I’m excited to announce the next three experts for the TechCrunch20 Conference in San Francisco this September. Caterina Fake, MC Hammer and Rajeev Motwani join the previously announced experts. The full Panel of Experts is here, and we will continue to announce new experts every week or so..
The Panel of Experts will assist us in selecting the twenty startups to launch at the conference and will participate at the conference in discussing and judging startups after their presentations. Our goal is to bring together a diverse group of hyper-intelligent and interesting individuals to make the event as exciting as possible.
Also, we’re pleased to announce the addition of the Mayfield Fund as a charter sponsor for TechCrunch20.
Registration for the event is here. Submit your company to launch at TechCrunch20 here. Keep up to date on the conference at the TechCrunch 20 blog.
Caterina Fake
Caterina Fake is an American businesswoman and entrepreneur. She is best known as the co-founder of Flickr, a photo-sharing service that was acquired by Yahoo, and a previous Art Director at Salon.com. She has won many awards, including Business Week’s Best Leaders of 2005, Forbes 2005 eGang, Fast Company’s Fast 50, and Red Herring’s 20 Entrepreneurs under 35 and the Time 100, Time Magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people. She sits on the board of Etsy and advises many startups. At Yahoo! Caterina runs strategy for Brickhouse, known for its Hack Yahoo! program, a stimulus to innovation and creativity.
MC Hammer
MC Hammer is an entrepreneur and American MC who brought rap music to a mass pop audience during the late 1980s and early 1990s, selling millions of copies of his chart topping albums. He is known for his important influence on hip hop culture and music. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Hammer released the patriotic album Active Duty on his own WorldHit label and donated portions of the proceeds to 9/11 charities. MC Hammer has a television show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Hammer is an advisor to stealth Internet start-up Dance Jam.
Rajeev Motwani
Rajeev Motwani is a professor of computer science at Stanford University, where he also serves as the director of graduate studies. His research interests include: databases and data mining, web search and information retrieval, robotics, and theoretical computer science. He is a co-author of the book, Randomized Algorithms, published by Cambridge University Press. Motwani has received the Arthur P. Sloan Research Fellowship, the National Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation, the Bergmann Memorial Award from the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation and an IBM Faculty Award.
Hammer Time!!
as a mark of resepect, I hope everyone will be wearing baggy pants)
Dude, you got the Hammer. That is so awesome.
I bet this is the first time MC Hammer, Caterina Fake and Rajeev Motwani are all mentioned in the same blog post. hah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMzoBkaFxh4
AWESOME
MC HAMMER?
I say again… MC HAMMER?
Wow, this is amazing. I can’t belive you got Mc Hammer to chair a tech conference. What with his busy schedule of not making music, and his complete irrelevance to the subject matter at hand, I’m shocked that you were able to book this technology giant.
My only question is, what, was Adam Ant booked?
When I think of the technology field, especially web application development in 2007, I always think of MC Hammer. Please Hammer, don’t hurt em!
The real headliner there is MC Hammer
Get those baggy pants out of the closet. Hammer time.
Actually, MC Hammer makes a lot of sense given how many music/media startups there are likely to be launching at the conference. If you look at his blog link, he also looks like he’s a really nice guy.
Should be a good panel:
“Go with the flow it is said
If you can’t move to this then your probably dead
So wave your hands in the air
Bust a few moves run your fingers through your hair
This is it for a winner
Dance to this and you’re gonna get thinner
Now move slide your rump
Just for a minute let’s all do the bump”
…some things you do in life will never leave you in peace ;-D
ok, ok, ok….you HAVE to get Hammer to perform at the event. That is so fucking cool.
My only comment is can’t touch this. I’m sure the conference will now be held on Hammer Time
Hammer was cool back in the day! But expert??? that’s frickin hilarious!!!! no offense Hammer but I’m sure even you are laughing at that one.
No, I agree with the above. He’s got experience in dealing with the music industry, owns his own label, etc. This is a good way to round out the other panelists.
FuckedCompany.com?
Read the title again, it says …Fake MC Hammer…
He is known for his important influence on hip hop culture and music.
SAY WHAT?!
