The second annual Crunchies are over, and 900 people are across the street at the after-party toasting the winners. For those of you who didn’t attend or see it live on Ustream, the nominees, winners and runners up for each category are below. We’ll have follow up coverage and a video of the new Richter Scales song that was performed live later tonight or tomorrow.
Last year’s winners are here. This year’s nominees, runners up and winners:
Best Application Or Service
Get Satisfaction
Google Reader (winner)
Minted
Meebo
MySpace Music (runner-up)
Yelp
Best Technology Innovation/Achievement
Facebook Connect (runner-up)
Google Friend Connect
Google Chrome
Windows Live Mesh (winner)
Swype
Yahoo BOSS
Best Design
Animoto (runner-up)
Cooliris (winner)
Friendfeed
Infectious
Lala
Sliderocket
Best Bootstrapped Startup
BackType
GitHub (winner)
Socialcast
StatSheet
12seconds.tv (runner-up)
Most Likely To Make The World A Better Place
Akoha
Causes
CO2Stats
GoodGuide (winner)
Kiva (runner-up)
Better Place
Best Enterprise Startup
Amazon Web Services (winner)
Force.com
Google App Engine (runner-up)
Yammer
Zoho
Best International Startup
eBuddy (winner)
Fotonauts
OpenX
Vente-privee
Wuala (runner-up)
Best Clean Tech Startup
Better Place (runner-up)
Boston Power
ElectraDrive
Laurus Energy
Project Frog (winner)
Best New Gadget/Device
Android G1 (runner-up)
Asus EEE 1000 Series
Flip MinoHD
iPhone 3G (winner)
SlingCatcher
Best Time Sink Site/Application
Mob Wars
iBowl
Tap Tap Range (winner)
Zivity
Texas Hold Em (runner-up)
Best Mobile Startup
ChaCha (runner-up)
Evernote (winner)
Posterous
Qik Skyfire
Truphone
Best Mobile Application
Google Mobile Application (runner-up)
imeem mobile (winner)
Pandora Radio
rolando
ShopSavvy
Ocarina
Best Startup Founder
Linda Avery and Anne Wojcicki (23andMe)
Michael Birch and Xochi Birch (Bebo)
Robert Kalin (Etsy)
Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone (Twitter ) (winner)
Paul Buchheit, Jim Norris, Sanjeev Singh, Bret Taylor (FriendFeed ) (runner-up)
Best Startup CEO
Tony Hsieh (Zappos)
Jason Kilar (Hulu) (runner-up)
Elon Musk (SpaceX)
Andy Rubin (Android)
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) (winner)
Best New Startup Of 2008
Dropbox (runner-up)
FriendFeed (winner)
GoodGuide
Tapulous
Topsin Media
Yammer
Best Overall Startup In 2008
Amazon Web Services
Facebook (winner)
Android
hulu
Twitter (runner-up)
Congrats Facebook..
im having a hard time figuring how a 500+ million dollar funded company is a startup? insider trading? shell game? bubble pushin? same-o, same-o from nothern CA.
WinnerLocator.com – number one
Exactly what I was thinking, by this metric you would think that Microsoft and IBM would be in the running
What a bunch of Maroons!
America suffers while Arrington and the Valley elite award one another for…
…what?
Self-importance? Irrelevance? NOT making money?
Meanwhile, the rest of America. The REAL America, worries about making their mortgage, feeding their kids, and keeping roofs over their heads.
Congradulations, Crunchie Winners. Or as John Q. Public sees it.
For Nothing.
What exactly do you think the goal of these businesses is?
I for one would think something along the lines of creating jobs and a knowledge based economy rather than one that relies on “real americans” standing on a factory line doing jobs better suited for robots.
Then again, I am not an american let alone a real american so what would I know.
Great List, but it would be even better if you publish the URL for some of those websites.
For example, Texas Holdem is a runner up in “Best Time Sink Site/Application” category. Now I don’t know how to find it – is it a stand alone website, is it a Facebook application…?
its an iphone app, by apple.
