7 Lessons I Learned from Going To SaaStr 2018

Yuli Azarch | March 12, 2018 | No Comments on 7 Lessons I Learned from Going To SaaStr 2018

Hey everybody! In this episode, I’ll share 7 lessons I learned from going to SaaStr 2018.  For those who don’t know, SaaStr is a SaaS conference in San Francisco and one of the biggest in the world. I learned many things during my days there, and I can’t wait to share these tips with you.

Lessons from this episode:

1. Go To Events in Your Industry
2. The Key of The Conference is Networking
3. Surround Yourself with People Who Are Better Than You
4. Force Yourself To Network
5. Seeing Others Succeed Has a Powerful Psychological Effect on Yourself
6. A Virtual Meeting Can’t Replace a Face-to-Face Meeting
7. Stay Up-To-Date with Your Industry’s Content

7 Lessons I Learned from Going To SaaStr 2018

1. Go To Events in Your Industry

For instance, in my case, since I’m starting a SaaS business, I went to SaaStr 2018. Going to events in your industry is crucial. There’s something very beautiful about hanging out with people who are doing what you’re doing or what you’re trying to do. And, this actually makes you stronger and smarter in your specific industry.

If you are, let’s say, a growth hacker, go to a growth hacking event, and this will make you hang out with people in your industry. The same happens with whatever you do, marketing, e-commerce, SaaS. You name it. In my case, since I also own an Amazon business, I’ve been attending to Amazon events for a while now.

And let me tell you since I started to go to those events I’ve grown my business much faster than I would have if I hadn’t gone to them.

2. The Key of The Conference is Networking

Don’t get me wrong; these conferences have great, up-to-date content. But don’t forget you can get that content from other sources such as podcasts, blogs, or websites. Even if you’re getting unique content from the conference, the most important thing of a conference such as SaaStr 2018 is meeting people.

Networking is the biggest part of it because you meet lots of people face-to-face and gain the possibility of creating key business relations you wouldn’t get elsewhere.

3. Surround Yourself with People Who Are Better Than You

In my new project, a SaaS startup, we are at a super early stage at the time of this recording. And when I was in the SaaStr 2018, I realized that all the people in that room were 10,000 times better than me.

I’m not lying to you; they were way ahead of me. Most of them are running SaaS companies with 1, 10, 100-million-dollar annual revenue. And many of them were more advanced than me, many were smarter, and I really felt I was surrounding myself with people who were better than me, which made me remember that you are the average of the people you spend your time with.

So, by going to a conference from the industry you’re in, you’ll usually find people who are better than you. And, in my opinion, surrounding yourself with people who are better than you is crucial. It makes you strive to be better, learn more, and connect with valuable people.

4. Force Yourself To Network

It might come as a surprise to you, but I’m an introvert, and I know many people who are introverts. I kind of need to force myself to network sometimes. But as I mentioned in the second lesson, the key thing is networking, and I have to force myself to do it, even when I don’t feel like it.

And I really believe that when you go to places such as the SaaStr 2018, networking is the best way to leverage your time and the best way for you to get the most ROI from an event.  But sometimes, when I go to events I see people sitting alone or working on their computers instead of networking and talking to other people. That’s why I’ve had to force myself a few times to network, which is not the most natural thing to me.

And by observing others in the same room, I realize they are forcing themselves to network, too. So, don’t worry that much and leverage your time.

5. Seeing Others Succeed Has a Powerful Psychological Effect on Yourself

When you see others succeeding, the impossible becomes possible. I think that events such as the SaaStr 2018 can create mental shifts and help you grow more.

In my case, over the past few years, I’ve seen people who are doing better than me and running amazing businesses and every time I see them, I realize they are regular people. They’re not super people; they’re people who are going out there and executing things.

When you see those people, you change your perspective and create a mental shift. It makes things look possible and destroys the psychological blocks that prevent you from achieving your goals because you meet people who are doing it faster and better than you.

I believe it all comes down to psychology. Psychology is 80% of success, and the other 20% is just mechanics. That’s why every time I go to an event and see people who are doing better than me, I see a psychological effect; I see mental shifts. All of the sudden, the level they are and what I’m striving for becomes possible; it becomes easier to achieve.

You see people kicking ass, and that’s what I like about SaaStr 2018. So, go to events where you can see others succeed and doing much better than what you’re currently doing.

6. A Virtual Meeting Can’t Replace a Face-to-Face Meeting

There’s something powerful about physical meetings and meeting someone face-to-face. When I was in SaaStr 2018, in San Francisco, I had a few dinners and went to afterparties with people, and I realized I created really good relationships, even by just going to dinner or having an animated conversation with someone. When you really click, that’s something Facebook can’t equal.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Facebook groups and virtual meetings, and I believe they’re really powerful, but nothing can replace meeting someone face-to-face, having a tea, beer, or coffee and just connecting for twenty minutes.

Having a personal interaction with someone can add quality to a relation, making it much more valuable. That’s why the possibility of having face-to-face meetings is one of the main things of going to a conference such as the SaaStr 2018.

7. Stay Up-To-Date with Your Industry’s Content

Times change quickly, and industries are in constant change, and even though the content is not the main driver of an event, learning new things will always put you above your competitors and is the key to success.

You need to stay up-to-date with the most recent tools, strategies, and content of your industry. If you are, for instance, in SaaS, don’t go to e-commerce events. Go to things from your industry such as SaaStr 2018 because while there are benefits from learning stuff, you need to stay up-to-date with your industry. Keep yourself up-to-date with the content that will give you the most benefits and go to events is a big piece of that:

You can also read blogs, listen to podcasts, or visit websites. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time from you. It can be 15, 20 minutes every day. Remember that the more time you invest learning, the more benefits you can get.

Last Words and Takeaways

• If you don’t go to events in your industry, you’ll eventually miss something. Go there and learn as much as you can
• Even if it’s hard, try to network as much as you can
• Don’t envy others’ success. Instead, learn from them
• Try to destroy all the mental blocks that make success look impossible
• Invest on having face-to-face meetings with people
• Keep learning at all costs, it’s going to keep you above your competitors

Well, everybody! That’s it for today. Those were the 7 lessons I learned from going to SaaStr 2018. I hope you enjoyed them. If you like what you heard, don’t forget to give me five-star feedback. If you any comments, post them here.

Until the next episode.

All the best,

Yuli.