[Impossible]

I went to Startup school in 2012, and although the talks and event were good, is there a strong reason to go to the physical event over watching the live stream? I remember it being difficult to network, and not having much time to do so. I guess the "energy" was nice, lots of Stanford students and startup hopefuls that were really excited, but I didn't get any value out of being there. Was I just doing it wrong? Is it because there wasn't anyone there in my network to introduce me to people. Was it an age\experience or because I work in a tangential industry? Curious to see what people's thought are as to what they get out of going to the event outside of the talks.

[duncanawoods]

I lol'd at Jessica Livingstone at the Women's conference telling attendees to not get distracted and do things like... go to conferences.

There is some networking but that has a pretty dubious cost\benefit. You can treat it as a day off that might help you view your startup from the outside. If you are in a very isolated place then a bit of startup buzz might be nice. However, if you've got shit to do, I wouldn't bother and just watch the talks on youtube at your own pace in your downtime.

[hkmurakami]

I went to Startup School in 2014 (this was at De Anza, not Stanford) and made one good friend at the pre-Startup School BBQ. IMO that alone made the meet and greet cocktail party nature of the pre-event worthwhile. I don't think the "meet people" aspect was nearly as strong during the actual event.

The talks were "inspiring/motivational rather than practical/tactical", and I agree that you can get 95% of the value from the video streams. I think that being in the presence of "luminaries" will bring you back down to earth realizing that they're just ordinary folks at the end of the day.

[_sentient]

Most of this stuff is noise, but Startup School is a notable exception. I found the combination of great talks and interesting attendees made it a decent use of time. Oh, and it's free. :)

As for networking, like most of these things your mileage will vary depending on your base networking-quotient * luck (who you happen to talk to).

There are definitely worse ways to invest a Saturday.

[brianchu]

I've been several times. I think if you're from Northern California (you can drive to the event in < 90 minutes), it's worth it because there's a pretty good crowd of interesting people to talk to. But I don't think it's worth flying in just for the event. It would be worth it if part of a larger Bay Area vacation / business / touring trip.

[realdlee]

I went a few years ago when it was at De Anza (2014?). There's a fun energy to the day and there are some networking opportunities during the lunch hour and breaks. It's worth checking out if you've never been and are nearby.