MIT Enterprise Forum of NYC Presents: Billion-Dollar UX

MIT Enterprise Forum NY is hosting an interesting panel on the impact of UX on valuations and company success. The event is loosely based on the knowledge coming out of the UX Awards.

NYCCHI members who want to attend can get a whopping 60% off tickets and attend for just $20 (normally $50) to this group's event by registering here with code "MITEFNYCCHI" (https://mefny.memberclicks.net/index.php?option=com_mc&view=mc&mcid=72&eventId=438907&orgId=mefny)!

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MIT Enterprise Forum of NYC Presents:

Billion-Dollar UX: How UX Has Become Key to Massive Product Valuations & Exits

Imagine you`re a 23 year-old Stanford undergrad. You`ve created a mobile app that has no revenue model and is free. 17 months after your first seed round of under $500K, your app is enjoying 400 million customer transactions a day with a team of under 30 employees, and you smugly decline a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook. Of course, this actually happened in 2013 with Snapchat. What made Snapchat worth $3 billion? Was it unique technology under the hood? No; this is a standard mobile-only app with no particularly unique technology. Was it non-replicable, protected IP? No; anyone can create a mobile app to share photos with friends. Was it huge revenue? No; it`s free. Was it a growing market or targeting a lucrative audience? No; this is used by mainly teens and young adults. What separated Snapchat was simply its UX, with an experience that combined sharing photos with a selected audience with a simple time-limitation to enforce urgency and confidentiality. Snapchat isn`t the only product in this club. There`s Uber at an estimated $16 billion valuation; AirBNB at $10billion; Nest; Instagram; Tumblr; Tinder; Pinterest. A select few of these actually make real money; the rest are valued because their UX and product concept was so compelling that they were able to gain swift market share and show game-changing engagement quickly. In today`s technologically evolved and competitive market, great UX is an absolute essential for creating game-changing products and reaching eye-popping valuations. How do you create great game-changing UX that can be worth billions? This event will begin with an overview of the basics of what UX is, why and how it`s essential. We`ll learn from the expertise of the International User Experience Awards, now in its fourth year, in a forum that discusses today`s game-changing companies that are prioritizing outstanding UX, focusing on the impact of UX on top technology company valuations.

Beverly May (http://www.linkedin.com/in/beverlymay), Executive Director, UX Awards

Panel Speakers: - Tomer Sharon (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomersharon), Sr. UX Researcher, Google (Past UX Awards judge; Google has also won a UX Award), Alex Wright (http://userexperienceawards.com/judges/), UX Director, Etsy.com (Current UX Awards judge)- Scott McDonald (https://www.linkedin.com/pub/scott-mcdonald/0/751/b59), CEO, Modus Associates (Past UX Awards winner)- Turi McKinley (https://www.linkedin.com/in/turimckinley), Design Director, Frog Design (Current UX Awards judge)Thanks to Chadbourne & Parke LLP (http://www.chadbourne.com/) for hosting this event!

DATE: Tuesday, September 30th, 2014

AGENDA: 5:30pm - 6:00pm:

Reception 6:00pm - 6:30pm

Overview Talk on UX with Examples 6:30pm – 6:50pm

Panel Positions 6:50pm - 7:30pm

Panel Discussions 7:30pm - 8:30pm

QA & Networking PLACE: Chadbourne & Parke LLP

Directions (https://www.google.com/maps/place/1301+Avenue+of+the+Americas,+New+York,+NY+10019/@40.7616971,-73.9801263,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c258f9045d5c4f:0x8bad50906da0a5c9)

1301 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, NY 10019

REGISTRATION: Free to members of MIT Enterprise Forum $50 non-members, $10 extra at door. All members and guests are welcome.