Interesting panel - I’m looking forward to the announcements. There’s a lot of Interesting technology and talent at hand.
Can we put Gumby in the mix? Oh wait - he doesn’t always show up for things…. unless you wish hard enough.
http://www.netvibes.com/gumby
MC Hammer! Mike - that was a very cool move! Just peaked my interest.
I’m sure you also peaked the interest of other musicians with that addition.
Rex
Is he still alive?
MC Hammer on the T20 Panel?!?!?! Praise the Lord!!!
Is this a joke?
wasnt hammer just selling cars on a late night bad credit show?
i can just imagine the talks btw heather, mike and jason:
“yea we need to get the list together of panelists”
“oh we just gotta get hammer”
cant wait to see who is next!
Seriously, I believe Hammer has some good insight from many perspectives. He had to deal with the recording industry, financing (personal and business), dealing with thugs, etc.
Now I hope that we see some of the following:
- decent debates (a tag team debate of Cuban-Winer v Arrington-whoever)
- video uploaded here
Mc Hammer? - I hope your not paying him the same as the other panelist.
- He isn’t qualified; every rapper now a days owns his own label.
- I am sure he is a nice enough guy; but what the heck?
- Start calling it the TC 21, and find someone else and leave Hammer on.
Thank you for hosting the conference…and that’s for the great blog. It is the best technology blog on the web.
Great Job. The reality TV shows have shown that its a great boon to have a varied group of judges. Yes, this even applies to the wildcard, topic irrelevant judges. Lets be honest, sometimes people that don’t live and breath the little tech world we live in have some really useful views on the subject.
All of you Hammer naysayers have absolutely no idea what you are talking about… especially Pattie Freely and palley jack.
Do you have any concept of hip-hop history, or are you just completely blinded by your tech dweeb single-mindedness? Maybe I’m a dweeb too, but at least I have some freaking perspective.
MC Hammer is the supreme entrepreneur. He made enough money to start a record label (I think about a million bucks, or maybe even more) by driving up and down the coast of California selling tapes out of his trunk. Now that’s drive, man - no pun intended.
And he went broke because he had a heart of gold and helped everyone, literally - from family to friends to poor people on the street.
Read up before you let garbage fall out of your mouth.
http://www.fool.com/news/foth/2002/foth020909.htm
1. MC Hammer: Good old Stanley Burrell (a.k.a. Hammer) squandered $30 million by buying a lavish mansion and maintaining a $500,000-a-month payroll. Some of those on Hammer’s dole managed his resources in ways that weren’t too legit. Says Burrell: “You can’t watch everybody, and when you can’t watch everybody, watch out.”
#26 - you have got to be kidding me. He surely can show these startups how to spend money! he went broke because he spent the money he didnt have. 2 helo’s? cmon.
who’s next - willis from diff’nt strokes?
@Bobby
I’m not saying what he did with his money was a good thing… but he can surely add a well-founded, unique perspective.
My point: he’s not just a “rap singer with baggie pants”, as all the other commenters above rather eloquently suggest.
can’t touch this
Michael A. sure knows how to create BUZZ!
Ryan - MC Hammer got the funding for his label from Oakland A’s baseball players, not from selling CDs. When he did hit the bigtime, he ran his business so poorly he went bankrupt within 5 years, even as his career revenue topped 50 mil, according to Forbes. One of the better VH1 “Behind the Music” episodes went into great detail about the rise and fall of this cartoon character. I’m sure you’ll remember that it was the Surreal Life that gave him his latest “bump,” not his abilities as an entrepreneur.
All I needed to see was the splash page at DanceJam.com. Awful. I bet Chuck D is pissed that he didn’t get the call. :rolleyes:
I’m a HUGE fan of TechCrunch and read it religiously every morning, but this is just a joke.
All you ‘clever’ people posting jokes can all you want, but Hammer will put butts in seats for this conference. Everybody loves this guy, he has a heart of gold, and he is certainly a pop-culture icon. Besides, they even said they wanted a diverse panel of interesting and intelligent judges, I think it’s a great addition personally.
