September 15, 2025

Trade shows are terrible businesses | Sidebean

12 minutes

Trade shows are terrible businesses

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My opinion about startup conferences has… shifted over the last few years.

And when you are paying hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars for a ticket, plus flights and hotels for you and your team… you just can’t ignore the question of ROI.

I am attending a bunch of conferences this quarter.

And the question is still there for me. Is this ticket worth the money?

I’ve been asking myself this for years, and we finally got down to find out why these tickets are so damn expensive. Who is keeping all this money?

Because for a bootstrapped startup founder that $1,000 ticket or that $5,000 booth on the ‘Startup Alley’ is a big decision.

And for them conferences tend to promise customers, investor intros, round tables, and meeting Lupita N’yongo for some reason, and if you’re looking for that- a conference might not be the place.

So I sat down with conference organizers who agreed to share numbers they hadn’t shared publicly before. We looked at dozens of industry insights, and the main thing we learned is that conferences are an extremely risky business.

Despite the expensive tickets and the super expensive sponsorships and booths, organizers barely make any money, and a fair share of them close at a loss.

So, let's talk about the actual numbers behind startup conferences in today’s Company Forensics.

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Sidebean makes documentaries about startups, tech, and their impact on society. It is a venture-backed company that helps other startups navigate the complicated road to success. They love to cover stories around business, startups, and tech, trying both to teach and entertain.

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Disclaimer: This podcast is an independently produced audio adaptation of content originally shared by Sidebean. It was created by a fan who appreciates Sidebean’s thoughtful storytelling and wanted to make these ideas more accessible for audio-focused listeners. This is not an official production of Sidebean, nor is it affiliated with or endorsed by the channel. All rights to the original video content belong to Sidebean. If you are a representative of Sidebean and have any questions or requests, please feel free to reach out.

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