I haven’t had a lot of time to jump into the big fracas this weekend emerging about TechCrunch50 because the team has been busy organizing the conference, working with the Expert Panelists on scheduling issues and spending hours and hours working with the 52 startups that will be launching at the event to make sure their demos properly reflect what they’ve worked so hard to create.
But I do have a few things to say.
First, thanks to Chris O’Brien at the San Jose Mercury News who wrote such a great article on TechCrunch and the conference. What a wonderful, positive way to kick things off as we go into the craziness on Monday. He really gets what we’re trying to accomplish and how honored we are that these startups have chosen to launch at our event.
Second, some of the press out there is starting to go a little crazy with the drama between TechCrunch50 and the competing DEMO conference. But there’s nothing new here. We’ve stated from the beginning, in early 2007, that we think the DEMO format is unethical. If you are going to parade out a bunch of startups on a stage that paid you $18,500 each, you simply can’t say they’re the most qualified companies to be at the event. It’s just a lie. Here’s what they are: Sponsors. And here’s what’s going on: Payola.
We’re approaching the market in a straightforward and honest way. We aren’t charging companies to get on stage. We are charging people to attend. And we also have sponsors (really kick ass sponsors who get what we are trying to do). All of the economics are transparent, there is nothing hidden.
That honesty is why 1,700 have chosen to attend the event. That honesty is why these great industry leaders are spending their time to judge and discuss the launches. And that honesty is why over 1,000 startups spent time applying to the event and going through endless rounds of interviews for the chance to get on stage (thank you to every one of you who applied).
Most of the press gets this, even though DEMO organizer Chris Shipley sounds like she’s about to blow a fuse over the fact that their business model is finally being questioned.
Third, CNET really needs to chill out about press coverage of the event. This $1.8 billion company has published at least four articles complaining about the fact that we are not disclosing the companies launching at the event until Monday morning, and/or about the fact that TechCrunch the blog has some sort of unfair advantage in covering these startups launching at TechCrunch50.
We aren’t disclosing the names of the startups because we want the press to actually attend the event, not cover it from their office. We want them to hear the ooh’s and ahh’s (and maybe boo’s) from the audience first hand as they write their stories. We want them to actually participate. And based on last year’s coverage, the model works very well. I’m sorry if it doesn’t suit CNET, but it suits us and it suits the startups launching there very well. And when it comes to TechCrunch’s coverage, we’ll be sure to link out to all the quality third party coverage out there. Also, we’ll have critical company information on each launching startup available on CrunchBase starting Monday morning. CNET and everyone else is free to grab that data and use it however they like, with no requirement of attribution (it’s not our data, it’s the startups’ data).
Finally, Can we please remember what’s important? There are 52 companies launching at TechCrunch50 this week, and they deserve their brief moments in the spotlight. These people have put their hearts and souls into creating whatever it is that their entrepreneurial spirit compelled them to create, and they only get to launch once. We’re putting on one hell of a show for them, and my sincere hope is that we can get all this political garbage out of the way today so that we can focus on what really matters at the event: the startups.
If you want to focus on the news at the event as it unfolds, complete coverage of the conference from start to finish will be at this link and on the TechCrunch50 blog.
first
Save yourselves. Does anyone see the internet bubble we’re in or is it just ignorance, denial and or job security? there is only so much to see and do on the net and we have enough to work with. the computer and mobile phone is nothing more than a fancy tv, vcr, library, answer machine, locator, records keeper, phone, etc, etc all in one unit. there is only so much innovation to go around around these principal fundamentals. Reality will be when tech media companies address this apex of innovation so we get down to whos who and whats what. we dont need another website. we have enough to work with.
to all the TC50, ya im baffled why my startup was not chosen. but from my 10 years of experience watching startups most are just trying to put a spin on something that is already played out. alot of sheep out there. what we need is a game changer. this is one of the most difficult games you could ever try to change so you better have something Big and Special. One of a Kind.
