Alex Medick

I’ve been throwing events at TensorWave lately. Here’s my thesis: we sell a high-end product, and that means we’re not selling to every startup still hunting for product-market fit—we’re selling to the hyperscalers. Big deals. Long cycles. Built on trust.

And trust doesn’t come from a booth.

The Problem with the Traditional Playbook

What do most companies do to build relationships?

They do the trade show thing. Buy a booth, go to a few talks, maybe host a happy hour. And then… wait. Booths are expensive. Traffic is noisy. Most visitors are just wandering around, collecting swag, not signing contracts.

It’s a waste of time, a waste of money, and—frankly—boring.

So What’s Better? Hijack the Conference.

Instead of playing by the rules, I’m hijacking them. Same audience, better experience, higher ROI—for a fraction of the cost.

Here’s how I’m doing it in 2025:

Step 1: Pick the Right Conference

Find a conference where your actual buyers are showing up. If you’re hunting whales like I am, don’t cast a wide net. Focus.

Who are 2 or 3 people that, if you built a real connection, could materially change your pipeline? Make them your primary target. Everyone else in your ICP is a bonus.

Step 2: Create a Memorable Experience

Ask yourself two things:

1. What tone do I want to set that’s realistic and on budget? (Bar rental? Dinner? Knicks game?)

2. What’s going to make someone answer your call six months from now?

They won’t remember “Alex from Booth 942 at the Expo.”

They will remember “Alex, who I raced Ferraris in the desert with.”

Make the phone ring.

Step 3: Get the Right People There

Start with the whales. Do the personal outreach: X, email, assistant, carrier pigeon—whatever works without being a psycho.

For the rest, I usually scrape the attendee list, filter it hard, and run a cold email sequence through something like Kit. I follow up with LinkedIn DMs and drive everyone to RSVP via a Luma page.

Step 4: Care-Plus Hospitality

Be a producer. Be a host. Be a showman.

This is not a sales event. It’s a memory-maker. Your goal is to win hearts and minds. Get into the long-term memory bank as a friend—not a rep with a quota.

Make it unforgettable. The deals will follow.

TL;DR

If you’re about to spend $75k on a booth, ask yourself if that money would be better spent on something that actually creates connection. Because in enterprise sales, connection > impressions.

Some social proof…

I am a firm believer that when it comes to remote work, companies need to be all in or all out.

There’s a simple reason why: hallways conversations.

Hybrid doesn’t work for this very reason. And it’s no ones fault either.

There is a magic that happens in person when sometimes a core group of people congregate in the hallway to quickly jam on an idea. And if you’re company is moving fast, this doesnt always get relayed to the out of sight out of mind remote crowd.

And yeah, that sucks for remote workers. But hey, that’s how humans are. And you can’t fight nature.

Personally, I love remote work. But there’s a magic that can’t be replaced by the office and working in-person. With all of its flaws and annoyances, nothing beats creating your community for a united mission.

If you’re a company discussing in-person or all remote, pick one. If you try to toe the line, the remoter-s are going when cutting time happens. Best not to lie to yourself and avoid the headache.

Whenever I get into the conversation of good enough vs. perfect, I always find myself falling in the “if it’s good enough, let ‘er rip” camp.

I say that knowing how important quality, design, and experience is.

The experience a user or customer has going miles in terms of how that person recalls and interacts with your company.

So why do I fell into the Good camp?

Simple. There’s one thing that matters above all else that couldn’t care less about your quest for perfect: Time.

Time does not wait for you. Time is a tricky thing. The world keeps turning and every second counts!

So while you’re busy with trying to guess what people want and what will make things perfect, I’m busy executing. And I damn well know that for 90% of people, speed and the results matter over every thing else.

The longer you wait, the more the window of opportunity diminishes. And I’m happy being good, learning from feedback, and rapidly iterating.

Don’t get me wrong, there are absolutely times where execution needs to pump the breaks because quality matters. But that’s the exception, not the rule.

Remember, its not the one who knows the most that wins. tThe one that makes quick decisions and gets things done the most while iterating tends to see the highest mountain top.

The world keeps spinning. Don’t let time slip you, and your company by.

Good is, more often that not, perfect.

Disclaimer: Sloppy does not mean good. Have high standards to start with and the above falls into place

Consider me king of the unpolished. I go for the “glue it together and make shit work” method more than I probably should. But hey, that’s how I was brought up in this world of business. I’ve always been the one that wants to try new things and prove a thesis. With this, especially in my early-young-loud-snotty days, I would be up against the older execs trying to show them the new world when they were clinging to the days of yesteryear. 

