Sales Hacker
Sales Hacker is a media company focused on the future of B2B sales, earning most of its revenue from conferences (about 75% sponsorships and 25% tickets, per Max Altschuler). Its 2015 conference drew close to 2,000 attendees, and the company reported roughly $2.5 million in 2015 total revenue across channels with about 12 contractors and an email list of 40,000 to 50,000. Altschuler also runs a self-funded investing practice and says he is preparing to raise an early-stage B2B fund.
- •Sponsorship-funded conferences let the business collect money from sponsors before spending on the venue, which lowers financial risk.
- •A large, engaged network of speakers, contributors and readers amplifies each launch, so distribution comes from the community as well as the company's own reach.
- •Running the company with contractors and no fixed expenses keeps margins high and lets revenue scale without a heavy overhead base.
- •Altschuler's earlier experience at Udemy and his sales expertise gave the media brand credibility that is hard for competitors to copy quickly.
- 1.Pre-sell conference sponsorships with a clear prospectus before committing to a venue or large upfront costs.
- 2.Build a broad, audience-focused event message that appeals to several buyer personas, then map the total addressable market for each persona.
- 3.Keep costs minimal for the first event and only add spending once revenue has been recouped, planning for a 50% ticket-sales scenario.
- 4.Grow a content and community engine (blog, training, crowdsourced posts, speakers) to build an email list that feeds future event sales.
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