Natalie launched the first version of Lanyrd.com with a co-founder and her husband Simon, while on honeymoon in Casablanca. As the site took off, they realised their side project was destined to become something much bigger. This talk will tell the story of Lanyrd from a two-week proof of concept to a fully-fledged startup, the lessons learned along the way about building and launching a product, running a company, raising investment and the entrepreneurship journey. This is the talk she wished she heard before getting started! In September 2013, just a week before the SmashingConf 2013, Lanyrd was acquired by Eventbrite.

1. FROM IDEA TO EXIT.
Natalie Downe, 10th September 2013

2. Brighton, June 2010

3. Casablanca, Morocco, August 2010

4. If you are not embarrassed
by the first version of
your product, you’ve
launched too late.
Reid Hoffman

5. OH "if we fix all the bugs before launch, we
won't have any fun left"
@nataliedowne, 11:36 PM, 30th August 2010

6. "We launched lanyrd.com ! Go easy on it, the
log files are going a bit nuts, who knew Twitter
was viral?"
@simonw, 10:52 AM, 31st August 2010

7. "Why are there ants on the wall?"
@nataliedowne, 6:24 PM, 2nd September 2010

8. "and we have internet again! at a nearby hotel
bar now, our internet here in Casablanca
reboots every day but normally comes back in
an hour"
@natbat, 6:54 PM, 31st August 2010

9. "Had no idea how much work there would be
_after_ launch, naively thought would be able
to relax a bit, this thing has gone through the
roof!"
@nataliedowne, 7:54 PM, 1st September 2010

10. "Internet at the 'Business Man Hotel' died, hot
footed it in a taxi to Rick's Cafe again, waiters
amused by us!"
@nataliedowne, 3:43 PM, 4th September 2010

11. "Being kicked out of Ricks, have to take a taxi
to our hotel down the coast in time to finish
scaling before the USA east coast wakes up"
@nataliedowne, 4:21 PM, 4th September 2010

12. "So there is no Internet in the room and they
have turned all the restaurant lights off around
us #sysadminingInTheDark"
@nataliedowne, 12:01 AM, 5th September 2010

13. Make your own luck.

14. Train from Cairo to Aswan, Egypt, October 2010

15. Egypt, November 2010

16. http://ycombinator.com/atyc.html

17. Luxor, Egypt, November 2010

18. What's new about what you're doing? What
substitutes do people resort to because what
you plan to make doesn't exist yet?
What do you understand about your business
that other companies in it just don't get?
How will you make money?
How will you get users?
How do you know people need what you're
making?
https://news.ycombinator.com/apply

19. Learn how to take
advice.

20. Always be pitching.

22. Rehearsal day.

26. Lanyrd.com
Definitive database
of Professional Events
and Speakers
Personalised, Social,
Event Recommendation
Engine

27. Don't worry about people
stealing your ideas.
If your ideas are any good,
you'll have to ram them down
people's throats.
Howard H. Aiken

28. Surround yourself with
a circle of trust.

29. Surround yourself with
a circle of trust.

30. Raising money

31. Raise money to last for
18 months.

32. Raise money to last for
18 months.

33. Investor checklist
Elevator pitch
Executive summary
Pitch deck
Answers to common questions
Introductions
The phone number of a really good lawyer!

34. Investor checklist
Elevator pitch
Executive summary
Pitch deck
Answers to common questions
Introductions
The phone number of a really good lawyer!

35. Investor checklist
Elevator pitch
Executive summary
Pitch deck
Answers to common questions
Introductions
The phone number of a really good lawyer!

36. Investor checklist
Elevator pitch
Executive summary
Pitch deck
Answers to common questions
Introductions
The phone number of a really good lawyer!

37. Investor checklist
Elevator pitch
Executive summary
Pitch deck
Answers to common questions
Introductions
The phone number of a really good lawyer!

38. Investor checklist
Elevator pitch
Executive summary
Pitch deck
Answers to common questions
Introductions
The phone number of a really good lawyer!

39. Get a good corporate
lawyer.

40. The way to seem
most formidable as an
inexperienced founder is to
stick to the truth.
Paul Graham

41. Building a team,
designing a company.

42. Hire from your
network.

43. Build tools that help
you punch above your
weight.

44. Pattern Portfolio.

45. One-click deploys.

46. Feature flags.

47. mobile

48. lanyrd.com/mobile

49. Always take press
screenshots yourself.

50. Always take press
screenshots yourself.

51. Press packs.
Embargo time and timezone.
Story summary and context.
Numbers.
Quotes.
Contact details.
Selection of screenshots.
Link to your primary press pack.
Background product info.
Logos
Links and spelling of links.

52. Press packs.
Embargo time and timezone.
Story summary and context.
Numbers.
Quotes.
Contact details.
Selection of screenshots.
Link to your primary press pack.
Background product info.
Logos
Links and spelling of links.

53. Press packs.
Embargo time and timezone.
Story summary and context.
Numbers.
Quotes.
Contact details.
Selection of screenshots.
Link to your primary press pack.
Background product info.
Logos
Links and spelling of links.

