In episode 682, Rob Walling interviews Alex Theuma, the founder of SaaStock, a conference for SaaS founders. They discuss the challenges of bootstrapping an event and the pros and cons of large startup events versus small startup events. Alex also shares his experience of building credibility and authority in the industry, the importance of maintaining a positive attendee experience, and ensuring financial sustainability.

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Topics we cover: 

• 2:44 – How Alex bootstrapped SaaStock in the early stages
• 4:32 – Laying the groundwork and building credibility
• 6:59 – Figuring out sponsor subsidies
• 8:53 – Reflecting on the first event, growing afterwards
• 12:59 – Event sizing and event types
• 19:44 – Setting up event programming
• 23:00 – Swapping crazy event stories

Links from the Show: 

• Microconf Mastermind Matching
• SaaStock
• SaaStock (@SaaStock) | X
• SaaStock |  LinkedIn
• Alex Theuma (@alextheuma) | X
• The SaaS Revolution Show
• ChartMogul
• Web Summit
• ProfitWell
• Dunbar's number
• SaaS.City
• Muck Rack
• Patrick Campbell’s “Churn” talk

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

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