Besides, he may know more than you think about technology, but either way who are you to judge whether he’s qualified or not? Frankly I think it’s good to have some people up there like him who may not be entrenched in the tech world to bring a different perspective.
I met Hammer when I used to live in Tracy, Ca. Nice guy and certainly has experience that most of us can only dream of. One of the best ways to learn is to fail horribly. While I’m not a fan of his music anymore, I’m a fan of the man. http://mchammer.blogspot.com/
He is known for his important influence on hip hop culture and music.
I once saw an ad for movie that starred Eugene Levy, “known for his role as the father in American Pie”. What? Eugene Levy is not “known” for that, he’s known for a long history in comedy, mainly SCTV. I’m sure he thought “After toiling in obscurity for years, I just gotta get into this American Pie movie!”. In the same way, I suspect Hammer is most likely more “known” for his history of rapping than for any influence he welds these days (and I even saw both “Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story” and “M.C. Hammer: Behind The Music”).
Where’s Vanilla Ice? If Vanilla Ice is not going, I’m not going!
Please Twitter, don’t hurt ‘em.
The only problem I have with Fake is.. Flickr was one of her programmers ideas and creations.. but where is he now? And how much of the windfall did he get?
Now this sounds different….
you know those guys… Indian guy, firefighter, sailor, construction worker, etc…
I have to agree that I’m not sure what qualifies MC Hammer to decide what is and isn’t a good tech idea. But, as people are saying, I really don’t know what background or experience he has on it.
I think it’s great that there is a woman on the panel.
hey peanut gallery, don’t be dicks. The prey is too easy.
Think. Massive success then failure leads to a different type of experience, combine that with the pop icon thing (yep Rod #30, Mike A. creates Buzz) and there is at least some relevance with his start up, (well, maybe). And then there’s the whole “super nice guy” thing going for him.
I’m not a fan of the mythology munching christian thing, but that’s my own world view.
We’ll all see when the man speaks anyway…
Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, uh oh,
uh oh, uh oh
Here comes the Hammer.
I am impressed with Rajiv M on the pannel. There were many successful startups that his Phd stundents started and he was great mentor for them. He has great theoretical knowledge as well as knows what works/not works in the real world.
Great addition to the panel, and I am really really surprised he agreed to join this lowly innovative web2.0 conference.Generally these guys look at real solid technology breakthrus, not some Joe’s social networking sites.
A quote from above…
“I have to agree that I’m not sure what qualifies MC Hammer to decide what is and isn’t a good tech idea.”
I don’t think the idea is to find great tech ideas, rather it is to find ideas that will likely be succesful. I think most of the techies lurking around here that alot of the successful things out there are’nt that tough from a technical perspective.
Excuse me? MC Hammer???? Was Vanilla Ice too busy?
Stop bitching about MC Hammer. Don’t like it, then don’t go. It’s that crappy little mind set that doesn’t let you grow and be creative. The same feeble minds that drove Natali away from TechCrunch. I think he may have plenty to say, with themes that are common and appealing to many.
Wow, I haven’t LOL’d this hard for a LONG time….
Ridiculous
I know it won’t matter until people start losing money, but I’m looking forward to the day when this industry and this part of the country have to confront this uniquely insensitive perspective on ethnic diversity.
I bet you’re all chomping at the bit to have Hammer at the next fancy shindig….with music……and a dancefloor…….and gawking nerds.
Arrington my man, brilliant PR. Looks like you’ve been studying PR tactics from Marc Benioff of Salesforce.
*Beniof picks the Dalai Lama
*Arrington picks the one and only MC Hammer
Just fantastic!
Can you get Mr. T?
I find the MC hammer thing offensive to black tech people. It seems like Mike is saying I found a great tech woman, a fantastic tech indian guy, oh and the best I could do from the black community was a rapper guy. Come on Mike, there are tons of smart insightful black tech people out there. Give one of them a break.
Hammer? While I like the guy’s energy and early music, I really fail to see what he brings to this conference except the feeling that you tried to get Paula Abdul but she was too busy.
If you were looking for an 80s musician with startup experience, why not Thomas Dolby of Beatnik. If you were looking for someone who lost millions of dollars (also true of Hammer) why not some .com Web 1.0 flameout like George Shaheen or that Tuzman guy from the movie Startup.com.