RealityLocator.com
Your perspective is limited in this analysis. Innovation will only continue to accelerate. If you are looking at it as a consumer you will only ever see the tip of the iceberg.
“All of the economics are transparent, there is nothing hidden.”
Really? How so? Did you published a balance sheet for the cost n profit for the TC50 event or you are intending to disclose the profit Jason and TC gets after taking away the cost?
http://www.inquisitr.com/2486/.....ingenuous/
Hoping to hear a reply and not see this comment getting modded.
Only through leveraging synergistic activities can we think outside the box and grow a new paradigm for Web 3.0.
Stop scorning. Spread the love… The Internet economy is booming!
–
We’d also launched our startup today, check us out at http://www.adexcel.com
AdExcel is “The Ning for Advertising Networks with more juice in Socialized Ads”..
Let us know what u think
Best,
Darren
Cofounder of AdExcel
Of course both camps have valid points. But let’s not forget we are soooo talking to ourselves. As a VC, i see value in both events and am going to both. At the end of the day, i am looking for the diamond in the rough and want to see as many companies as possible. Both TC and Demo do a fine job of filtering and it is up to me to do the additional hard work to take the due diligence to the next level.
The rest of the world doesn’t care. They just want great products that solve problems or make their life more enjoyable.
mike…
gotta hand it to you. you might not really know tech, or a capacitor from a diode, or how to create a log(0) sorting algorithm (or even what one is!!) But my boy, you damn sure know how to do self promotion.
to be honest, the presumed “tiff” between you guys and the other group is a small marginalized function in the grand scheme of things. translation, only a small number of people in tech really give a damn!!!
but you fan the flames like no other baby!!! in another life, you could have been a lobbyist/politician/garbage collector!!
peace baby!!!
It is sad that there has to be such bitter competition between the two conferences and formats.
Hopefully, the StartUps will be the ones to shine - not the ugly politics involved.
But really, …try not to have them on the same days - was this an oversight?
Supposed a quality StartUp wanted to be exposed on Both conferences to reach the maximum prospects
startups can only launch once, and both events therefore have exclusivity by logical default. Last year, before DEMO moved their conference back two weeks and we moved ours back one week, the events were at different times but startups could still only launch at one.
by pure curiosity: how can you guarantee any (if not all) the TC52 selected companies didn’t bribe you (or calacanis) to be selected?
seriously. bribes could be a nice car, a cruise, or hard cash.
not to mention ashton kutcher who could offer you a yacht.
it’s pretty much like american idol, the selected are always backed up by the record companies which offered the highest sponsor bids to ABC.
my point is that i think that DEMO has at least the merit of a clear agenda. in your case, the least is that it can imply suspicion of corruption.
Businesses find natural to pay for a booth at a trade fair. I don’t see DEMO as a payola, it’s rather a trade fair’s business model.
not sure what’s yours.
wow. yes, we’ve orchestrated a geniusly evil mechanism to charge back end bribes from companies while stating publicly that we don’t charge and we’ve somehow managed to simultaneously stop this from leaking to anyone.
until now.
now i have to send the black helicopters to get you. i wish it didn’t have to be this way.
(and for the record, DEMO always used to keep the payola part of their biz model a secret, as well as back end deals they did with venture funds to send them startups. now they can’t do that any more)
as if lobbying didn’t exist. mike, you’re a lawyer, don’t tell me you didn’t think this could cross the mind of any applicant.
a fair way to select the top50 would have been to submit the pre-selection to us, your readers through a vote. that would have been fair, more reliable, and would have kept away any potential suspicion.
just my 2 cents for next year.
right. because no one would try to game the voting. and the startups that were trying to keep things confidential could definitely go out to our 4 million readers and expect everyone to keep it shhhhh.
why in the world people like you come here to read this blog is beyond me. the truth is that if anyone offered a bribe (they didn’t), I’d publish it immediately and make more money from page hits than from the bribe itself.
life is not a movie. you have to apply common sense.
keeping it shhhh? gimme a break. none of last year’s TC40 had ideas hot enough to even deserve an NDA. we’re not talking about cold fusion discovery here!… even if a startup has really a kickass idea and wants to keep it quiet until it gets funded, don’t you think any of them could be easily cloned (starting monday) even before they could apply for a patent?
gaming the votes? who’s suspicious now?…
anyway, here’s a simple way to do it:
1) create a dozen sub-categories (social networks, communication, gaming, etc…)
2) Have the applicants select a category to apply for and have a short description of their concept/idea.
