What a day. 1,700 people streamed into the San Francisco Design Center at 9 am on Monday morning to help launch the first group of 52 startups at TechCrunch50. Dozens more startups were camped out in the demopit.
First, the bad news. The internet was down completely for half the day, and never really worked that well even when it was up. We had dedicated access for the launching companies, so the on stage demos went well. But the audience was left to rely on mobile access or none at all. And most of the demopit companies weren’t able to show their stuff.
Needless to say we were pissed off. The vendor was fired and we brought someone new in, and by early evening everything was working well. Demopit companies, which rotate every day, were given another day to show off their products.
The good news: Sixteen startups had a hell of a launch party in front of 1,700 attendees. Most arrived early to watch Ashton Kutcher live on stage launching his new BlahGirls.com interactive video site in the first session.
Later in the day, I had a surprise interview with MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe, who spoke about MySpace’s increasingly open policies (such as the implementation of OpenSocial) and the upcoming launch of MySpace Music.
To close the day, we had a rare chat with investor Peter Thiel, who gave some advice on what to look for in a startup, as well as some fascinating takes on artificial intelligence, the impact of today’s economy on VCs, and politics.
For those that couldn’t attend, the entire event was live streamed for free thanks to sponsor Ustream. An incredible 35,545 unique visitors watched the stream - and a total of 13,547 viewer hours were logged. On average there were 2,081 viewers at any given time. We’ll continue to livestream the entire conference.
Lots more startups are launching today and tomorrow, and when they get off stage they talk to press and then hang out at a booth to give personalized demos to attendees.
Our ongoing full coverage of the event is here, and see this aggregator for coverage all over the web. Over 1,000 photos have been tagged TechCrunch50 on Flickr as well. Lots more coming.
The Thiel interview was the most interesting piece I’ve seen in some time. Aside from his bullishness on what IMHO is Slide’s absurd valuation he’s clearly a techno savant and I hope we hear a lot more from him as the sweeping changes continue.
The live stream is great. Next year consider increasing interactivity with the online audience which would be even cooler.
To be honest like others I’m pretty disappointed in the demos I’ve seen so far. Don’t get me wrong many of them are pretty cool but none of them are market changers and are mostly all “for fun” type applications.
Are there no new startups looking to change markets or is everyone just chasing to become the next facebook or twitter? All fun and games with no REAL value.
I want to know who is going to create the next SalesForce.com where they create something that is actually beneficial to businesses and is a game changer in the marketplace.
Why don’t more people focus on applications that actually add value rather than just trying to help me find better videos on the internet or ways to better connect with my friends…where’s the innovation?
Amen to that my brother. This has been my biggest complaint about “Web 2.0″. Far too much emphasis on “cool” and not enough on “real”. People (who are not willing to pay for anything) don’t need more ways to connect…but business (who will pay) always needs more ways to connect and sell.
We are a prime example. 7-digit revenues and profits. We may not be sexy but we’re paying the bills and then some.
Regards,
George
Demo is loosing to some extent in front of TC50, but their next installment will surpass all expectations,i suppose…They must be cursing themselves right now..for taking TC50 lightly
Check the blogs live-covering Techcrunch50:
http://tinyurl.com/5qh8bu
okk
“Most arrived early to watch Ashton Kutcher live on stage launching his new BlahGirls.com interactive video site…” - Can you please explain WTF is an “interactive video site?” Arrington you must be kidding me.
Who was the original internet provider/vendor? Be nice to know and avoid them like the plague.
I think its a little messed up that internet access was not provided to the demopit, the ones who are actually footing the bill for this event. Who in there right mind will stay an extra day to see the demopit.
myfavz.com could be of interest to you. It is a new startup launched on sept 8th at the tc50. It is a social shopping portal with a unique patent pending feature called pKaboo!
pKaboo! enables gift givers to anonymously find out the recipient’s current interests, hobbies or perfect gift ideas. The giver’s identity is disclosed to the recipient by myfavz on the day of the event, thus maintaning the element of surprise which is so crucial to the ritual of gifting.
Let me know your views on myfavz
AJ
Founder / CEO
http://www.myfavz.com