SXSW gets treated like a single spring sprint, but the relationships that actually work that week were mostly built the fall before. Larry’s whole model runs on External API, plug into something that already exists, and SXSW is the biggest existing thing on Austin’s calendar. The problem is everyone tries to build the relationship during SXSW itself, when the person next to you is getting pitched every few minutes by someone else.
ACL, the F1 weekend, and Austin Tech Week all land in October, long before SXSW ever opens its doors again. Every one of those October rooms is smaller, calmer, and easier to actually talk in than a packed SXSW hallway will ever be. That’s the trade: meet the person in October when they can actually hear you, not months later in a crowd of badges.
PQRST works the same way across the gap, preview who you met in the fall, question what’s changed, read up before you reach back out. Karma is the bridge across the months: a real thank-you note sent in November is still remembered by the time SXSW rolls around.
Larry credits a thank-you note with helping land Nike as a sponsor, and that’s the same mechanic, a small gesture that compounds months later. Don’t wait until SXSW week to reintroduce yourself to someone you already met at Tech Week or the F1 weekend.
The people running SXSW panels and parties are often the same operators who were standing in the Capital Factory hallway back in October. Win SXSW by doing the relationship work every fall, then simply showing up already known instead of a stranger.
Details: Watch Larry connect fall to SXSW
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