What conferences do you recommend for entrepreneurs? [closed]

It depends on the stage of your company and your industry. Blue Fish is a software development and consulting firm that I founded over ten years ago. Over that time, I've attended several different conferences focused on different aspects of running a business. Below are some of my favorites.

For general entrepreneurial concerns, I recommend the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) and their series of EO Universities. Your company must be dong at least $1 Million in sales to join EO, but their Universities cover lots of topics across a variety of topics.

By far the best entrepreneurial conference I've ever attended was the Birthing of Giants program at MIT. I think it's called the Masters of Entrepreneurship now. It's a week-long program that you attend each year for three years. Each year covers a different curriculum, one year is focused on people, one on management, and one on finance and exits. The speakers are amazing and the other attendees have become dear friends of mine over the years. Attendance is limited to 60 people. I can't recommend this enough.

If your business is growing, I recommend Verne Harnish's Growth Summit. His speakers are outstanding, and he focuses on issues being faced by companies that are growing revenues at least 20% per year.

Verne also has a conference specifically focused on sales and marketing. It's not as good as his growth summit, but it's the best conference I've seen specifically for sales and marketing.

If you are in the software industry, I recommend the Business of Software conference. It's particularly good if you are what is called a Micro-ISV (a very small software company). I liked the content and the speakers, but I was disappointed at the number of people who attended who were not entrepreneurs themselves - there were a lot of developers who attended, and I found it harder to network with other attendees who were experiencing the same types of things I was.

for what purpose? and what kind of entrepreneur? I've heard good things about Joel Spolsky and Neil Davidsons Business of Software. I'm a big fan of the Carsonified Future of Web Apps [although not 100% entrepreneurial] and Techcrunch and LeWeb are the big names.

A lot of entrepreneurs go to South by Southwest. It's not specifically about entrepreneurship, but any place where a large number of creative people get together is generally a hotbed for ideas and entrepreneurship.

Look for local meetups. These are more like intimate group get-togethers than conferences. You will benefit from stimulating group discussion and networking. Also search for local "unconferences" and podcamps. It's quite possible you will get more opportunities from constantly participating in free or low cost local events than spending a greater investment attending a few large conferences a year. Although you could also do both.

If you keep up in the online communities and blogs of thought leaders, many of whom speak at these large conferences, you may find that the greatest benefit of attending the conference is the networking opportunity. The content in the conference may just be reinforcing what you've already read on the blogs. I definitely agree with Eric on South by Southwest. If you attend just one conference a year, that should be the one.

Taken from http://blog.fairsoftware.net/2009/04/29/the-3-cant-miss-meetings-for-entrepreneurs-visiting-silicon-valley/

• Startup2Startup.com
• SDForum
• Meetups

If you are talking about large, yearly conferences, TC50 is great.

Your question is very broad, which makes it difficult to answer.

What is your strategy and how will going to conferences help you, either from a development standpoint (learning about something important that helps you execute your strategy) or a networking standpoint (connecting with the people you need to know to execute your strategy)?

I am a big believer in focusing on niche markets. As such, going to conferences and events related to a niche can be more effective than going to a conference just because you are an entrepreneur and others entrepreneurs will be there too. (unless your niche is entrepreneurs!)

You asked about international events - if you are interested in business events in Canada our site has a business events calendar. There are a lot of events listed including conferences - for example the Canadian Business Leadership Forum 2009 on Oct. 21st - but whether or not that event or others makes sense for you will depend on your strategy & goals.