3) implement a simple unique-IP voting system where all your readers can vote (once).
Not only you would have a good stat feedback of the categories that really interest internet users, but it would zero-in to, say, the 4 start ups that get the most votes in each categories. and we’re talking here of hundreds of thousands of potential voters (your readers and potential users of these websites).
are you against crowd-sourcing?
perfect! do this. I’ll attend and cover the event.
Can you say “douchebag” Charkes? Because you are a douchebag. Put your money where your mouth is or STFU.
It seems that Charles pulled this directly from SXSW. Not everything needs nor should it be a community thing. Yea, community is great. But, there are times when it doesn’t make sense to ask everyone for their opinions.
And, I agree with Tim. If you have a better idea on how to run things, do one yourself. There are thousands of conferences a year…you’ll likely be able to find some people to help you out.
Wow, Charles, you’re like Mikey in “Swingers.” Sometimes you just have to stop commenting or you just make it look worse.
“Deserve an NDA”? Love this line though. What VC firm, corporate or even media company that sees thousands of startups sign an NDA? Shows you’re not from Silicon Valley. Maybe Shenandoah Valley? Death Valley?
Mike, you were offered a bribe, but I think it was lost in your 2433 unread emails (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/23/a-crisis-in-communication/ ).
Sorry I wasn’t more obvious in my bribe attempts. I thought for sure that would get me press. As you said, you’d publish it immediately. But noooo you didn’t bite. Pissed me off. Oh well.
Just an FYI for the crowd, the bribe offer was a $5K donation to a mutually agreed upon charity - my suggestion was the EFF.
I once applied for Demo (a couple of years ago) and it was until the end of the first interview was set that I heard of the 18k I had to come up with.
It is fair to charge 18k or even 1M if you want, but you should let people know about it upfront before they spend time applying.
I think Demo used to be good, but looking at the list of companies they have this year, it’s like they are falling off.
At the end of the day, both can and will coexist in a peaceful environment. Everyone is just too excited.
I think you have certainly backed up the tc50 event with the most rational support available and I applaud your willingness to call it as it is.
Probably CNET wants to eat up all the small media coverage ‘fishies’
As with most things in this space, competition not a bad thing. Helps companies better focus and create a better product. Also Mike you’re missing my link here, the 53rd startup, me
Jcal most of said not to run it, its cool.
Like to comment on Point Two (TC50 vs. Demo) and Point Three (Press).
Point Two:
If Demo is angry that TC50 is getting more startups applying, more visitors, and more press they are more than welcome to change their revenue structure. Anytime a business faces strong competition they complain. TechCrunch is doing nothing illegal or unethical. Competition is good in the marketplace and this is a great example. Startups now can launch at Demo or TC50 based on what they think is better.
Point Three:
If CNet is complaining about an unfair advantage for TechCrunch’s blog they can start there own TC50 like event. TechCrunch has no monopoly in the blog market. Not disclosing the companies is one way TechCrunch entices people to be guests (those who pay so the startups don’t have to). Lastly, TechCrunch has done a good job in making their information open to all (CrunchBase API) and links to outside sources often in their articles.
Please note, I am not a TechCrunch employee and am not in anyway affiliated with it. I love startups and think TC50 is a great event. I have some startup ideas myself and would love to launch at a TC50 live event. Events like TC50 are good for the startup community and will only increase the speed of innovation in technology where we’ll all benefit.
Too bad I can’t travel all the way to the USA, or I would have started up one of my ideas in the hope of being at this event.
Good luck to all the startups showcasing there.
