Sponsored Identity Events

Sam shares his experience running "2X" - a women's entrepreneurship event series that generated significant revenue through a sponsorship-driven business model with minimal overhead costs.

Key Points:

• Event Format:

  • 15 speakers (women in tech/business)
  • 3-hour evening events (7-10pm)
  • 10-minute stories from each speaker
  • Basic amenities (venue, possibly wine)

• Revenue Model:

  • Ticket sales ($25/person) cover event costs
  • Main profit from corporate sponsorships
  • Each speaker brings ~25 attendees
  • Making around $30k per night

• Operations:

  • Run by single employee + contractors
  • Minimal overhead (main cost: $3k venue rental)
  • Used basic ticketing platform (Splash)
  • Could run almost weekly in different cities

• Success Factors:

  • Targeting underserved community (women) attracted higher sponsor dollars
  • B2B component made it attractive to sponsors
  • Speaker network helped with ticket sales
  • Simple, repeatable format that was "easier than people thought"

The model worked by keeping costs low, leveraging speakers' networks for attendance, and focusing on sponsorship revenue rather than ticket sales.