A really brilliant celebrity PR move would have been Will Ferrel and that small landlord.
I found the whole Indian tech guy stereotype offensive as well. There are a ton of Indian rappers out there. Come on Mike, couldnt you have found one of them, and given them a break?
But what about me? Can I PLEASE join my bud M-C Hammerin’ ?! (you all know he’s havin’ my next baby, right?! going to call ‘im Baby M-C of course!)
Betcha’ didn’t know it, but eye jus’ luv this whole webby 2.ohhhhh stuff!
Please. Please. Oh pretty please let me be a judge too!?
ps. Has anyone seen my wig?
velincho,
I know what you mean…surprised to see Rajeev fooling around with social networking stuff. The guy has played a key role in Google’s formation - http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum34/299.htm - he should stick with the ’serious stuff’
not very impressed with the rest on the panel, Hammer might bring a different perspective though
Is this rag on MC Hammer day?
What makes the other panelist who used to be an ‘Art Director’ any more qualified than a Rapper/entrepreneur. Just because the former got lucky w/startup succes, and has a ‘Mena-Trott-lke obsession with becoming well-known’ doesnt make her any more credible than MC Hammer.
Ok..one is employed by an Internet pioneer where an executive proudly distributed a ‘peanut butter manifesto’ dissiing his boss, colleagues and worker bees..puh-leeze.
We need some fresh voices/opinions frm those outside the ‘valley’ especially from people under-represented ‘in-the-valley.’
@ #44: But isn’t the idea to find ideas with long-term potential, rather than fads and/or novelties?
“thats why we pray, we’ve got to pray to get funding today”
Let’s see - we have a panel consisting of six white tech guys who have been variously successful in the tech industry. Three of them are solid - Cuban, Andreesen and Botha are clearly experienced in tech startups and ideas. Winer is on the edge - only moderately successful but with a solid track record. The other two (Scoble and Anderson) are just commentators. Then we have one (one!) woman - who regardless of her background deserves to be there because she brings some diversity. Om Malik is solid - a recent entrepreneur who is having success - kind of like Scoble and Anderson but with experience in this area. Motwani - not sure why an academic background helps here - but for the sake of argument lets say that he adds technological rigor (although Andreesen isn’t a slouch here). MC Hammer brings diversity, an entrepreneurial background that beats that of at least three of the other panelists so far (succeeding then failing still has that succeeding part in it). He is also the only primarily non tech person on the panel. If you can’t see why that’s an advanage then you are very shortsighted. In fact, if you bother to dig into everything he has been doing, he is by no means technologically unsophisticated.
Finally he brings marketing mojo.
But by all means - he should be dropped because after all the TechCrunch20 event was supposed to be just like all the other demo/VC pitch events in the valley - I believe that was the stated goal…
As a former journalist, diversity is key. It leads to better discussions and better decisions. Where are the Asians on this panel?
Most rappers are far better entrepreneurs than the average geek. They have to hustle to make money. They don’t sit around thinking of the next world-changing widget that will let you display your body temperature on your Myspace page, they go out and sell records from the back of cars. They know how to sell. Think a guy who just hacked something up in Python or Lisp knows much about selling something? Possibly, but unlikely.
I don’t see any harm in adding MC Hammer’s presence at the conference. For once, I’m defending TechCrunch. It’s unfair to say “this is just to get diversity.” That’s an awful argument because the same people hammer (sorry for the pun) TechCrunch for not having diversity. Let’s face it, the majority of technology geeks are men and are Caucasian, East Asian, or Indian. That’s reality. Does Major League Baseball go around saying “Man, we just don’t have enough Indians and Chinese guys playing for the Yankees.” No, they don’t. I’m not saying there isn’t any discrimination in the tech world, but let’s have some perspective too.
Kudos to Arrington. You’re a big enough star now that you can get the heavy hitters and the big boys care about what you think.
