If you run your own software company, or you want to, going to Business of Software is possibly the most useful thing you can do this year. It’s certainly more useful than spending that time reading static blog posts or business books.
Of course it costs $3000 more than reading blog posts (including airfare and hotel), which sounds steep. Except for one thing: I’ve never once heard someone say they didn’t get their money’s worth. (So now there’ll be one person who says this in the comments…)
If it’s steep — and it is — but 99% of attendees from all shapes and sizes and stages of software companies say it’s well-worth it… that’s all the testimonial you need, right?
You can read the speaker list, the testimonials, etc from their website, but probably the best part isn’t even the speakers, it’s meeting the other attendees, all of whom are the Real Deal, all of whom have useful ideas and tactics and want to help each other get through this bizarre gauntlet we’ve chosen for ourselves. Also, get a discount if you use my coupon code – BoS7Speaker.
I’ll be speaking this year (after Kathy Sierra — no pressure, last year I went after Clayton Christensen) with the working title: If I hear someone say “metrics” one more time, I will strangle that person — about (1) how to decide the 1-2 key metrics to focus on for your specific business, and then (2) a bunch of pitfalls and tactics I’ve seen around optimization, A/B tests, crowd-sourcing, and other mechanisms for affecting those metrics, all from real stories and examples from my startups or startups I’ve advised.
Here’s my talks from past years at Business of Software, both of which I consider to be my best presentations, and probably the best delivery as well, thanks to the amazing energy of the crowd.
2011: Naked Business – How Honesty makes Money
2010: From Geek to Entrepreneur – Sifting through the Bullshit
I’ll be staying from the previous night to the last day, so if you come, be sure to find me and we’ll talk!
And leave a comment so other readers of the blog can find you too.
7 responses to “Business of Software – Past two videos, and why you should come in October”
I am so looking forward to being back at BOS! And, like you, I am staying for the whole thing. There are only two events I have ever been to where this is the case: Webstock New Zealand and BOS. Yes, one can watch the videos and write-ups of the conference later, but this is one of those rare conferences where each topic is more fully explored by participants *after* the talks, adding richness and depth.
I’m a major introvert and tend to hide out in the green room or listen to taks from back stage. But here — as in Webstock — the level of discussion is simply too compelling for me to miss. I learned more at BOS (and came away more inspired) than I could have imagined, and I say that after more than two decades of attending tech conferences world-wide.
And now I’m happy to know that when I’ve finished my talk, I get to listen to you :)
Likewise. Like a million people I’ve been an admirer from afar and it will be great to meet you in person.
Best. Conference. Ever.
I’m taking vacation days and spending my own $ this year … if you’re hedging, try airbnb to save money (and consider rooming with somebody).
See you there!
Thanks Jason. Hugely appreciated and some lovely comments too. We try really hard to make BoS something very special for people. We don’t have sponsors to keep happy, we don’t have panels and we don’t measure the success of the conference based on the number of speakers. Our single customer is the paying attendee. We try to pick awesome people with intelligent things to say.
It means a huge amount to me (I run Business of Software) for you to say such lovely things. Do come on over the the BusinessofSoftware website and see what is planned. It loads pretty quick as we switched it to a really cool hosting company called WP Engine this year.
The price rises by $100 this weekend (and the Conference Hotel rate is only guaranteed until next Monday) so if you do want to come, get in quick.
As a small extra thank you, incentive and basic bribe to book quick, use the code SmartBear20 and save 20% on current price if you register by Labor Day (September 3rd).
+1 to your original working title. ;) And very much looking forward to BoS; I’ve only gone once but have been missing it all year since.
Hi Jason, we signed up yesterday for a professional account (huridocs) paying for one year ni advance, close to 900 USD. We got the welcome email with the login details. Problem is that the account doesn’t work, and the support system doesn’t even recognize us. So we’re stuck.
Look forward to seeing you — and all the other attendees at BoS again this year.