SaaShop participated in the SaaStock 2022 conference in October. SaaStock is a very large and important event for SaaS companies between 1M€ – 10M€ in ARR, with a great opportunity to network with other SaaS founders, future customers and investors. In addition to networking opportunities, the conference offers inspiration and speeches from experts in the field – the event organized in Dublin had 100 speakers sharing their experiences and giving advice. SaaStock is suitable for SaaS companies of all sizes: the idea of the event is to create the perfect environment to grow your network, build valuable connections and have fun at the same time!
SaaShop’s networking was handled by a diamond team of seven: Kaj Seeste, Joonas Mäkiranta, Juho Anttila, Veli-Pekka Nurmi, Markus Paakkonen, Jori Mykrä and Niko Ehari. In this article, Joonas, SaaShop’s Sales Manager, tells how the event went, what was successful about it, what opportunities participation brought, and who should definitely take a chance when SaaStock is held next time.
In the end, it all depends on what you do during the event
At the SaaStock 2022 event, software companies of different sizes were divided into two halls: the main hall housed the industry’s biggest players, and the second was for the smaller founders. Although the departments and stands were divided according to the size of the companies, one of the best things of the conference is that the turnover does not determine how much the company can benefit from the event. Even the newest and smallest businesses of the industry can get excellent opportunities for networking and creating new relationships, because in the end, it all depends on how you spend your time at the event.
“You get a chance to tell your own story and network at the event. Smaller companies also have the opportunity to create good customer relationships and reach potential partners and investors. If the company is strongly involved in the software-related business, then I recommend participating and booking your own stand at the event. It’s all about how active you are. If you make contact, network and have conversations with people, you will benefit from the conference. All the SaaS companies participating in the event are trying to do business and create partnerships, so the atmosphere is really equal and you can find like-minded people”, says Joonas about his own experience of the companies that participated in the event.
Active conversation brings partners and end customers
SaaS companies and operating entities were really interested in SaaShop. During the conference, SaaShop’s team managed to find great partners, which will enable business development and growth to a next level. As a result of the event, new end customers also found their way into software consolidation.
“We got a lot of confirmation, confidence and a strong feeling that we are doing the right things and solving the right problems. It was great to see how much interest our service generated and how good networking we were able to achieve. Our partners now also include people from the design side who help us develop the design related to the appearance and functionality of our services. The best thing was that we got a lot of similar good conversations with potential partners, and we also got direct end customers,” Joonas sums up the event’s takeaways.
It is really worth preparing for the three-day SaaS event
The event lasted three whole days, so there were many conversations, many meetings, inspiring moments and insights. In addition to the fact that SaaStock is a really fun and interesting conference, it is also an event for which the company should prepare and set off with the batteries charged.
“The days started every morning at 9 o’clock and we immediately went to set up our own stand so that people could come there and have a chat with us. Everything to be displayed and offered to customers was ready in place at a good time. Since we were a team of seven on the trip, there were always one to three guys at the stand to receive people and the rest were able to go around the event area. In addition, some of us had pre-arranged meetings. Speaking of meetings, I would advise that if there are certain people you would like to meet during the event, you should definitely contact those people and make an appointment in advance way before the conference. On the spot, it can be really challenging to get a private moment of conversation to succeed. It’s really worth approaching in advance and agreeing on a meeting time. Also during the event, you should be open-minded and approach other people whenever possible.”
A successful entity that everyone can benefit from
Often with different events, fairs and conferences, there are things that come to mind which could have been implemented differently. However, according to Joonas, SaaStock 2022 was so successful that nothing was left behind:
“The event itself was extremely well organized, everything worked really well. There was no such situation where I would have thought that this should have been done differently. All the services were organized successfully and the speakers were really good. They gave advice on how to run everyday life and also various tips and ideas for doing your own thing. With the speeches, you start to think about how things are handled at the moment and whether they could be handled better. The trends in the industry will also become familiar as a result of the speeches.
Joonas recommends SaaStock to all SaaS companies, including companies that have never been to an industry fair before.
“It’s worth visiting to learn from the event and at the same time you can confirm whether it would make sense to have your own stand in the future. In terms of experience, you should definitely visit SaaStock at least once. However, a visitor to the event can be anyone who is interested in the software industry, and everyone in the industry will definitely find something useful,” Joonas concludes.
