How to Build a Successful Startup

On Thursday, I attended the Tech cocktail Startup Mixology in Chicago.  Originally, my intention was to hit the social event that followed the conference.  I thought would be  a great opportunity to meet with some of the speakers and mix with some entrepreneurs.  The more I thought about it, the more it made sense to go to the actual conference, so that’s what I did and ended up skipping the social event that followed.

The conference consisted of a great lineup of speakers, some leaving more of an impression than others.  Over all it was a great experience.  There were some individual speakers and others were represented on a panel with moderators.   Topics ranged from building a team to legal and accounting perspectives.  Some areas were a bit dry, yet necessary.  Other areas were intriguing and enlightening.

I found the most helpful and influential speaker to be Travis Kalanick, an Internet entrepreneur and investor.  He’s got his hand in many different things including Honestly.com (great keyword domain) and is a co-founder of Uber(cab).   Travis seems like the type of guy that makes things happen.  I’ve embedded his portion of the conference below.  In fact, the entire conference was captured and is available at Ustream.  I suggest checking out Travis and some of the other speakers when you have time.

Bottom line, the conference covered much of what you would want to know about a successful startup, from the people that have done it themselves.  Some of the information was obvious, while other pieces were more detailed and helpful.  If Tech cocktail comes to your town, I’d suggest checking out a conference they put on.  You’ll learn something and walk out a little better than you walked in.