Howdy! My name is Sarah and I’ve always loved hosting events.
More recently, I’ve begun hosting events as part of my role as a growth engineer at Cerebras. I’m nearing my 1 year mark, and thought I’d share some of my favorite parts of hosting a good event.
One of the first events I hosted was LlaMAPALOOZA, hosted at the NASDAQ in NYC.
We had 1025+ RSVPs for a 400 person event.
**Note: LlaMAPALOOZA is a developer event series around using Meta’s Llama models in production.
And here’s what people had to say about LlaMAPALOOZA on socials :)
So first, what is a 'good event'?
The most obvious marker for a good event is are people showing up and are people excited to attend.
I'd say secondary markers are:
Is the event memorable?
Did it have a high ROI for me/my company? (as measured by my time and $ spent)
And third-tier markers might be:
How was the gender ratio?
If someone else had hosted this event, would I have attended?
Are people coming back to my future events?
The reality is, the competition for a developer or founder’s time is fierce. There’s no shortage of events, just look at Michelle Fang’s weekly list of tech events in SF. The odds are not in your favor.
Rule #1: Make people want to come.
Right now, I host two main event series: Cafe Compute and Barry's w/ Builders. See below for descriptions.
Let’s start with coming up with an event idea. It's sort of cheating, but the best hack is piggybacking on what people already have to do. Sure, "people have to eat," but a VC-sponsored fine dining experience is usually a 3 hour commitment, which is 2.5 hours more than most founders want to spend on dinner.
C’mon guys, we can do better than dinners and happy hours :)
Cafe Compute works because it
was highly requested on Twitter (see example) AND
solves a real problem: late-night coworking with free coffee (sorry Bryan Johnson), snacks, and other developers.
gives people an organic environment to meet cool people, and they get work done
Barry's w/ Builders taps into the fact that founders are busy and want to bundle more fitness into their lives. A group of ~10 of us will do a Barry’s bootcamp workout class, then get smoothies after from the Barry’s fuel bar. Developers get a free workout, and nothing bonds strangers like protein smoothies after getting yelled at by a Barry's instructor for an hour.
Rule #2: Start small
Before you invest large amounts of time into a grand event idea like hosting a city-wide pickleball tournament that's logistically complex, start with an MVP event. Just like you would with a product.
Before Cafe Compute was in a venue with a proper barista, I hosted the first one in my apartment. We had 75 developers sitting on Amazon-ordered floor cushions, and I had GTM friends from different startups (shoutout Lizzie, AJ, Daniel, and Evan) sponsor boba, In-N-Out, and donuts. I do not live in a big apartment….
But anyways, it's good to first validate an idea :)
Rule #3: Host a Series
And once you’ve validated, EXPAND! This is probably the best tip, but I very rarely host one-off events.
Hosting a series gives you three huge advantages:
Time saving: If you work at a startup, time is your most precious resource. If done correctly, after the first one or two events, future events require very minimal, playbook planning. I probably spend 15 minutes organizing each Cafe Compute now.
Upfront investment in branding/swag: This allows you to properly invest in branding, event-specific swag, logo design, etc. that can be reused for all events. For Cafe Compute, we made logos, custom coffee cups, menus, etc. that really elevate the event.
Brand Building: It’s much easier to grow a brand or event series, than continually promote one-off events
(look how cute our logo is!)
Note*: hosting a series doesn’t mean repeatedly organizing the same event, rather it’s the same event format with a couple of consistent features. For example, each Cafe Compute will be a slightly different theme but we’ll always have a coffee barista and all the branding will be the same. We’ve also hosted Cafe Compute in different cities like SF, NYC, Vancouver, etc.*
Rule #4: The little things matter, and people WILL notice
My future mother-in-law's advice for our engagement party: not everything has to be spectacular, but add details people will remember.
At our Cafe Computes, we added a ‘chip jar’ next to the barista’s table filled with computer chips. It was a play on the traditional ‘tip jar’ and people absolutely loved the attention to detail.
If you’re hosting a dinner, print name cards and assign seats based on who will have the best conversations.
Slater Stich (partner @ BCV) does a great job with this too. At a recent researcher dinner, he had a list of silly but relevant conversation topics prepared. During the Grok waifu Twitter drama, he asked everyone to argue why AI waifus would improve the world. It's preparation disguised as fun, and it’s great for breaking the ice.
Rule #5: Hacks to maximize ROI
If you’re hosting events for work, some of my favorite tricks:
Send a follow-up email (in a timely manner) to all attendees thanking them and adding in your CTA (get an API key, checkout this fellowship, talk to me if you’re raising money) whatever it may be. This also helps you not have to shill during the event. Ideally, 20-25% engage.
Remember that you’re the (all mighty and powerful) host. When I’m hosting dinners, I love asking everyone to move seats between the main course and dessert, so I get to meet more people. Never be scared to get up mid-dinner and say hi to someone you invited, or someone you don’t know. As host, you set the rules!
Pictures or it didn’t happen! The best $ spent is always the $200 spent on a professional photographer. 100 people attended my event and 50,000 people are going to see my Twitter post. So make it a banger post that people will remember you for :)
Rule #6: Bring in partners
I rarely host events without bringing in VCs or other companies to cohost. Personally, I think there are diminishing returns beyond 1-2 event partners. Beyond that, I feel like I'm wasting time with coordination or keeping everyone accountable for driving attendees. With series especially, it's great to have 1-2 partners you've got the playbook down with.
Usually, I reach out to folks already in my network, but if it’s someone you don’t know well, I’d reach out with something like this:
What do you get out of adding partners?
What do partners get out of it?
VC partners get access to deal flow and new talent. They usually put in $$
Startup partners get access to more customers. They usually put in $$, promote on socials, or drive a certain # of RSVPs
Rule #7: Be a good host
Lastly, but most importantly…the #1 thing you can do as a good host is make everyone feel welcome. A trick that I like to do is run around with a sharpie and blank name tags, so I have an excuse to approach everyone and be like hey, what’s your name? Not only does it establish you as a host, but it’s a great conversation opener.
Rule #8: Take a shot before your event
Anyways, that’s it. 7 nice rules. A huge shoutout to the folks I’ve cohosted with including Daniel Kim, Amanda Huang, Sophia Luo, James da Costa, Evan Conrad, and Paul Klein. And huge thank you to Swyx for feedback on this post :)
Feel free to DM me (X: @SarahChieng) if you’d ever like to cohost or join one of our events. I’m excited to see what you host!
