YCUniversecom, this website’s Twitter account, follows every known YC startup.  Startups frequently mention upcoming events they are either sponsoring or attending.  However, the startups don’t do an effective job of promoting the event.  Mentioning immediately before, or during, the event doesn’t give anybody an opportunity to plan to attend.  Also, tweets limit your audience to people that already follow you and just happen to notice the tweet in their timeline.  My solution: An upcoming events page to list events either hosted by or featuring YC-funded startups.

Upcoming Events Page

Here’s how this Upcoming Events page experiment will work for now: Startups will email event details to [email protected] .  Event details include date, time, location, admission price, a link to the event website, etc.  I will then add the event details to our database so the event gets listed on the events page.  Then everybody that visits this website will know about the event.  Events may also get featured on an “Upcoming Events” widget on the sidebar.  More people knowing about the event means greater attendance.

Idea Came From Female Founders Conference

Female Founders Conference specifically sparked this idea for an Upcoming Events page.  I created a sidebar widget to promote the event.  Subsequently, I received several emails from people thanking me for telling them about the event.  Those people would not have known about the Female Founders Conference had I not mentioned it.

One of Several Possible New Site Features

After over three years and six new batches of startups, this website’s audience continues to grow.  YC founders that don’t tell me about their events are missing an opportunity to reach more potential business.  I recently integrated the Bootstrap framework into the site to make it easier to add new features.  The Upcoming Events page is just one new idea.

YC startup founders: Please send details of upcoming events to [email protected] .