I don’t normally sit here and try to pitch a reason to go to a conference or an event. The most I’ll do is usually tweet about something going on. But, with Twiistup, I felt it was absolutely necessary just based on all the reasons to go. I went to Twiistup 5 and it was my first one, but, Francisco Dao has taken Twiistup 6 to the next level and is blowing it out of the park. So, here are the reasons I am going, and the reasons you should too.

1. The Sessions and Speaker List

The wide variety of entrepreneurs that will be speaking at Twiistup is unreal. I have never see a cast like this put together in a single day. Every single speaker is an entrepreneur and innovator in his or her own right. They have all been in the trenches, succeeded, and failed like all entrepreneurs. And, to be frank, some of them are just like you…running a business and trying to make moves.

Here are the speakers (taken from the Twiistup website):

• Jason Calacanis Serial entrepreneur, founder of Mahalo and co-founder of TechCrunch 50 and Weblogs. Wikipedia Link
• Chamillionaire Grammy Award-winning and chart topping musician and entrepreneur. Wikipedia Link
• Cyan Banister Early stage investor in Facebook, Slide, Tagged and founder of TopFans.com and Zivity.
• Todd Goldman Artist, entrepreneur, co-creator of BLAHGirls (with Ashton Kutcher) and founder of David and Goliath apparel. Wikipedia Link
• Quincy Jones III (QD3) Music and film producer/entrepreneur. Wikipedia Link
• Dave McClure Seed stage investor for the Founders Fund. Bio Link
• Ian Rogers Former business partner of the Beastie Boys and former GM of Yahoo Music, now CEO of Topspin Media. Bio Link
• Ben Huh CEO of viral phenomenon www.IcanHasCheezburger.com
• Chris Brogan President of New Marketing Labs
• Mark Suster GRP Partners, venture capital. Former VP Product Mgmt Salesforce.com & 2-time CEO and entrepreneur. Bio Link
• Brian Solis Author of Now is Gone and Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, Publisher of PR 2.0 and bub.blicio.us, Founder of Future Works PR, and strategic advisor to Fortune 500 businesses and startups. Wikipedia Link
• David O. Sacks Former COO of PayPal, founder and CEO of Geni.com and Yammer, movie producer Thank You For Smoking. Wikipedia Link
• Brad Feld Co-founder of Foundry Group and Mobius Venture Capital, founder of Techstars.org startup incubator. Bio Link
• Micah Baldwin Founder of Current Wisdom (sold 2007), VP of Business Development and Chief Evangelist for Lijit Networks. Bio Link

*Additional speakers are being added as availability is confirmed. All speakers appear during the daytime conference portion of the event.
**Sessions subject to change as additonal speakers join the program.

2. The ShowOffs

I don’t know of another conference that combines the ShowOff’s with amazing Panels. But, Twiistup isn’t going to bury you with 20-30 or a barrage of startups to bore you to death. These are going to be the best of the best 10 startups that were hand picked by the Twiistup crew.

3. Open Bar

Not many conferences have an open bar as readily available as Twiistup, and, they deliver. Let’s face it, we’re technologists and entrepreneurs that love to drink.

4. Innovation, Innovation, Innovation

Twiistup is just that, all about Innovation. You can go to another boring conference where you try to learn 2-3 things about Twitter or how to do SEO, or, you could attend a conference that is going to inspire you and invigorate you and your ideas to get you to take that next step. You’re going to watch these people on stage, you’re going to interact with others, and you will leave with a fire ignited ready to get stuff done.

5. The Networking

Not only is the speaker list phenominal, but, the attendees of the event are going to be unbelievable. You’ll be interacting with fellow business owners, innovators, marketers, people in the press, and investors. Personally, I always take away the personal interaction from the people attending a conference, it is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT reason that I attend. With Twiistup, it is definitely going to be that. I want to meet these people, I want to share the stories, hear what people have to say and get involved in some of the greatest conversations that will be happening in Los Angeles, this year. If there is one reason to attend, it would be the opportunity to be involved in the conversation that could shape innovation for the rest of the year.

Sign up for Twiistup before Tickets are Sold Out!

