# Introduction

Attracting investments to finance a project while simultaneously boosting PR efforts is a primary goal for many startup founders participating in various events. Conferences, seminars, and expert gatherings are considered essential in the startup community. Sales? What sales? We’re a startup! We need growth hacks, networking, newsjacking, coworking, scaling, and plenty of pitches on the side!

# Seminars and Business Trainings

Let’s start with the most obvious and arguably the least effective method—business trainings and thematic seminars led by renowned “gurus” in the field. Typically, these educational gatherings are held in places synonymous with procrastination, hypocrisy, polished appearances of work, endless coworking, and countless baseless posturing. Why do people attend these seminars outside of merely attending them? After all, working from home is often cheaper and distraction-free—room doors have been around long enough to keep interruptions at bay. People attend these events only to find reasons not to work or to show off their new MacBooks and take selfies with the hashtag “#working_at_work.”

How can you possibly take a selfie while working or, say, exercising? You’re either working or you’re not; you’re either exercising or you’ve come to take a selfie to make everyone think how awesome you are. And how can anyone look good in the gym? Sweaty armpits, greasy hair, and a red, flushed face are very attractive. Although, if you didn’t actually do anything there… Somehow, we’ve drifted off-topic.

Let’s move on. The best part is when the theme of these trainings is “Achieving Goals,” “Motivation,” and other trends tailored for the lazy who are looking for a magical push. I’ll let you in on a secret about these two topics so you won’t waste your hard-earned money anymore. Just don’t tell anyone. To achieve your goals, you need to work hard over a long period, and to find motivation, you either have it or you don’t. That’s it. I won’t even charge you for this advice. Beginners have no place there because, by the time they’ve attended, nothing will change if they’re searching for motivation. Professionals might attend only to have fun amidst these grand speeches.

# Startup Conferences

The audience at such conferences is more serious. Attendees know what they need to do and when, but how—this is why they attend conferences to gain insights from experts, often sacrificing some of their savings intended for their own startups.

A startup conference is a treasure trove of knowledge… for regular attendees of self-development trainings. If you’re somewhat knowledgeable and came seeking secret information from “myth-breaking” experts, I’m here to disappoint you: the “experts” attend conferences with the same goal you have as speakers—they’re there for PR. Think back—when you were asked to talk to an audience about your sales-boosting methods or perhaps you volunteered to speak, what was your first thought? “This is a great opportunity for PR!”

Now, let’s apply some logic and basic arithmetic: How many people are listening to you? Approximately 50, at best 200 if the organizers know their business. But startup founders are rarely invited as speakers. Usually, those who have previously failed ventures are invited. But you’re just starting out. So, reach—100 people. Costs—gasoline or a train ticket (assuming you didn’t pay for participation, which isn’t always the case), plus a lot of time spent traveling, preparing your speech, and the event itself. In comparison, how many views would your Medium post get? If you’re a beginner, on average—2,000, with the platform’s reach being over 1 million! Costs—just time and internet payment. Moreover, the results of your work can be verified. How would you assess the real effectiveness of a conference? The number of experts you had coffee with during the break?

Another point: True professionals don’t have free time for such conferences. They’re either growing their business or spending time with their family, which they already lack. Meanwhile, Facebook commentators deliver speeches at these events. Rare exceptions are giants who’ve established a steady passive income, attending these conferences out of leisure, but you’ll never reach them from where you are—their real advice is too costly.

And finally, some startup founders even attend special networking conferences, studying psychology and NLP to master the art of flattering and ingratiating themselves. They’ve even coined a special term for it—networking. It’s like a trend—creating fancy names for basic concepts, much like how a janitor is now a manager of a cleaning company. Of course, a conference on the art of flattery sounds unprofessional.

# Startup Competitions

Participating in various battles, competitions, and tournaments for startups can kill three birds with one stone: PR, attracting investments, and your own hopes for PR and investment attraction at such events.

And all of this happens when you dedicate your time to networking at startup meetups and industry experts. But of course! You’ll go to see others and showcase yourself. More showcasing yourself, naturally, but that’s not important. Few people realize that all other “experts” arrived for the same reason.

## Types of Participants in Startup Competitions

There are three types of participants in startup competitions:

1. Organizers
2. Experts on the Jury
3. Startup Teams

Now, let’s dissect who among these three categories you’re planning to PR yourself in front of.

### Organizers

They make their money by having you attend, but they’re deeply uninterested in what your company does or what unique product you have. I hope you didn’t plan on them remembering you so they could invite you next time, because that’s a foolish endeavor.

### Experts on the Jury

It’s implied, or at least you hope, that the jury consists of genuine investors who came specifically to select promising startups and invest millions in them. Don’t fool yourself with futile hopes. Real investors attend these events to support startups they’ve already invested in. Here’s a free secret: investors need startups as much as startups need investments. They also face competition: who invests first in a promising startup. Each investment round implies its own approximate percentage of the company. In the first round, investment amounts are the smallest, but the share is quite attractive, hence the highest future profit percentage. As the saying goes: “First come, first served,” but in this case, it’s an advantage for investors.

We already wrote that in the fall of 2015, an international startup competition, Venture Days, was held in Prague, claiming the presence of 50 investors, but in reality, there were only 4! Organizers were running around with strollers, changing diapers for their kids, and the organization was so chaotic that speaker presentations got mixed up like headphone wires in a pocket. However, there were tons of startups, but it’s unclear who they were talking to—probably each other. But there were plenty of show-offs… and they topped the price: €350 for two team members for 2 days.

What’s even more shocking is that some participants openly stated, “We don’t need investments. We’re here for PR.” PR for whom among these three groups is someone likely to buy from them? These markets only attract sellers: organizers are selling their services, startups are trying to sell themselves, and experts are selling their faces. Where are the buyers?—They’re not there at all.

### Startup Teams

Looking for partners? Potential mutually beneficial cooperation? Forget it, nobody cares. People strive to move forward, and they’ll gladly crush you. There, you can only make enemies, not partners. All participants are so self-focused that they only think about making their pitch even cooler on the fly so that everyone’s jaws drop. Nobody remembers what you do. Everyone is only interested in themselves.

# Final Thoughts

And finally, one more free but highly valuable piece of advice. If you want to attract investments, you need to approach investors directly. This will give you the opportunity to secure the person you truly want as your investor. Attracting investments is not just about money but also about long-term cooperation with someone who will not only provide you with funds on fair terms but also assist you with connections, advise you when needed, and act as a genuine expert who has been through thick and thin. They are invested in your success because your business is their money. But the best approach is not to seek investors at all—create a self-sufficient product, and once you start generating good revenue, invest in AI like Co-Founder Ai to streamline your operations, and believe me, investors will come to you. Many investors hesitate to invest in startups that aren’t yet making money, so they often delay the “Series A” round. Attracting investments without an MVP at the idea stage might be something you can’t even dream of. Therefore, only relentless and prolonged hard work without wasting time on superficial show-offs will help you achieve real PR, increased sales, and finally, investments if you can’t do without them.