I’m a little fuzzy on the “can’t have launched yet” requirement, being a positive thing. “Pay $18K to demo” sounds a little like, “hold back your product” to my ears.
Granted, there is an expert panel 52 of 1000 selection process going… and it WOULD it interesting to judge TC by knowing the other 950 not selected, so we could see what we really think about the selection process.
Why not just choose 52 startups out of the MANY more that could apply without suffering the “costs” of entry? What’s the value for entrepreneurship, other than for TC (the media), to make it all really about TC (the media)? TC isn’t Apple and statups aren’t the IPhone. You don’t grant the spotlight, you chase the biggest stories.
Maybe I’m just nit-picking, but “nit-pick.”
you’re right. and TC should rather allow us, the readers and potential users, to select the top 50.
right. ’cause that would definitely work.
it’s not a good thing to spit in your soup. your readers deserve more respect than that.
not all of them, actually.
having tried the “public vote” method for various applications, I can tell you it comes down to a popularity contest, not about the merit of the entrant.
Although it would be nice to track all entrants over time and have a fantasy-league to see how well “crowd sourcing” performed against the TC selection…
it works pretty well for the Favorite Website Awards:
http://www.thefwa.com/
@Charles Stone, having just read the FWA criteria, all sites have an initial screening by FWA staff. The public vote only counts towards the “Peoples Choice Award”. The “Site of the year” is decided by a panel.
I think the TC50 format is pretty much spot on and I doubt a public vote would be beneficial at all.
And by not knowing the companies that will launch at the event creates more press and excitement. Wheres the fun in knowing everything
That’s a non-answer to my point(s). I never suggested readers voting.
Mike, do you have a real answer?
Mike is right here. There is NO way to crowd source the selection of TC 50 companies that would not be a gameed-out failure.
STFU and move on!
Alex, screw off dude.
You obviously didn’t read my point. TC shouldn’t EVER encourage companies to wait to launch their product for a TC press conference, it is anti what newcos are supposed to be.
I’m obviously right here. TC is the media, and their job is to simply chase newco’s and interview folks. “Maybe” sometimes their analyiss is correct, sometimes not, but always - they are to announce newcos. They are there to chase newcos - and the fact is for MONTHS there has been less tech launch news, because silly young companies WAITED to seek TCs grace - and that’s frigging stupid.
VC SHOULD NOT judge positively companies that WAIT to launch a product for a conference. It costs $$$ to wait. TC isn’t that a big a deal. They aren’t king makers. Consumers are.
As I said above,, TC isn’t Apple, and Startups aren’t the IPOD. VC and angel investors in the 1000 companies that waited for this conference, should BE WARY.
I totally agree, Morgan. these douchebags have no clue of the economics involved with running a startup.
waiting for a conference to launch a website is stupid to say the least and contradicts the basic principles of marketing.
rule#1: launch as soons as you’re ready or even in beta stage if you can. Arrington’s friend Loic Le Meur repeats that all day long, and for at least this one time he’s right.
i’ve learned one thing in life: it’s the first with a boner who gets to fvck the lady. Mc Donald’s is #1 in the world because they were the first. Same applies pretty much to all major brands, Coke, Nike, you name it.
waiting exposes you to many risks: financial (yep, gotta pay those employees till september). just imagine your website is ready for a launch in october 2008. gotta wait 11 months to launch it for the sake of DEMO or TC50? it’s ridiculous. but more importantly, you expose yourself to the risk of not being the first to launch your idea, and of being cloned. i should know, it happened to one of my websites.
finally, what you guys suggest is a world where ALL startups would launch early september. because we all know that it’s pretty much what will happen to the 1000 startups that tried to be selected for TC50: they had to wait at least until the pre-selection of Sirs Arrington and Calacanis, who decided to dictate from now on the whole internet schedule.
and we’ll end up with something ressembling the fashion word at best: 2 seasons a year, and that’s it. Well, 1 season in this case since TC50 really really REALLY wants to screw DEMO.
@ Morgan
“I’m obviously right here.”