I want to start by saying that raising funding or Angel Capital is something I have ABSOLUTELY no experience with, so, it was absolutely great to hear a panel on something where I was thoroughly engaged. Not to mention the rock star line up of Los Angeles Technology entrepreneurs that were on the panel: Brett Brewer, Rick Smith, Matt Coffin, Bryce Benjamin, Kamran Pouzanjani, and Jeff Tinsley.

Anywho, big thanks to Jason Nazar and Docstoc for setting this up again at the Santa Monica Public Library. As usual, in true Jason fashion he started out talking about Docstoc and their approach to raising capital. Then he started introducing the Panelists and the one thing that I could definitely say that all the panelists mentioned was “the Ecosystem in Los Angeles has never been this strong” and that they have “never seen this much startup energy in LA.” Everyone talked about the trials and tribulations along with how tough it was to get people to invest in a Los Angeles technology company.

It basically turned into the Matt Coffin hour once he started talking and I have to say, I wanted to constantly take notes, but I didn’t have to because I was so intrigued by hearing his story. He mentioned that Lower My Bills at the time was struggling and that they went all over to look for investors and ended up in Minnesota, of all places. Just goes to show that being creative about finding funding is important. He also mentioned that the startup environment was much different in ’01 vs. ’09 in that people that have been through it are a bit more open. Matt also really talked about how most the time, they are looking for momentum and/or the passion the entrepreneur has. He mentioned “0nly 10% of people who pitch to me, follow up,” which leads me to the most important thing that stuck out to me. Matt talked about how he wants to hear from you, but, not just to small talk, but to hear progress. He really went into this in detail, but, essentially, he wants to hear that you have set a goal and not only met it but exceeded it, every time he talks to you. It doesn’t have to be a feature being complete or anything, but, could be as simple as just working out something that was an idea that needed to be flushed out. Basically, show that you have some wins and exceed expectations.

Some other great points that were made that stuck in my head were by Kamran Pouzanjani of PriceGrabber. First and foremost he said that you can’t expect to leave you comfortable job and expect to make more money immediately. You are going to have to work long hours, you are going to have to “suffer through it,” and finally you are going to have to change your lifestyle drastically. (Although, I have to admit it was a bit funny hearing that someone left a job making 4x me that had to “suffer”, but, I can totally imagine that it must have been difficult no matter how much you make). The other big point that he made was that he doesn’t want to hear another pitch about a … wait for it … wait for it … “Web 2.0 company!” (Amen, checking my watch, I believe it was about 6:45 PM on March 26, 2009 that we can say Web 2.0 is officially dead!…ok maybe not just yet, but thought that was hilarious.) If you are starting another “me too” site or coming in at the end or starting another “video” site, you are basically irrelevant. He also mentioned that he doesn’t want to see the starters either (a la twitter), you basically want to come in right after that when its starting to rise to more mainstream audiences.

Jason then went into his keys to building a relationship with Angel investors and keys to raising Angel Capital and his overall experiences. Here they are:

• Get in and tell them about yourself and tell them about you, remember, they are investing in the entrepreneur and not the idea.
• Take the time to talk to them over a 6 month period and it could take that long.
• Build a relationship over time and continue to make wins and show wins in that time frame.
• Selling yourself is the most important factor, remember, they are investing in you.
• Be 100% transparent and honest
• Be persistent and relentless, but, don’t be pushy
• After the investment, continue that relationship. Getting the investment is not the end of your discussions with the investor, it is the beginning of the relationship.

Finally, there were some other real good points made:

• Although investors are mostly focused on the people and the entrepreneur him/herself, sometimes the idea sparks interest.
• There are 3M’s important to investors: Management, Market Size, and Momentum
• No investors like someone that has a huge EGO or thinks they know the only way to get things done. They like people that are open and know they have a lot to learn. They want someone that knows they might have to shift the company if the market requires it.
• Again, Don’t be the guy that is still pitching web 2.0, because, that time has passed.
• And again, I can’t keep saying it enough, they are investing in you, so, keep showing and talking about wins wins and that you are exceeding expectations.

Thanks Jason and the DocStoc crew for putting on another stellar night!