, it was a chance to hear entrepreneurs and investors share their stories of cultivating culture, raising funds, and surviving the dark days of near-bankruptcy. In this spirit of sharing, we wanted to recap our favorite talks and share what takeaways we could draw from our tweets and (mostly) legible shorthand note taking.
“Crafting the Right People, Partners, and Culture” featuring Eddy Badrina, Jason Illian, Jeremy Brandt, and Elaine O’Gorman
In this talk, the speakers shared what it takes to build culture in a young startup. From “finding strong co-founders, recruiting and motivating the right hires” to “creating a team culture that is going to drive you to success,” these speakers covered a range of topics that are critical to consider when growing your startup.
Our favorite soundbites:
“’If you hesitate, you have to say ‘no.’ @jasonillian on hiring and growing your startup and protecting your culture #DDSum13”
“’Orient people around their passions.’ @JeremyBrandt on cultivating culture #DDSum13”
“’If you hire for culture first, THEN strengths, THEN function, you’ll find it easier.’ @eddybadrina on keeping core/vision while growing”
“’How are your people working/making decisions when you’re not there? THAT’S your culture.’ Cynthia Young, moderator #DDSum13”
“Early Stage Fundraising Strategies” featuring TJ Person, Matt Himelfarb, Melanie Jones, Chuck McCoy, and Hanah Cho
This panel of investors and serial entrepreneurs shared “the latest tools, strategies and inside tips on raising startup capital.” For those in attendance, one of the panelists’ main messages to entrepreneurs involved building relationships with investors. Each time you meet with an investor, they advised, you have to build a momentum of confidence. In other words, you want the investor to come away from the meeting more confident in you and your team.
Our favorite soundbites:
“Don’t get too caught up in valuation—your team, idea, and having market validation are more important.”
“When pitching your business, talk about how you’re solving a problem.”
“If you’re not asking for money [when pitching your business], ask for mentorships or partnerships.”
“Early stage #startups: don’t go into a meeting w/ VC investors expecting a check. They have a process. You’ll have to go through it #DDSum13”
“Entrepreneurial Survival Stories” featuring Scott Ticer, David Sym-Smith, Dr. Hubert Zajicek, and the DEC’s own Trey Bowles
In this interactive roundtable talk, the featured entrepreneurs shared “their insight and lessons from the dark days of their business and the decisions that led them to the light.” For those in attendance, it was a great opportunity to learn firsthand what it takes to turn around a company when it’s faced with financial failure.
Our favorite soundbites:
“Part of what it means to survive is having control of the known and unknown” -Dr. Hubert Zajicek on the essence of “survival” as it relates to business.
When in the midst of a complete management/strategy change, you start to realize two things: (1) Employees really like a paycheck and (2) They want a plan and strategy that’s executable. –A lesson Trey Bowles learned soon after he was named CEO of Big Jump Media (which he, thereafter, successfully turned around).
When you’re deciding whether or not a company is worth turning around, you have to reassess basic questions like “Is there a customer?”, “Are you solving a problem?”, and “Will people buy the product?”
Honorable mentions from other talks:
“The more you can do with your brand and your content, the more successful you’re going to be online.” @RandiZuckerberg #DDSum13
“The most important thing is to keep the most important thing the most important thing.” —CEO and Founder of BottleRocket Calvin Carter’s axiom on what leads a startup to success.
“Just ended the day at #DDSum13 with @SteveWoz! One piece of advice from him: include engineers in your product development discussions”
Overall, it was great to see such brilliant and eager business minds come together in the name of digital. Based off of this year’s speakers and 500+ attendees, it is clear that Dallas has experienced a ton of growth in this area. Through the efforts of organizations like TechMedia (which created the Dallas Digital Summit), the digital landscape in Dallas will only continue to expand. That being said, we truly enjoyed the summit and can’t for next year’s event!
About the Dallas Digital Summit:
Dallas Digital Summit is a premier digital strategies forum with a goal of educating and promoting forward thinking and thought leadership on topics related to internet business and marketing.
Dallas Digital Summit is presented by TechMedia, the leading producer of regional digital forums in the United States, serving thousands of digital professionals every year
Photo Credit: Dallas Digital Summit
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