Well, then please allow all of us to apologize. Why not put your money where your mouth is and tell us about all the great companies you’ve founded and/or invested in, and we can judge whether you’ve done better than the TC40 / TC50 companies. They obviously judged that waiting to launch was worth the coverage.
My guess is that you applied and were rejected because your concept was lame, and now you’re angry and looking for someone to blame.
Please do us all a favor and drink this tall glass of STFU.
@ Charles
Read what I wrote to Morgan above. Same applies to you.
Also, your one lesson that you’ve learned in life is bullshit. Early mover advantage is real, but it’s definitely not the only thing that matters. There are tons of examples of companies that weren’t first who are now on top: Google, Facebook, Youtube, Microsoft, blah, blah, blah.
I think this quote by Sergey Brin says it best:
“We knew that Google was going to get better every single day as we worked on it, and we knew that sooner or later, everyone was going to try it. So our feeling was that the later you tried it, the better it was for us because we’d made a better impression with better technology. So we were never in a big hurry to get you to use it today. Tomorrow would be better.”
Perhaps there was another reason for the failure of your company, like a sucky product.
cut the crap ryan. sergei succeeded because he’s actually been backed by lots of cash from russian mob’s fundings. everyone knows it in russia. and know, my product wasn’t sucky. unless you think that twitter sucks.
Ryan, is this how you try and pick up clients? Because so far, I’m not buying. Maybe if you offer me another glass of STFU, we’ll see the light of how much you have to teach our company.
Again, If a company is working off investor money and waiting for a conference “to launch” - it is a waste of money. If it is a couple kids in a dorm room, no heat launch - thats up to them. It was just an observatio, but as I think my argument here pretty much stands, if there are VC reading who disagree with me, please let me know - and maybe hire Ryan.
In general, the tech media/press, should stay out of the way of tech companies - as in do no harm. Mike has a valid point about Demo’s wrongful cost, and I have a valid point about TC50.
@ charles and morgan
I don’t understand the economics of a startup? I live and breathe the startup that I work for. Day and night. I track every small piece.
Don’t accuse when you don’t know.
Besides, ultimately Aarrington has this right. Hes not always correct, but this time he hit the nail on the head.
Michael,
Good luck and congratulations on TC50!
Looking forward to seeing you again at the Technology Council of Southern California’s VentureNet conference here in Southern California on Friday 9/12, too. (http://www.venturenet.org)
We only have 12 startups presenting but they are all going to be great.
(Hopefully Jason C’s keynote speech will be, too.)
Scott
Well I wish it would be all on video and we can watch it let’s say, a week later, for free, in the comfort of our homes. I mean, not the entire world can attend, even if we wanted to.
like last year, archive video will be available of all demos.
plus, stay tuned. we have a few surprises in store even for people not attending.
I hear Demo won’t have video this year (one of the Demo staff posted that over on FriendFeed). That’s too bad because it takes away something that these startups sorely need: a better explanation on their site of what they do.
Not just a better explanation, but it helps give them the company and products a face. It helps give them some personality. I’ve always liked knowing something about the people creating the new.
I can’t wait to watch it.
It’s a shame that “Charles” will be missing out… he’ll be too busy getting constipation over the selection process. Life must really suck when you’re a douche bag.
@Scoble. If they need a better explanation they should hit up http://commoncraft.com/ or http://www.claytorial.com
Hey Mike,
Can you send me an e-mail? I need a ticket but I’m going to be in class. I will ditch class if you send me a ticket though. I’d love to attend. Thanks.
Thanks.
Thanks again.
IF IF IF the panel selecting entrants does their job as advertised, this format is legit. The other approach where you pay to present is just paid sponsorship, that makes it easier for the company to get an outlet, but always leaves a doubt in everyone’s minds whether this solution or product is best in class, or best capitalized to afford the airtime.
hey, we make mistakes (last year somehow we managed to ding Loopt). But they’re honest mistakes and we use our best judgment in making decision. It isn’t clouded in any way by, oh, say $18,500.
