On this page12
- Why are founders skipping more conferences?
- How do you decide whether to skip a conference?
- What can you do instead? The goal-for-goal swap
- How do you plan a targeted dinner or city trip instead?
- How do podcasts, op-eds and online events replace stage time?
- What do you lose by skipping?
- When should you not skip?
- FAQ
- Is it bad for a startup's reputation to miss a major crypto conference?
- Can we get value from a conference without attending it?
- How should we explain skipping to investors?
- What if our competitors are all going?
The best alternatives to attending a crypto conference are the ones that buy the same outcome more directly: a targeted dinner for the ten people you needed to meet, a short city trip to see partners in their own offices, a podcast or op-ed run for visibility, or one well-run online event for your community. Start from the goal the conference was supposed to serve, then pick the cheapest route to it. Skipping is only a saving if the budget goes somewhere with a target attached.
Skipping isn't a statement against conferences. Some are worth every cent. It's a decision that, this time, the money and the founder's week will do more somewhere else.
Why are founders skipping more conferences?
Partly because there are so many of them. Between the big flagship events, regional blockchain weeks and the hundreds of side events attached to each, there's a crypto gathering almost every week of the year, and each one asks for applications, RSVPs and waitlists before you've even booked a flight. I've felt that one personally:
the most boring part of attending crypto conferences is spending time applying for events 😅 Shilika Jain on X, 17 Aug 2024
Partly because the cost is easy to see and the return isn't. Flights, hotels during conference week, side-event tickets, merch and a founder's time all land on the same card, and afterwards it's hard to point to what came back. My TOKEN2049 field notes go through why I keep asking teams how they measure that.
And partly because many teams are already spending on visibility in the most expensive way possible:
“PR is dead.” That’s what founders say right before they spend $200k/month on paid ads and conferences because nobody knows who they are. Shilika Jain on X, 15 May 2026
If nobody knows who you are, a booth won't fix it. People walk past booths of teams they've never heard of. Fixing that problem usually starts somewhere other than the conference floor.
How do you decide whether to skip a conference?
I run a short skip test with founders. If you answer "no" to three or more, skip and reallocate.
- Are the specific people you need to meet confirmed as attending? Not "the industry will be there". Names.
- Do you have something to say or show that week? News, a talk, a launch, a strong opinion on a debate journalists are covering.
- Can someone on the team own a measurable target there? Meetings booked, briefings held, partnerships started.
- Will the business keep running while the founder is away? If a launch or a raise is in flight at home, the cost of the week is higher than the ticket.
- Is this the cheapest way to reach these people? If they're mostly in one city, or reachable online, maybe not.
A "yes" to the first question carries the most weight. If ten people you need are all in one place for one week, that's hard to replicate. If they aren't, most of the trip's value can be bought elsewhere.
What can you do instead? The goal-for-goal swap
The point is to replace the conference with something aimed at the same goal, not to cut the budget and do nothing. This is the swap table I use. Find the goal you were going for in the left column.
| What the conference was for | Alternative | Why it can work better | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting a short list of partners or investors | A hosted dinner in the city where most of them are based | You choose every guest, and nobody is double-booked | Planning time and a venue; one evening of the founder |
| Deepening ecosystem relationships | A two or three day city trip to visit teams in their offices | Longer meetings, no competing parties, people remember the visit | Travel for one or two people, outside peak pricing |
| Founder visibility | A podcast run over four to eight weeks | Each episode reaches an audience that chose to listen | Recording time and preparation |
| Credibility with a specific audience | Op-eds or expert commentary in outlets that audience reads | Lasts longer than a panel and can be cited later | Writing time and patience with editors |
| Community and users | An online event: a live session, AMA or space with a reason to attend | Anyone can join, and it can be recorded and reused | Promotion and moderation |
| Press attention | A data report or research release journalists can lead with | Reporters want a stat or an argument more than a booth visit | Research and analysis time |
| Hiring | A small technical meetup in a city with a strong developer base | Candidates come for the topic, not the free drinks | Venue, speakers, and someone to run it |
Each of these has a track record in my own client work. Tangem's self-custody survey travelled across English, Korean, Japanese and Dutch outlets without a separate pitch per market, because the data gave reporters something to lead with. For GAIA, a steady run of founder interviews and podcasts around one narrative built towards Forbes and Decrypt coverage. For Aurora Labs, a Flipside Crypto Twitter Space drew about 400 attendees without anyone getting on a plane. None of those needed a booth.
