190: Katy Lynch- The Future of Techweek

"Never underestimate the power of networking."

About: Katy Lynch- CEO of Techweek and Former President and CEO of SocialKaty

Overview: Katy Lynch is a bright and determined entrepreneur that took her social media startup company from one to twenty-five employees in four short years. She shares with us tips for branding your company online as well as her plans as the new CEO of Techweek.

Background: Originally, Katy is from Edinburgh, Scotland. At the age of 16, her family moved to the U.S. Katy decided to head back to the UK for college but afterwards came to Chicago where her business career exploded.

How SocialKaty Started: 7 years ago, when Katy first moved to Chicago, she worked for a well-known travel company. While there she was the head of social media and managed everything on her own for over two years. During that time, Katy built up a strong social media reputation and was asked to speak at events. In 2010, she decided to start SocialKaty where she consulted companies on how to navigate the social waters. Her clients ranged from small startups to medium/large sized companies. At one point, she was taking on a new client every two weeks. Within four years, Katy grew her company exponentially and in 2014 it was acquired by Manifest Digital.

Increasing Company Size: Whenever a company grows, Katy shares that it's crucial to the company's success to create a framework to manage your employees. At SocialKaty, a program called the SocialKaty Grasshopper was created. (Katy used what she had learned from her past experiences as a guide for her training manual.) It was a 90-day training program for every new employee that came on board, and if they graduated from that program, a full-time position was given to the employee.

Decision to Sell SocialKaty: For Katy, it was not a difficult decision to sell.  Her original intention was to eventually sell to a larger agency that offered numerous capabilities.

Tips for Brands Using Social Media: Katy notes that often times many brands join social media to self-promote, sell their products, or just to push advertising on their customers. Katy teaches that a huge part of social media is engaging with your audience and learning what they like. Determine who they are. Consider using outlets where your target audience spends the majority of their online social life.

What is Techweek: Techweek is the nation's largest technology and conference festival specializing in everything from hack-a-thons, to panels, to competitions, etc.

How Katy Became Involved with Techweek: Katy has known the chairman of the board for years, and he knew Katy's desire to give back to the community and help social entrepreneurs. After hearing about her departure from SocialKaty, he offered her a position at Techweek.

Goals for Techweek: Katy shared that Techweek will now be expanding into Boston, Denver, Dallas, Seattle, Toronto, and one other international city (TBA). In addition to expanding, Techweek will also be starting a fund called the Hundred Cities Fund. Essentially, this fund will be the investment vehicle that will raise capital that will invest in the winners of the Launch Championship (formerly known as the Techweek Launch Competition).

Challenges for Techweek: As Techweek expands internationally, they face language barriers and the challenge of  forming partnerships with the right partners abroad.

Advice for Entrepreneurs: Katy wants entrepreneurs everywhere to never underestimate the power of networking. She strongly encourages startups to get their name out there. One helpful suggestion she gave is to use Twitter. Look up hashtags in your industry and in your area to see what groups you can share your ideas and vision with.

Website | Facebook | @theKatyLynch | LinkedIn

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