Awards & Conferences - Do you need them as a startup founder?
"Great news, you’ve been selected as a CEO of the year! Only $3000 to get featured."
If you’re a business owner, you know these emails. Every time I get them, I laugh and wonder—who’s paying for it?
At the same time, not all awards and exposure opportunities are paid. And not all are worthless.
Today, I want to share how my opinion formed on this topic, as a startup founder who won one award and exhibited at three (soon four) conferences in my first year. And no, I didn’t pay for any of it.
As a new startup, you face one important challenge—getting noticed by customers, investors, and partners. Whether you like it or not, awards, conferences, and pitch competitions can provide great exposure if done well.
How to do it right?
Consider the time investment - conferences require multi-day presence and preparation. Can you set aside this time without affecting your business?
Focus on relevancy - don’t go everywhere. Apply for opportunities that can truly help grow your business.
Have clear goals - how many meetings do you want to have? How many leads do you want to generate? How can you maximize press coverage? Don’t get lost in a big room, unprepared.
Be creative, stand out - don’t have another boring stand at a conference or a boring pitch. Bring new ideas that will help you stand out and be memorable.
Don’t forget about the business - winning an award is great, but it doesn’t guarantee your startup’s success. Celebrate, share your success, and then get back to work.
How to find the right opportunities?
Relevancy is key.
Do a little research to find what events and competitions are happening in your niche and base country. Apply, apply, apply.
But that’s not enough. Having a strong network is crucial for finding the right opportunities. Ask fellow founders about the must-attend events and notable awards in your industry. Connect and engage with industry leaders. Be curious, consistent and show up.
My personal tips and stories:
Most of my awards, conferences, and speaking opportunities were driven by my network. Only one of them was proactive from my side. And all were for free, with great results.
UN Tourism Startup Award: I found out about this randomly, and we won in the marketing category with atlaseek. This was a key moment for our product journey, opening huge networking doors and leading to a pivot into a new, big problem we’re now solving with atlaseek hub. You can watch my interview from when we were two months old—so much has changed since then!
AI Travel Trends Summit: Don’t underestimate the power of LinkedIn. I started chatting with Dan Christian, a travel legend on LinkedIn. We jumped on a call, liked what we were both doing, and he invited me to speak at his summit. Never say no to cool opportunities!
Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival (SEF) Pitch Competition and Exhibition: This one was thanks to a long-term relationship with Sheraa. Their amazing team reached out and shared this opportunity, which gave atlaseek lots of exposure. Many people recognized me from being on stage even three months later.
Seamless Dubai: I was thinking about visiting for half a day, but three days prior to the event, I got an opportunity to grab a stall there—why not? Be flexible!
…and one more event awaits me next week at the Virtuoso TravelTech Summit at Atlantis The Royal. Pitching atlaseek on the stage with 5 other TravelTech founders from the GCC, in front of industry leaders & investors - again, the power of LinkedIn, connections, and networking.
Does this mean my startup is swimming in money and I spend most of my time in the Maldives? Nope. Sorry to disappoint. The biggest benefit for me was exposure to potential customers at scale, gathering feedback, finding early customers, and building a stronger, more trustworthy brand.
So, give it a try. Find the right opportunities and fingers crossed!
See you next Saturday,
Kristina
🔗 Connect with me on LinkedIn - Kristina Melsova.
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