Go Big or Don't Go

If you aren’t willing to go big, don’t go.

A bunch of marketers I know (including me) were dunking on a well-funded Series A startup who spent a ton of money at Black Hat on their booth and a bunch of activations around Vegas (including the biggest activation there is).

Reflecting on the dunkage, I was wrong. That’s what it takes to win at a massive event like Black Hat. As a startup if you aren’t willing to go big it doesn’t make sense to go at all. We pulled out of Black Hat at my last company partly for that reason. We were just a vendor with a booth, among dozens of other vendors with a booth.

Crowdstrike can show up with a 10x10 and be fine, but your startup can’t. Not if you are trying to break through all the Agentic Autonomous AI SOC noise in a space like Black Hat.

I still hear startups describe a smaller version of that and call it a plan: a normal booth, a few meetings, and a post after. If you already know you won’t go big, I don’t see the point of going.

The other version is Dreamforce and Unbound. People spend the money, then treat the week like time off.

People go to Dreamforce or Unbound to take a mini vacation. I’d love to see Tom Brady and vibe to Usher, but I’ve got real work to do. Most of you who go to these shows stay out late, sleep in, and check a box by going to a session or two and posting about them on LinkedIn. And don’t forget to max out that sweet sweet expense account.

“But Tom, it’s all about the hallway conversations” is a cope.

It’s fine to take a mini work vacation, but don’t try and convince me there’s some massive ROI from hearing Aziz Ansari or Reese Witherspoon ramble about things that have nothing to do with your job.

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The Black Hat half was originally posted on LinkedIn. The Dreamforce half was originally posted on LinkedIn.