How do you plan a targeted dinner or city trip instead?
The dinner and the city trip are the two closest replacements for the in-person part of a conference, so they need the most care.
For a dinner, keep the guest list small and decide it before the venue. Ten to fourteen people is enough to get several useful conversations without the room splitting into cliques. My guide on why a small dinner can beat a big party covers seating, invitations and running the evening.
For a city trip, the sequence matters:
- Pick the city by counting where your target list actually works, not where the next big event is.
- Book meetings first, then travel. If you can't fill most of two days with confirmed meetings, the trip isn't ready.
- Offer something in each meeting: an integration idea, a co-marketing proposal, a data point from your own product.
- Add one evening event at most, ideally a dinner with the people you couldn't fit into office visits.
- Travel outside a conference week if you can. Hotels and flights are calmer, and so are the people you're visiting.
The trip only works if the people on your list will see you. Warm introductions from investors or ecosystem leads help a lot here.
How do podcasts, op-eds and online events replace stage time?
A conference panel gives you a slot in front of whoever happens to be in the room, often a half-empty room by the afternoon. A podcast gives you an hour with an audience that picked the show because of its topic. An op-ed gives you an argument with your name on it that journalists and investors can find months later.
These channels take longer to show results than a week on the ground, so plan them as a run, not a one-off. My podcast tour playbook covers building a show list and pacing the episodes. If you want the visibility work run for you, that's what my founder profiling service does: podcasts, commentary and op-eds built around one narrative.
Online events deserve more credit than they get, with one condition. Give people a reason to show up that isn't "we're hosting a space". A guest worth hearing, a debate, a product reveal or a question your community actually wants answered.
What do you lose by skipping?
Being honest about this matters, because skipping has real costs.
You lose chance encounters. Some of the best conversations at a conference were never on anyone's list.
You lose the signal of presence. In some ecosystems, being visibly absent from the flagship week is noticed, especially if competitors are on stage.
And there's the FOMO, which is real even for people who do this professionally.
🙄😵having a major FOMO missing ETHCC! holy moly, folks are flying into helicopters, making their own perfumes, yatch parties, 5k runs w jersey merch and beach club dinners!! Shilika Jain on X, 2 Jul 2025
None of those activations needed my attendance to be talked about online, which is part of the point. If the content from an event reaches you anyway, you can respond to it, comment on it and use it, without being there.
When should you not skip?
Go when the skip test says go. In particular:
- When your target list is confirmed and concentrated at that one event.
- When you have a speaking slot or news to time to the week. My guide on getting speaking slots at crypto conferences covers how to earn one.
- When you're entering a new region and the conference is where its local media and ecosystem leads gather.
- When a partner is co-hosting with you and covering part of the cost.
If you do go, go small and with targets.
FAQ
Is it bad for a startup's reputation to miss a major crypto conference?
Rarely, for an early-stage team. Most people won't notice who wasn't there, and those who matter to you can be reached in other ways. It matters more for established projects whose absence reads as a signal, or for teams whose competitors are dominating the stage that week.
Can we get value from a conference without attending it?
Yes. You can book meetings with people who'll be in a nearby city around the same week, comment on the news and debates coming out of the event, and publish content that responds to what was said on stage. Some teams send one person for the two most important days instead of the whole team for the full week.
How should we explain skipping to investors?
Show them where the budget went and what it's expected to produce. A list of dinners, city trips or content with targets attached is easier to defend than a trip with no measures. Most investors would rather see a plan than a booth photo.
What if our competitors are all going?
That can be a reason to go, or a reason to stand out elsewhere. If they're all splitting attention in the same crowded week, a well-run dinner the week after, or a strong op-ed timed to the conference debate, can get you noticed with less noise around you.
Weighing whether to skip your next conference? Book a 30-minute teardown and I'll help you put that budget against a goal.