Mike - you’re right on.
Keiretsu Forum does the exact same thing over and over again. We made the $2500 mistake presenting there once after “submitting a business plan for review” before we found out we were “accepted to be a presenter.” Making the mistake of thinking they’d actually read our business plan and materials, we showed up to find a guy with a table full of new age music on CASSETTE TAPES as a competing startup business. Oh, and some roofing tile companies, and an independent film finance company (I’ve also been in the film business for a decade, and know first how how much BS this finance company was).
Then they tried to make us share our table with the cassette tape guy. Hell no.
In retrospect, any investor in a startup who thinks it’s well-spent money to attend these kinds of pay-to-play demos or presentations, deserves to lose their money.
We were lucky with only losing $2500. $18,500 is a lot in an era of six-figure startups.
(A side note, one other company at the Keiretsu Forum we attended, was a company with this horrible kids product line, and they were delighted to find themselves listed as a “top tier Keiretsu Partner” as listed on the days program. They discovered this happened because they had now attended 5 of these presenting forums at a $5,000 per event buy in - so they’d spent $20k to get a “partner” listing that still hadn’t netted them any A) real feedback on their company or B) any investment.)
Makes me think the next business I should launch is one that charges entrepreneurs for the opportunity to pitch their startups to a roomful of people. One could make a lot of money with that one
Mike, what you and Jason are doing is to be applauded. Great entrepreneurial advocacy and spirit.
Best,
Dave
Thanks Dave. Frankly, I’m really frackin busy right now and I gave up my vacation this summer to help with rehearsals and selection of the 52. This event has become huge in 18 short months… we’re thrilled with that, but as you can imagine this thing is becoming a LOT of work foreveryone involved.
We are massively understaffed, over worked and exhilarated… it’s going to be an amazing three days.
Hate them or love them, the DEMO vs TC fiasco is generating a lot of buzz (albeit negative at times) about TC50. Any publicity is good publicity right?
That said, I can understand the need for a venue such as DEMO for companies who don’t get selected to a high caliber event such as TC50. The sponsorship gimmick is shoddy, sure, but somewhat of a necessity for some fledgling startups.
yes! that’s the point I was waiting for.
M. Dolan, I agree with you. TC and Demo could talk all they want, there will always be a venue/opportunity for both. So with all this talk about TC killing Demo is a big joke. Like i have said on a previous post, as long as VC (not just the 20 from the valley) continues to find these events prosperous for their frims they will continue to chose to attend.
So to get page views the discussion will continue about TC killing DEMO or payola. 10 or 20 years from now DEMO will still exists period.
Hmmm… You!…. You guys!… I’m not sure if TC and DEMO are trying new stunts here or if they are accidentally generating great press for each other by fabricating a play fight between their two events. Before this post I could really give a sh!t about what start ups are covered by these events. They would of been news if they were newsworthy anyways, they didn’t need some “event” to launch them otherwise. BUT!! Now I am wondering who the hell payed Demo to get such coverage, and who waited to be crammed into the top 53!!! spots at TC to launch their product. It seems if I was to launch I would rather pounce on a slow news day rather than a 53 start-up launch day… Lol… But that is just me. You!!! You guys! I say we get a drink. I need a good chat. A good laugh. Some good times. Have fun at TC50 2008.
Cheers,
dP
> It seems if I was to launch I would rather pounce on a slow news day rather than a 53 start-up launch day.
That’s what I have been thinking all August long. That was a slow news MONTH. OK, it also was vacation time, but I think a truly good product could launch better at the very end of August (like Chrome) than upcoming Tuesday when not only TC50 and DEMO are on, but also his Steve-ness gives the media another chance to write about his health.
BTW it’s 52 (TC) plus 72 (DEMO) startups…
Yeah.I need to calm down too…
Charles Stone: it’s not a good thing to spit in your soup. your readers deserve more respect than that.
Michael Arrington: not all of them, actually
==============================
love the answer, extremely honest… respect!
