We’re delighted to have two great speakers share their experience and knowledge in monetization.

Chris Hopf, http://pricingwire.com: Understanding Freemium - How to Create and Grow Paying Customers

• There has been a lot of buzz lately around the “Freemium” model and many start-ups are gravitating to this approach. However, many are learning some hard lessons and missing way too many opportunities along the way. This talk will provide insight, examples and a proactive approach to positioning your solution for faster returns and sustainable profits.
• For more than twenty years, I have worked as an owner, employee and as a consultant with small startups, mid-sized mergers and Fortune 50 Corporations such as Microsoft and United Technologies. My experience spans a number of industries including retail, high technology, publishing, software, general and specialty contractors, industrial suppliers and wholesale distribution.

Tony Wright, http://rescuetime.com: Making Money with a Software Startup: In the Trenches.

• I’ll review the metrics that you should care about, what you should work on FIRST, and share some hard-won lessons that resulted in a huge lift for RescueTime monetization.
• Tony is founder and CEO of RescueTime, whose mission is to help individuals and businesses spend get smarter about how they spend their time and spend it more effectively. Tony accidently fell into self-employment during the Web 1.0 boom and has never had a job since. He’s founded and sold a 20-person web consultancy and a recruiting software company, and he’s led RescueTime from a goofy side project to a Y-Combinator-funded experiment to a Series-A-funded company trending towards profitability. His professional passions include UX design, personal productivity “lifehacking”, startup marketing and PR. His personal passions include remodeling his West Seattle house, sailing, kayaking, traveling, reading sci-fi, fishing, hunting, and geeky games.