54. Lanyrd integrates with LinkedIn
For background information on Lanyrd, see our main press pack
For embargo until Saturday 14th September 2013 at 4:00pm London (11:00am Eastern / 8:00am Pacific)
Powered by WORLD TIME BUDDY 24AM/PM
STARTS IN
4 days
7 hours, 23 minutes
London
United Kingdom, England
4:00 pm
Sat, Sep 14 2013
- 4:00 pm
Sat, Sep 14 2013
Your Time
On this Computer / Device
5:00 pm
Sat, Sep 14 2013
- 5:00 pm
Sat, Sep 14 2013
+1+1
Lanyrd now helps LinkedIn users discover conferences and professional events based on their LinkedIn connections and
profile information. This fills a gap left by the shutdown of LinkedIn's events application and allows event organizers to
continue to take advantage of LinkedIn to promote their events. LinkedIn users can also use Lanyrd to build their own
speaker profiles, get event information on their mobile phones and network more effectively with others at events.
Lanyrd is launching the ability to sign in with your LinkedIn account and get event recommendations based on your LinkedIn contacts
and profile information.
LinkedIn users can now benefit from Lanyrd's directory of more than 25,000 events entered by our community in 100+ countries around
the world.
LinkedIn announced that they will be shutting down their events app on the 26th of November in a help page on their site.
Speakers and attendees can build a profile of the events they have attended and the talks they have given. Where LinkedIn acts as your
online resumé, Lanyrd can act as your online speaking portfolio.
Users can subscribe to weekly emails recommending events based on their LinkedIn profile. As they grow their network on LinkedIn, these
emails will get increasingly more relevant.
Event organizers can use Lanyrd to promote their events, publish their event schedule both online and through our mobile apps, and
gather together slides, notes and videos once the event has ended.
This also marks the first time Lanyrd have made their service available to people who do not use Twitter. New Lanyrd users can also now
create an account using an email address and password.
Lanyrd helps people get more out of conferences and professional events, by discovering the right events to attend, meeting the right people
while there and catching up on slides, notes and video afterwards.
We have prepared a preview site for members of the press to try out the new functionality in advance of our public release on Monday at 4pm
GMT. The preview is available here:
http://preview.lanyrd.com/
Use username beta and password hamster to access the preview. You can then sign in with LinkedIn using the Sign Up link on the
homepage.
Lanyrd - http://lanyrd.com/
Lanyrd iPhone app - http://lanyrd.com/iphone/
Lanyrd's HTML5 Mobile web app (Compatible with Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Kindle etc) - - http://lanyrd.com/mobile/
Summary
Key points
About Lanyrd
Press preview site
Useful links
Screenshots

55. Lanyrd integrates with LinkedIn
For background information on Lanyrd, see our main press pack
For embargo until Saturday 14th September 2013 at 4:00pm London (11:00am Eastern / 8:00am Pacific)
Powered by WORLD TIME BUDDY 24AM/PM
STARTS IN
4 days
7 hours, 23 minutes
London
United Kingdom, England
4:00 pm
Sat, Sep 14 2013
- 4:00 pm
Sat, Sep 14 2013
Your Time
On this Computer / Device
5:00 pm
Sat, Sep 14 2013
- 5:00 pm
Sat, Sep 14 2013
+1+1
Lanyrd now helps LinkedIn users discover conferences and professional events based on their LinkedIn connections and
profile information. This fills a gap left by the shutdown of LinkedIn's events application and allows event organizers to
continue to take advantage of LinkedIn to promote their events. LinkedIn users can also use Lanyrd to build their own
speaker profiles, get event information on their mobile phones and network more effectively with others at events.
Lanyrd is launching the ability to sign in with your LinkedIn account and get event recommendations based on your LinkedIn contacts
and profile information.
LinkedIn users can now benefit from Lanyrd's directory of more than 25,000 events entered by our community in 100+ countries around
the world.
LinkedIn announced that they will be shutting down their events app on the 26th of November in a help page on their site.
Speakers and attendees can build a profile of the events they have attended and the talks they have given. Where LinkedIn acts as your
online resumé, Lanyrd can act as your online speaking portfolio.
Users can subscribe to weekly emails recommending events based on their LinkedIn profile. As they grow their network on LinkedIn, these
emails will get increasingly more relevant.
Event organizers can use Lanyrd to promote their events, publish their event schedule both online and through our mobile apps, and
gather together slides, notes and videos once the event has ended.
This also marks the first time Lanyrd have made their service available to people who do not use Twitter. New Lanyrd users can also now
create an account using an email address and password.
Lanyrd helps people get more out of conferences and professional events, by discovering the right events to attend, meeting the right people
while there and catching up on slides, notes and video afterwards.
We have prepared a preview site for members of the press to try out the new functionality in advance of our public release on Monday at 4pm
GMT. The preview is available here:
http://preview.lanyrd.com/
Use username beta and password hamster to access the preview. You can then sign in with LinkedIn using the Sign Up link on the
homepage.
Lanyrd - http://lanyrd.com/
Lanyrd iPhone app - http://lanyrd.com/iphone/
Lanyrd's HTML5 Mobile web app (Compatible with Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Kindle etc) - - http://lanyrd.com/mobile/
Summary
Key points
About Lanyrd
Press preview site
Useful links
Screenshots

56. Keep an eye on your
out-of-money date.

57. December 2012

58. Choose a theory.
Prove or disprove the theory.

59. Choose a theory.
Prove or disprove the theory.

60. Lanyrd Pro, April 2013

61. Learn from people who
used to be like you.

62. San Francisco, USA, March 2013

64. Balance your options.

65. Companies don't buy
companies.
People buy companies.

66. Trust your gut instinct.

67. Look after yourself.
Doing a start-up is a life choice not a
get rich quick scheme

68. http://ycombinator.com/apply

69. http://lanyrd.com/scprmy
Thanks for listening.