I like the idea; if our products and services are to reach a mass audience, then it has to be appealing to people who are not particularly seeped in the technology. All of these panels need someone to represent a view from the consumer (albeit in statistically dubious ways).
http://www.swarmski.com
How is inviting Carmen Elektra not a no-brainer here?
(slap up the side of the head) . . . you know who we’re all missing that should be really one of the panelists? . . .
Techcrunch’s own Heather Harde.
Who’d more qualified than her for something like this?
(an’ it probably wouldn’t cost you much more than dinner, Michael)
Judging by the number of comments, MC Hammer was a brilliant PR move…. can’t touch this….
Steve - I am assuming that Heather will be on the panel. And yes, she is very qualified.
IM IN UR CONFERENCE
SINGING MY RAP SONGS
CATERINA FAKE IS CANADIAN, NOT AMERICAN, AS YOU CLAIM.
Maybe you could ask Prince to join and sing the “Purple Rain” at the conference too
This is the lamest thing I’ve seen in a long time.
OMG - imagine when Hammer starts talking and we’re all supposed to sit back and ingest his wisdom.
Won’t happen!
There are so many celebrities that would have done this and way better - who organizes this? The joke is short lasting and i’m certainly not associating my startup with it
see: http://www.socialham.com/2007/05/11/mc-hammer-20/
I guessed at least 3 out of 5 of the first comments would be related to MC Hammer. Try about 70 out of 71. HAha
MC Hammer - He has a show on trinity??? Is that like a televangelist ala Tammy Faye Baker??? Hmm, “his important influence on hip hop culture” is like saying Vanilla Ice had an important influence on hip hop culture.
You boys are so far removed from street cred your making fools of yourselfs propping up MC Hammer…..
MC Hammer still has market appeal… But, Snoop Dogg still has more style…
Yes, Snoop for techcrunch20 in ‘08! He’s got lots of multimedia experience. Doesn’t he have his own label? Am I missing any of the other prereq’s?
C’mon, dude thinks ajax is for cleaning the sink.
Hammer 2.0: Can’t tag this!
I think when MC Hammer starts speaking at a Web 2.0 conference, it might be wise to consider whether it’s Bubble Time. This is not to say that MC Hammer has no qualifications to speak on issues related to entrepreneurship and media, but some of us remember all of the prominent figures (celebrities, athletes, etc.) who got involved with Internet startups during the first bubble.
Dude, MC Hammer? C’mon. That is freakin’ hilarious. Is Vanilla Ice the surprise guest for the conference?
I’m surprised at some of the comments in regards to Hammer. This is a tech news blog if I’m not mistaken. And for people who thrive at breaking tech news, what’s going on within the industry, and start-ups…then we all know that in addition to what Hammer has done with his music, record label, tv show, etc…you all know that as of late he’s been investing quite a significant amount of money in start-ups, right?
As I stated on Valley Wag- there’s definitely several of “us” (African Americans, women, and African American & a Woman) in tech who run successful start-ups, if you would just look outside of Silicon Valley. To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure if silicon valley is to ideal place to look for “exciting” ideas.
Granted, Mc Hammer is a an interesting choice and brilliant pr move. Plus, I am sure the idea of including internet pioneers like Ice T and Snoop Dog was entertained, but, smartly so, TC didn’t want an Imus incident on their hands.
Still, this seems like the tech version of the “old boys” club is at it again.
I didn’t think my startup has a chance at getting selected in TC20.
But if an application means getting on MC Hammer and TBN’s radar, I will try for that aspect alone! (seriously, MC Hammer is a respected voice in the Christian entrepreneurial community)
We can all learn something from Hammer. Get over yourself if you think otherwise. The guy was cutting edge and pushing development of audio technology and using computers before there was the internet, has experienced meteoric professional growth, crashed as defined by some people, and risen from the ashes all while maintaining humility and dignity. He’ll be the first to admit his prior mistakes and is open enough to share them publicly so the rest of us can learn from them. As it relates to business, entertainment/music wasn’t how Hammer got his first taste of high $$ dealings, he was essentially running the Oakland A’s in his teenage years for Walter Haas.
I pity the fool who doesn’t invite Mr T to the next Web 2.0 conference.
Dude. Motwani is superfreaky.