So staying scrappy and being an indie hacker of sorts, it’s in my blood. Hell, I even came to Inside.com with the specific goal of being a growth hacker. The universe keeps throwing me that way. 

I know this about myself. Being scrappy is a good thing because you can move fast, not be deterred by the fine details, and make quick iterations… right?

Not always. 

I actually came upon a real scenario where my rare attribute built for startups actually betrayed me a little. 

I’m currently working on a new product experiment for Inside. Like always, doing it the hacker way. But some of the team needed more details. They had so many follow up questions about things that were so much further down the line than the place I was at. It genuinely made me confused. 

Why are we thinking so far in advance about a test? Why are these details needed for a test? Why can’t we just ship? 

After about 2 hours of trying to explain with no progress being made, I ended up just doing the entire experiment and sharing the test, rather than talking about it – you know, show don’t tell. 

After I got everything out there and set up in my unpolished, controlled chaos way, I started to really break down where the communication errors were earlier. 

Why was I the only one in the pod able to see the vision and no one else could?  

After a little reflection, I realized the problem. It was me. I was the problem. 

There are 2 types of folks in business land: 0 – 1, and 1-100. Each of those requires separate skills and a separate thought process. 

1-100 folks need to see the details and the bigger picture. They need structure and guardrails to grow and execute effectively. 

0-1 folks, well, we’re fucking chaos monkeys. Which is great, but I need to be able to adapt clarity in my concepts in vision for the structured crowd. 

Being able to transition between wartime and peacetime effectively is a great skill and asset. One that I’ll be working on more now that I’m hyper-aware of it. 

In the meantime, fellow hackers… shout it with me… HACK THE PLANET! 

-Alex

It’s time to re-think your description of failure.

Not all failure means failure. More often than not, failure is the ultimate teacher.

What are three things you can learn from failure?

1. You can learn that you’re a risk taker.

Too many people are afraid these days. Afraid to make the ask, afraid to take the leap, afraid to look like an idiot. If you tried and failed, we can go ahead and assume you’re now more experience and mentally stronger than 95% of the people around you.

2. You can learn a massive new life lesson.

The failure rate for new startups is currently 90%. Did your startup fail? Sure. Are you alone? FUCK NO.

Building a business is so insanely hard. In fact, 10% of new co’s die before they even reach 1 year old. It’s bananas.

But there’s only so much you can learn from books and theory. Practice is how you actually get ahead. And you went to put theory into practice.

Now, take those lessons and learn again on the next startup/project.

3. You also learned something better is around the corner.

The universe has a plan. You have to believe that. When one door closes, another opens. Could be in-line or completely unexpected. Who knows where life takes you. All I know is that you need to answer that phone when it rings and be prepared to say yes when an opportunity arises on the other end of the line.

Illegitimi Non Carborundum.

-Alex

What do I love about punk rock? Outside of the music itself, it’s the humanity and realness behind it all. 

To be punk is to be raw and unpolished. It doesn’t matter how you look or sound. What matters is that you get your ass up on that stage, not giving a damn about what others might say. and just start playing music from your soul.

Get up there, crank the amp volume to 10, and let the world hear you and see you for what you are. 

When you expose yourself like that – nothing to distract the audience or cover you up – something magical happens. 

People start to connect with you. Could be 1 person, could be 5 million. Doesn’t matter, at first at least. 

What matters is you make that connection. You puke your soul out on that stage and odds are, someone is right there to completely feel you and understand you. 

Incredible. 

But how the hell does this relate to startups? 

To build a startup is punk as f*#k. 

Especially in the early days. You’re there to solve a problem that can change everything, but it starts off raw and unpolished. If you’re waiting to put out a fully pristine product, then you’ve shipped too late. 

Go out there, be raw and real. Build that ugly-looking MVP and find that early fan or 2. Have them connect with you and turn them into advocates. And while you’re building momentum, you’re also getting better. You’re picking up things here and there that enhance the music. Before long, you’re sounding better than ever – a real rhythm behind you – and your fans are there, growing with you and helping spread the word. 

Don’t come out of the gate with a full arena tour built but no audience that you’ve connected with. Start from the dirt. Build your way up. 

Get punk with it. If you’re a founder, you’re punk af. Act accordingly. Damn the man, be a punk. 

– Alex