This is a thread about sneaking into conferences.

How to do it, why it’s important, and how it changed the game for @Postscriptio

Let’s wind back the clock to September 2018….

The cofounders ( @asturnerr + @cdturns) and I had *just* launched @Postscriptio

We had like 4 customers. If that.

At that point we were nights and weekends only.

It was a side project.

And let me be clear about one thing - we had absolutely no clue what we were doing.

SO, I’m out in NYC and there’s a popular ecom conference happening with lots of tech partners, agencies, merchants, and…

The Shopify Team.

I had zero understanding of the ecosystem or how it worked.

But, as we’d just launched a Shopify App the week before, thought “I have to be there!”

Figured I would make some connects, maybe get referred a client or learn some growth hack from Shopify #naive

But of course, it was already sold out.

And even if it wasn’t, tickets were $799. LOL.

As if we had that kind of money.

So, I decided to sneak in. Wasn’t sure how. Hadn't done that before.

"What harm could come from trying?” I thought.

The afternoon of the event, I headed over.

The entrance was through a double door, and there was a security guard with a checklist out front.

I knew for a fact I was not one of the names on that checklist.

I tried to go around back, see if I could sneak in through the kitchens.

Knocked on the back door in the alley...but no one answered.

Back out front, I waited to see if the security guard took a break, went to the bathroom, anything….

Nada. He was standing guard over that door.

At this point I’m starting to get discouraged. "Am I wasting my time???"

About an hour passes, and I see an attendee step outside and flag down a cab.

I think to myself: “Wait, he’s leaving? This early?? Now’s your chance Beller let's GO! Game face.”

I walk up, introduce myself, and explain my situation + predicament.

Let’s call this person Tom (he’s a known operator in the space).

Tom is a bit bemused, but seems friendly enough.

I decide to go for it.

I calmly ask if he’d let me use his badge, and get himself a new one the next day.

He smiles. “Sure.”

Just like that, I'm Charlie, and I have my golden ticket.

Success! I’m inside!

I watch a few talks. I’m totally new to the ecosystem as this point, but I remember the inimitable @kurtinc - it was my first time seeing him speak.

Eventually the event becomes a happy hour, and I’m meeting agencies, other developers, and all of a sudden....

I find myself chatting with a member of the @ShopifyPartners team!

At this point, I’ve been wearing the badge on backwards as to avoid detection.

But the Shopify team member leans forward and flips my badge around to see who I am.

Reading it, they pause... then say… “Hey! You’re not Tom! I had lunch with him yesterday!”

Busted.

Kindly, they do not tattle. Instead, we share a laugh.

I tell them all about Postscript -

The origin story of how we were merchants, saw email engagement peaking + mobile traffic rising, & how we made it easy for brands on @Shopify to launch mobile-first retention programs.

It was a good time.

We traded emails and parted ways.

But that initial contact lead to a consistent, positive relationship and dialogue with the Shopify team.

The entire team over there rocks. They’re great partners and really do their best to support merchants and ecosystem entrepreneurs.

And now, over a year and half later, @Postscriptio is officially a @ShopifyPlus Tech Partner

(For more, check out my post on what it means here: https://www.postscript.io/blog/shopify-plus/) https://twitter.com/PostscriptIO/status/1280554079727562758

To be clear, Postscript launch as a Plus partner is *clearly* attributed back to that initial meeting and the relationship that came from it.

There’s been many other steps along the way (we’re now over 1,300 customers, the team has grown to 24, our product is 100x what it was)

But at the time, I had no clue how important that sneak in would be. It was born out of excitement and drive, not strategy.

SO....

THANKS to:

“Tom” & the Shopify Partner team for being so cool and not tattling.

Our team (especially @clairegoodill), our customers, and investors.

@bian_g_peters + the entire Shopify Partner + Plus org for seeing this through the finish line.

It’s a cool benchmark, and we’re proud to have built such a solid platform for merchants.

The fun part? We're just getting started.

Onward!

P.S. We included this story in our @ycombinator application that got us accepted.

As @mwseibel says: Founders break rules! ( https://twitter.com/mwseibel/status/1018963221577809920)

For more, read this classic @paulg post on the importance of naughtiness in founders: http://www.paulgraham.com/founders.html