Attending networking and pitching events plays a tremendous part in the lives of almost all entrepreneurs. Here we will leave aside the main and most obvious reasons why entrepreneurs should attend networking events and pitching events, such as:
Meeting with investors and having the enormous opportunity to present your startup in front of them and through great pitching to win funding for your company;
Meeting with fellow entrepreneurs to share ideas, expand your business network, find not only business partners, but also friends and like-minded people.
There are many more benefits from attending pitching events and here you can find 12 of these reasons:
Get inspired. Being surrounded all day long by other ambitious people can be very inspiring. Networking events are the best place to be if you are starting to feel the burnout of being an entrepreneur. It can be the ultimate place to find inspiration and rediscover your startup enthusiasm.
Test your idea. When you pitch your idea to investors, you are to receive feedback – sometimes good, sometimes bad, but sometimes even ugly. This doesn’t mean that you should ignore the given feedback! Pitching events are the best place to test your idea, to see how it is received by others, to recognize its weak sides and strong sides, basically to evaluate your idea.
Improve your public speaking skills. Public speaking is essential skill to master, especially if you are an entrepreneur. You can easily master the art of public speaking through practice and attending pitching events can help you improve.
Have fun. It is important to have fun with everything that you do. Networking events are real fun, especially if you like to attend the after party and really enjoy your time.
Find a mentor. Having a mentor is important for every entrepreneur, but connecting with the right person for it can be very difficult task. Networking events are the place to look for if you are searching for the right mentor for yourself, so be ready!
Learn lessons. Entrepreneurship is an endless journey of gaining new knowledge. Learning different things on daily basis is essential part of being on the top of your entrepreneurial game. When you network with fellow entrepreneurs, you are able to learn not only valuable information about the business world, but also to learn from their stories and the personal experiences they share. You are able to learn from every conversation, which is big enough reason to want to network.
Get motivated. Motivation is the fuel that keeps most entrepreneurs going through the hardest times. Being surrounded by other ambitious people, who share the same passion, is a wonderful way to feel once again motivated to be the best version of you as an entrepreneur.
Become a part of a community. Being part of a community has many benefits, but being part of the international entrepreneurial community is not only useful, but also very exciting and interesting.
Get more visibility and recognition. There is no need to mention how important is for all startup owners to make their companies well-recognized from the investors, customers and business partners.
Keep up with the new trends. When you are in a room with so many people, it is almost impossible not to discuss some interesting trending topics and to learn about something new that you haven’t heard of.
Master your pitching skills. Practice is everything – through pitching on the stage you are learning, you are becoming better and better at it after every single pitch!
Expand your horizon. Meeting new people is exciting. Attending international networking and pitching events is the way to not only meet with entrepreneurs from different countries, but also to understand better other cultures and even to learn about the entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world.