Event Business Revenue Threshold

A breakdown of the event/conference business model and what it takes to be profitable, based on insights from Jason Lemkin's experience running SaaStr events.

Key Economics

• Costs approximately $1,000 per attendee for large events
• Requires $10M to "turn the lights on" for major conferences (12,000 attendees)
• Must exceed $15M in revenue to generate meaningful profits
• Smaller events (3,500 attendees) cost $1.5-2M to operate

Industry Success Factors

• Must be top 2 in your industry to have value
  • 4th tier events died during COVID and never returned
  • Only the best events survived post-pandemic
• Need significant scale to be profitable
  • Example: SaaStr Annual gets 12,000 attendees
  • European event draws 3,500 attendees

Success Stories: Money20/20 and ShopTalk

• Built by former tech entrepreneurs
• Focused on marketplace model
  • Connect buyers and sellers
  • Charge for meetings ($800 per 10-minute meeting)
• Scaled quickly by targeting specific niches
• Successfully sold for significant amounts
  • Money20/20 sold for $100M at $10M revenue
  • ShopTalk sold for $150M at similar size to SaaStr

Business Model Challenges

• High fixed costs before making first dollar
• Weather/external factors can significantly impact attendance
• Requires significant upfront investment
• Risky business model due to high fixed costs
• Need strong community/demand to succeed
• Must achieve significant scale for profitability

Path to Success

• Start with organic community demand
• Build from successful meetups
• Focus on specific industry verticals
• Create marketplace value between buyers/sellers
• Scale to thousands of attendees
• Maintain position as top 1-2 player in space