As reported on TechCrunch.
by Colleen Taylor
I think we’ve established by now that what happens in Vegas actually never stays in Vegas. And, as you can see by the agenda obtained by TechCrunch that’s embedded below this post, the Goldman Sachs Private Internet Company Conference scheduled to take place in Sin City over the next two days is no exception.
The Goldman Sachs conference for private web firms is one of the most high-end and hush-hush events in the tech world. It’s essentially like the Hackers Conference or dinners at Sheryl Sandberg’s house or Fight Club, except for tech executives who are likely to soon go through an IPO or big M&A deal. If you’re on the invite list, you’re in pretty good company — and the first rule is that you don’t talk about it to others.
This year, according to sources, it’s happening this week, on November 20th and 21st in Las Vegas. You can see the whole lineup in the image embedded below this post.
It bears mention that companies attending this conference have not necessarily engaged in an exclusive relationship with Goldman to manage their potential upcoming IPOs or M&A deals. In fact, most of them are free agents, fielding offers from any number of firms. Other investment banks such as Allen & Co. hold their own swanky events to court potential clients, too. I’m told that the competition amongst financial advisors to secure relationships with hot web companies is tougher than ever these days. But with Goldman Sachs coming off the high of having headlined the hugely successful Twitter IPO, this year’s event is sure to be a buzzy one.
It’s also interesting to note the the names missing from the agenda. People from Square, Dropbox, and Box are nowhere to be found, just to name a few. Are they staying at home to focus on work, will they be in attendance but just not presenting, or have they already selected their investment banking teams? We’ll see.
But either way, it’s already a star-studded lineup. With Evan Spiegel and Kevin Systrom andDavid Goldberg and Chad Dickerson and Deena Varshavskaya and many more, who will be the belle of the ball? I’m told by attendees that it will probably be Uber’s Travis Kalanick. Nothing like a $258 million funding round to get some attention.
