Marc Andreessen and Arianna Huffington to Speak at QuickBooks Connect Conference

Venture capitalist and serial entrepreneur Marc Andreessen and Arianna Huffington, the editor-in-chief of Huffington Post, will headline an impressive lineup of featured speakers at Intuit Inc.’s upcoming inaugural QuickBooks Connect conference, scheduled for Oct. 21–23 in San Jose, Calif.

The speakers will address thousands of entrepreneurs, small businesses, accounting professionals and developers at the first-of-its-kind event, designed to inspire, educate and help attendees make the connections they need to take their businesses to the next level.

Andreessen, cofounder and partner of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and Huffington, chair, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, have both been named among TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and will share their stories from the main stage of the event. Other headliners include business leaders Kevin Cleary, CEO of Clif Bar & Company, and Charles Best, founder and CEO of Donorschoose.org.

The newly named speakers join those previously announced, including Intuit president and CEO Brad Smith, Intuit founder Scott Cook, and entrepreneur, author and television personality Bill Rancic. The lineup also features some of today’s hottest entrepreneurs, including Debbie Sterling of GoldieBlox and Tristan Walker of Walker & Co. and Code2040.

In addition to the main stage program, QuickBooks Connect will offer tailored breakout sessions for its different audiences. These will be interactive, educational sessions that will allow attendees to learn by doing and apply insights in real-time. Attendees will also have the ability to build their own schedule by mixing and matching from any of the sessions offered. Some examples include:

“How to Start Your Business: Days 1 to 100” and “Insider Info from VCs: The Future of Funding” – for entrepreneurs trying to make their dreams a reality.
“Social Media:The Paid Stuff and the Free Stuff” and “Expanding into New ZIP Codes: How to Get Set Up Online” – for small businesses taking the next step in their business.
“Accountants as Trusted Advisors: Assuming a Leadership Role with Your Clients” and “Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for Accounting Firms” – for accounting professionals wanting to save time and move to the cloud.
“The Killer App: What You Need to Know Before You Build” and “Ready for Launch: Four Best Practices for Launching Your App” – for developers building and marketing their small business apps.

At the heart of QuickBooks Connect is the opportunity for attendees to connect with the people they need to succeed. The entire event will be an engaging, immersive experience unlike any other that will offer activities such as:

Speed mentoring where attendees can have one-on-one conversations with business experts who can provide thoughtful feedback and offer help with specific challenges.

Roundtables that facilitate small group discussions on the topics that keep attendees up at night. Hands on workshops that provide tips and tricks about QuickBooks offerings for those starting and running a business, advising clients or developing apps. An indoor park for meeting and collaborating or just relaxing and unwinding.

Early registration is available through Aug. 15 at a discounted price of $169 at www.QuickBooksConnect.com. The price covers the main conference pass; some pre and post conference activities will be available by invitation or at an additional cost. Regular registration will cost $199 after Aug. 15.