Traction Conference returns to Vancouver to help companies grow and scale

The myth of the genius founder is a pervasive one. Individuals like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates are held up shining examples of unerringly smart, visionary individuals who forged an easy path to success.

In reality, leading a startup is more like wandering blindly through the woods.

There are, however, a number of resources to help guide a company towards increasing their profits and scaling up. In Vancouver, Traction Conference ranks highly on that list.

Now entering its seventh year, Traction offers professionals the chance to meet and learn from some of the world’s fastest growing companies. Experts from businesses such as Reddit, FreshBooks, Grammarly, Bumble, and Google each graced the stage at last year’s edition, offering advice on everything from scaling from $0 to $100 million in revenue, how best to acquire new customers, and the ideal way to set up an IPO.

This year, the event offers a similarly impressive roster of speakers. Representatives from email marketing platform Mailchimp, language-learning powerhouse Duolingo, and data aggregator SurveyMonkey have all been announced, as have 18 other industry executives. The conference will also be releasing more names as it gets closer to the date.

For 2019, Traction has planned two full days of content. The first, August 7, features three tactical summits run simultaneously at different locations. The Growth Summit offers workshops on how to nail down double-digit revenue growth with strategies including onboarding, retention, and understanding metrics. The Product Summit, by contrast, examines areas like product roadmap and feature prioritization through hands-on sessions. The day will also host the CxO Summit: a peer-leaning discussion and networking event that will take place at the top of Vancouver’s north shore mountains.

August 8, meanwhile, is rooted in downtown Vancouver, where founders and CEOs will share their growth secrets with rapid-fire keynotes and fireside chats in the luxury surroundings of the JW Marriott Parq Hotel and Casino. The day will end with a closing reception and after party.  

Traction’s goal is to offer a forum for high-level professionals to share their advice on how to get, keep, and grow a customer-base at scale. Its shorter-length talks and laser-targeted focus aim to offer insights that attendees can implement in their business immediately.

Early bird tickets for the event are now on sale until March 31, for $449. Organizers suggest that those interested get their tickets as soon as possible, as the conference sells out every year several months before the date.

Traction Conference is at the JW Marriott Parq Hotel and Casino on August 7 and 8. More information and tickets are available here.

Kate Wilson is the Technology Editor at the Georgia Straight. Follow her on Twitter @KateWilsonSays