Hey, if you have 4 million, the 7 that piss you off you can tell the truth.
So: if you are an annoying troll, idiot, DEMO hack, or just another elitist asshole with an IQ of my shoe size, begone!!
And stay out of my internets!
Hmm, so a bribe gets published on TC…..
Mike, I’ll pay you $3,000 if you get Mylifeoftravel.com a place. Please keep it quiet, I couldn’t have this leaking to the entire TC audience and suffering the bad press.
Oh, we’re not really launching as such but I’ll throw in another $1k if you don’t spill that either.
I agree with Mike on this one and regarding TechCrunch having an unfair advantage in covering these startups… who in the bloody hell put so much effort into organizing this event in the first place?! Let CNET put on their own event and do as they please. There is definitely an advantage and it is taking a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to make it happen. Why shouldn’t TechCrunch, Mike, Jason, etc… gain something from pulling off their own great event?
I don’t always agree with Mike or TechCrunch, but fair is fair & work is work. Now where is my TechCrunch shirt and TC50 ticket so I can have an unfair advantage and cover it live on my blog?
My sentiments exactly Mike
Its about the companies, lets leave them shine now
You guys, were doing well, good luck to your endeavor
Spending 18k + isn’t a very good idea for those attending this DEMO event. My guess is that it’s more of a “Marketing” event than anything else. At the end of the day it’s about funding. A really bad idea can go a long way with lots of cash behind it and I’ve seen some incredible ideas just dry up. The golf industry is the best example as there are new patents issued everyday but to be successful the entrepreneur has to come up with 200k to produce and infomercial and 30/spot to run it on the Golf Channel. if you run it 10 times, you’re down 500k. I’d love to attend TC50, maybe next year. The only thing I might suggest and it may already happen is that for the opening it be VC’s and StartUp participants only. The other thing i’d like to see is a “marketing piece” of the event award. That could help other startups tremendously. Have fun and i’m sure the energy will be felt all the way in Texas!!!!!
Seems to me this event is a great way to give back to the community that helped build TechCrunch. Instead of only ‘taking’ from the community TC is helping to build that community.
It’s a great format of using a panel of judges who have been in this business for a long time to judge. They can assess the merit of not just the idea, but the feasibility of actually getting funding, and the business model. TC is offering startups (what makes TC news) the ability to go through a proper vetting process and then present. DEMO is still using a business model for startups during a time when news coverage wasn’t available through sites like TC (and RWW, Appscout, etc.)
Doing a contest where the user community votes will become a popularity contest. Without user registration the system can be gamed by unique IPs from TOR. With user registration it can be gamed by signing up multiple accounts (emails, and TC accounts) and using TOR. A contest online is only a popularity contest, and not a merit contest.
Good luck to the startups, and TC.
Exactly! This is a hug give back to the industry…. we’ve created a HUGE media platform for 180 companies to showcase (52 on stage, 130 in the demo pit) their products and get a massive amount of attention from investors, the press, partners and potential team members.
Remember, when we started TC50 folks like WEb 2.0 were still charging 12k to get on stage… they dropped their fee because we came into the marketplace and what we’re seeing from DEMO right now is the last throws of a dying business model. DEMO is desperate right now because the 1.4m they made from the companies they charge is going to go away soon. mega-corp IDG could care less about startup companies… if that multibillion dollar company did care about the startups they would, like we do, give up the revenue from startups and live on ticket and sponsoship sales.
we know the conference economics and we’ve proven you can build a decent business without charging. Web 2.0 gave up charging, and DEMO will drop their fee next year…. you heard it here first!!!
Hey, Jason, good to see you commenting at a healthier time than Michael!
Is TC52 not making more than twice as much from tickets than DEMO is making from the so-called “payola”? Maybe tickets are more important for both shows’ business model than “payola”?
For me DEMO’s $18k are a filter:
- interested in early stage. run-from-the-bedroom startups -> go to TC52
- interested in better funded, somewhat more mature companies -> DEMO
Both types of companies could probably get better publicity by launching in a less noisy week and by targeting more specific blogs and news sites than TC and similar. I mean, what marketing relevance do TC, RWW, VentureBeat have for a site like Mint? Does Mint serve starving programmers?
