As the events industry becomes increasingly intentional with its efforts to heighten diversity and inclusion, in our latest credTen, we share conferences that have actively advocated for the futures of Black professionals—creating safe spaces to empower and educate Black entrepreneurs and thought leaders in their fields.
Founders, investors, innovators, and creators congregated in Redwood City to attend the Startup Grind’s Global Conference. Since 2010, Startup Grind has strived to give startups across the globe the education and opportunities they need to build, grow, and scale their companies – and their 2023 conference did just that.
Every February, people gather to celebrate the Super Bowl, Black History, love, groundhogs and more. But for us, one of the things we look forward to most is gathering alongside 10,000 startups, tech leaders and brands from around the world for two days of inspirational content, education, and networking, spanning 10 stages, 100+ sessions, and social events, at Startup Grind Global.
Brought to you by cred...connecting thought leaders through speaking & creating environments that inspire.
“What does it mean to hustle?”
We all know & love The Hustle as the daily email with the latest updates on tech, business, and deals deals deals. Yet, very few are aware that Hustle Con, the annual conference, is what started it all back in 2014 to answer the question: what does it mean to hustle?
Hustle & Flow (through the Paramount Theatre)
Last Friday, 2,000 hustling entrepreneurs—non-technical and technical enthusiasts alike—gathered in Oakland’s historic Paramount Theatre to see speakers from companies like BARK, Instacart, Ellevest, MVMT, and 1-800-GOT-JUNK discuss how they got started, how they grew, and what they learned along the way. Mixing old with new, interactive booths from Microsoft, WeWork, Premier Talent, and Salesforce stood throughout the 1930s art-deco halls of the theatre.
Attendees were greeted with breakfast, coffee served by Algorithm Coffee Co., and lively music blaring in the background, packing the theatre with exciting energy. Opening remarks were made by Sam Parr, CEO & Founder of The Hustle, asking everyone to “be kind to each other,” and Lindsey “always rockin’ that amazing orange blazer” Quinn, The Hustle’s Managing Editor.
“How much does it cost to buy an entire Trader Joe’s?” $22,000.
Max Mullen, Co-Founder of Instacart and cred client, shared his hustle story during a fireside chat interview with Sam Parr—like that time he bought every item in Trader Joe’s to create the very first grocery store inventory for the Instacart app. Free samples and coffee never sounded more desirable.
This isn’t the first Hustle event where a cred speaker has brought their insight to the stage. Other cred speakers including Edith Yeung (500 Startups), Anneka Gupta, (LiveRamp), Tara-Nicholle Nelson (SoulTour), and Sree Menon (Tophatter), have spoken at The Hustle’s 2X programs earlier this year in San Francisco. Tara-Nicholle Nelson is a top 50 finalist for The Hustle’s Woman of the Year.
friday shower thoughts from the stage:
“If you’re passionate about what you do, you’ll push through and be tenacious. If you’re not passionate, you’ll give up.”
-Max Mullen, Co-Founder, Instacart
“I couldn’t get to that next stepping stone without having that experience of failure and falling flat on my face.”
-Brian Scudamore, Founder, 1-800-GOT-JUNK
“Entrepreneurs typically do a terrible job of taking care of their own financial futures...Remember to invest in your future too.”
-Lisa Stone, Chief Strategy Officer, Ellevest
We didn’t only eat donuts...
The cred team also volunteered this year at the event, continuing our “fangirl”—yet mostly professional—relationship with The Hustle Team. We helped with guiding attendees, displaying food, and bringing leftovers to St. Vincent de Paul, a shelter a few blocks from the theater. On top of seeing our clients on stage, we had a great time being a part of the event and helping our friends at The Hustle.
See you at the next Hustle event!
-Abrisham “overthinking this signature” Khosravyani
On March 30, we stopped by Startup Grind Silicon Valley (hosted at Pivotal Labs in Palo Alto) and listened in on a fireside chat between Alex Austin, CEO and Co-founder of Branch Metrics, and Scott Nolan, Partner at Founders Fund and early employee at SpaceX. In this 50 minute-session, Alex shared the growth of Branch Metrics from origin to scaling the company to support 1.3B users.
Here are five things we learned:
Set a success criteria - know for yourself what success looks like.
If you’re having to sell your product too hard, it’s not a good sign!
Hyper customer service with early adopters of your product/service will pay you back in dividends. When scaling your product, invest in customer support.
Never get in the mode where you feel you can kick back and celebrate; there is always something on fire or broken.
Always think about macro trends, where you fit within them and the broader platform that you’re on.
About Startup Grind:
Startup Grind is a global startup community with a mission to educate, inspire and connect entrepreneurs. Every month, they hosts events featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share lessons they learned on the way to building great companies. Since its founding in 2010, Startup Grind has hosted 2,000 fireside chats and helped millions of entrepreneurs find mentorship, connect to partners and new recruits and pursue funding.
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