The Top Tech Speaker Takeaways From Denver Startup Week Revealed!

Today’s most exciting trends in business tend to center around the future of technology and the latest advancements in fields such as AI, VR and space exploration. The entrepreneurs behind these companies are different – they are real risk takers making the impossible happen. Many organizations who are looking for innovative keynote speakers choose to hire a top tech speaker at the forefront of the latest tech innovations. They’re extremely intelligent, personable speakers, and anyone looking to book keynote speakers for upcoming events should consider tech gurus.

Tech is a huge, changing entity. Cities from all over the country engage in tech startup weeks, and these startup weeks feature local and worldwide futurists and innovators, paving the way for the up and coming entrepreneurs trying to navigate the ever-changing tech terrain.

The internet has created endless opportunities for the creative and tech-minded alike. Idea innovators find holes in everyday life and, through technology, they fill them in new and exciting arenas – cyberspace, devices, and our daily lives. As a result, the revolution has changed not just changed the kinds of products people are making, but the way business works. Suddenly, anyone can be a business owner or startup founder and that means the business landscape is altered, too.

“Startup Week” events aim to address these changes, offering panels, seminars, interactive sessions and other events so those in the tech world can get a leg up on the industry’s rapid movement. Companies and entrepreneurs who engage in tech summits like Startup Weeks find they can much better navigate this new and exciting terrain after the conference.

Perhaps no city embodies the startup movement better than Denver. The Mile High City, whose growth averages numbers in the neighborhood of 80,000 new residents a year, has become one of the hottest spots for tech startups in the country. Denver’s recent tech startup week at the end of September was their biggest ever with 18,000 attendees and everyone agreed, it was a massive success. Here are some highlights that might just provide some insight when you hire a top tech speaker for your event!

Skill Targeted Event Sessions:

Denver Startup Week offered a large number of events throughout the week that were centered around a variety skills and interests. This made it very easy for participants to find sessions that either advanced their knowledge in a particular field or introduced them to new ideas and concepts.

Attendees had a wide range of categories to choose from: developers, designers, founders, makers, and growth topics as well as headline events. This set up opened an opportunity to showcase a variety of tech speakers in the same arena but specialized for specific types of audiences. A strategy like this also allows for a creative type to learn a little about the technical side of their industry and vice-versa.

Some of the most popular events were the seminar on “Creating a Culture of Inclusion & Innovation,” which helps new entrepreneurs stay fresh and cutting edge as they build their businesses, “Shift: From Contractor to Creative Business Owner,” and the great “DSW Pitch Challenge,” where competitors could face off and win cash and prizes for the best pitch.

Determining The Top Tech Speaker For Your Event:

Startup events attract a wide range of attendees. The goal for hiring keynote speakers at events like this is to consider your audience and match their curiosity. How can your keynote speaker inspire the listener who is experiencing a situation the speaker has previously overcome?

Thinking creatively about your panels ensures you’ll draw a crowd. Technology isn’t just about productivity apps, it expands from healthcare to breweries and almost every other industry you can think of. The more diverse you can get with your panel, the more you’ll teach your audience. One of the things we, at Celebrity Speakers Bureau, love to do is collaborate to come up with the best event with the right keynote speakers. When you call one of our speaker booking agents, we can put together an incredible panel perfect for your event goals.

One of the most engaging panelists at Denver Startup Week was celebrity entrepreneur and restaurateur Kimbal Musk. Musk shared his insights on 2 separate panels this year. The first was a fireside chat about “scaling trust and joy” as entrepreneurs peddle their ideas. He addressed the necessity to have both trust and joy from the businesses that young entrepreneurs are approaching. The idea is to make a product that will “positively impact as many people as possible” in good faith.

Musk’s second panel was about his work as an entrepreneur. As many already know, Musk and his brother Elon began a startup, Zip2, in 1995, which was the basis of their success. He invested in several successful tech ventures including PayPal before going to culinary school. He now sits on the board of directors for SpaceX, Tesla, Chipotle Mexican Grill. As he recommended in his previous panel, Musk adamantly believes in healthy, fresh real food that’s accessible to everyone. His successful culinary empire, The Kitchen Café, a well-regarded restaurant franchise, and the Kitchen Community, a community-based non-profit, are testaments to doing both good work in the world. In Musk’s case, by making healthy food available to the underserved population in a new and meaningful way.

The Power of an Acclaimed Entrepreneurial Motivational Speaker:

Maybe it’s a good, motivational story you’re looking for to connect with your audience on a different level than just tech-talk. This year, Casey Neistat headlined the startup breakfast that kicked off Denver Startup Week’s events. He stole the show! True to his talent as a documentary filmmaker, Neistat began the breakfast screening his film, “Do What You Can’t,” which ended in a standing ovation from the crowd. 

Neistat, who dropped out of high school and was living in a trailer at 20 years-old, became a viral sensation when he moved to New York and began filming his experiences and sharing them on YouTube. After working with Conde Nast, Neistat and his brother created their own series for HBO. Neistat continues to make short, insightful documentaries and still uses YouTube as his outlet. He didn’t stop there – his biggest boom was his own video sharing app, Beme, which he launched with the aid of investors. One critical investor was top tech speaker Gary Vaynerchuk, who invested in Neistat himself more than the idea – Neistat had the passion that Vaynerchuk knew all entrepreneurs need to succeed.

Neistat’s story and energy inspired a full house and was the biggest hit of Startup Week.

Career Trajectory of Motivational Entrepreneurs:

If you’re looking for a big name, no tech titan draws a bigger crowd than Mark Cuban. The entrepreneurial giant is not only an excellent businessman, he’s one of the investors on the popular show, Shark Tank. At Denver Startup Week, Cuban chatted with Charlie Ergen, entrepreneur and founder of the Dish Network, and, subsequently, Colorado’s richest man. Ergen and Cuban both shared war stories about how they almost lost everything but persevered. And while their paths were very different, both emphasized the necessity of good, solid partnerships that remain even in moments of failure.

Startup weeks make for incredible events and their success is proof that a top tech speaker can have an impactful influence on the audiences they connect with. When you’re planning your next event, book a top tech speaker like Musk, Neistat, or Cuban to keynote and your event will be a home run! Consider a panel discussion or mderated Q&A which will allow you to control and guide the conversatio. Our booking agency has a roster of many more incredible celebrity guest speakers to choose from, with a wide range of specialties and celebrity speaker fees for all budgets. Call us today and we’ll work together to find the right speaker for your event.