And, regarding VCs: which startup launching at TC52 REALLY needs VC capital, and which VC wants to deal with these nano-scale web startups? (DEMO also has electronics companies in its list - that’s different).
So….instead of adding value, create a false controversy to increase awareness and PR buzz. In addition of taking advantage of small companies for one’s own benefit (there really isn’t any difference between DEMO and TechCrunch50 except *who* makes the money off of sponsors, exhibitors and startups).
The small companies ultimately pay the price to watch the folks behind both DEMO and TechCrunch50 laugh themselves to the bank.
As virtually all successful companies know, these conferences are of zero value for future success. Great products, great companies, great customer-based solutions and great GREAT management teams are what works. Not cheap PR as one of many in a conference with overflowing profits for the organizers.
TC is certainly proving that…they are successful at doing what they do because they have all this greatness. Not because any small company will ever be successful because of them.
Good luck to everyone at TC50! Try to forget about the people pitching idiocy (bribes…really?) and lame ideas (fan voting) to avoid the none-existent aforementioned idiocy. This is your moment start-ups, enjoy the spotlight and have fun!
I think what DEMO does is payola and the fact that “RealNetworks” is one of their launch companies shows what kind of game they play.
However, charging startups a nominal amount is not necessarily a bad thing as it is a very effective way of stopping “spam.” Compare the number of spam text messages versus spam emails that you receive; the reason why is because text messages have an actual cost (ok, one levied by the phone monopolies) whereas email does not. Remember this was Bill Gates’s master plan for ending spam.
Most colleges charge applicants somewhere in the neighborhood of $75 to apply. If people can’t afford that, there are financial aid waivers, but either paying $75 or applying for a waiver is a great way of keeping out those who are not serious.
Of course, hopefully you don’t have to charge, but if you get 10,000 applicants next year, the mere act of sifting through 9000 junk outfits will mean (just like with spam) that you’ll lose a few good apples in between.
If you want to remain true to your creed of not profiting from the startups themselves (which is a noble thing), give back the application fees to the winners as a way of letting them prepare, arrive at the event, etc. If anything, it will make TechCrunch 50 more accessible for those outside the Bay Area.
Alex
It always helps to have a pinata to beat and whack, gives you focus, a way to measure progress, and gets everyone united. If the pinata is the “big bad old establishment”, even better!
The discussion has been mostly about the difference in cost to the start-ups of the two events. I think the bigger issue is whether there is a difference in value. As a start-up, I want to launch at whichever conference is going to do more to accelerate my business. While cheaper is better, that’s the second factor on my mind, not the first.
Never think crowdsourcing your selection, please.
I was director of a swiss creative award - http://www.gprc.ch- and tried to create a special “public” price. What you see is obvious, directors and all the company voting for their own projects, that’s all. 100%.
Some people are very good influencers, generally for the worst project.
So from one side, you have 5 votes for the best project and from the other side, 200 votes for the cheapest project, and this in a place where people are considered quite honest: Switzerland.
I’m happy to read that all videos will be available, AFTER the event. Before it’s not a good idea, people could decide not to participate regarding the severe competition.
I’m sure that TC50 people will make mistakes and it’s part of the GAME: to accept their roles and create a selective sunshine in this cloudy mess. The sun isn’t always in the right position, and it’s our own individual responsability to:
- respect the judges and their influences
- understand their emotions (who said it’s all about rationality ?)
- understand that you can talk here and be part as critic
There will be other loopt missing. And so what ? Loopt was 8 months later in the WWDC, with smiles.
I really want to believe you. But, when you have Jason Calacanis, the wold largest whore and payola expert helping you, some things just don’t ring true.
That’s a little harsh, isn’t it?
I just can’t wait for monday so I can blog about this guy and his cool website. He said I had to wait untill tc50 started so even though you don’t