It’s by Zynga, not Apple.
Are you sure Christopher? Zynga’s iPhone app is called “Live Poker”. Apple’s is specifically called “Texas Hold’em”. I would think if they meant the Zynga app they would have referred to the app’s title (Live Poker, or even Zynga Live Poker), not its subject (texas hold’em). Then again, they also mention something called “Tap Tap Range” when I assume they meant “Tap Tap Revenge”, so who nkows.
http://img515.i...65/texasbc5.png
I think theres more than one, the zynga one is called LIVE POKER
Zynga’s app for Facebook is called Texas Holdem, but who knows who is the winner here…
Facebook is not no start-up. Neither is Amazon Web Services. Neither is Android.
Techcrunch: Maybe you could rename that category to: Best Overall (New) (Web/Software) Product in 2008?
http://kisalt.us/590
i found all links on this blog
http://blog.pol...yrockets-again/
congratulations to the winners.
ps. and good luck to all of us in 2009.
Just out of curiousity, for 2009 might there be some definition or limit on what constitutes a startup? Congratulations to all of the winners, but I wonder if Mark Zuckerberg might have just outranked everyone else in the Startup CEO category.
Agree – I was a bit surprised to see him win Best Startup CEO too – I would have thought a start-up was a company that started in 2008? Perhaps Ballmer should throw his name in the ring next year.
Personally, I’m amazed that Jason Kilar from Hulu didn’t win this. If anyone read the article in Wired a few months ago (http://www.wire...e/16-10/mf_hulu) you would see that he walked into a mess, then totally changed the game by offering all of the best shows online, for free – which wasn’t really the plan at the outset. Everyone, TechCrunch included, was expecting a dismal failure and he answered his critics, and then some.
Other than continue on their viral growth trajectory, I didn’t see any amazing moves from Facebook in 2008, although Facebook Connect looks promising.
Mike
http://www.waxlyricl.com
I voted for Tony Hsieh – any company as awesome and customer friendly as Zappos, that is ingrained in their culture and it comes from the top-down.
Uhh that makes no sense? Facebook is not a startup.
when is a startup no longer a startup? i’d say 3 years max.
“when is a startup no longer a startup?”
When it finally turns profit, which means that many of these companies will be startups for an infinite amount of time…
The ‘official’ definition of a start-up (meaning the one that is used by governments and academics) is that of a company being younger than 3 years.
Facebook is not no start-up. Neither is Amazon Web Services. Neither is Android.
Techcrunch: Maybe you could rename that category to: Best Overall (New) (Web/Software) Product in 2008?
Fun event, I look forward to the next year… a couple surprises for me including Live Mesh and Facebook, I agree, isn’t really a startup anymore? Is it?
i have to agree facebook isnt a startup. and its a shame a company that is 4 years old is still consider a startup.
This just in, TechCrunch loves Facebook. I’ll alert the media!
Yeah, what’s with the Facebook and twitter love? It looks like twitter is starting to catch on with the masses, but I don’t understand the importance of it. Their IP could easily be duplicated by cell phone companies.
You guys really oughta focus on NEW companies / products. For the 2010 crunchies, I don’t want to see a single product that existed in any public form before 2009. Otherwise Facebook is going to win this thing every fucking year – talk about a snoozefest.
And Google Reader is a great product no doubt – but again, it’s years old, and Google is like the largest company in the world. Go back to focusing on small companies and the crunchies (and your site) will be insanely more interesting.
Ditto! (excpet for the part about anything by Google being a “great product”. But I agree, do we need to be reminded year after year that Facebook is full of cool kids and Google is full of bullies? The Crunchies have become everything I hated about High School…
so sad. )
Couldn’t agree more. Personally, I wish Michael A. would find some new hobbies other than FaceBook and Twitter. While I understand his enthusiasm for both sometimes it does feel like he is their biggest investor.
I’d personally like to see more articles that provide interviews with some of the lesser known start-ups that have raised capital – with an insight in to the process (if possible).
Are we allowed to make requests here?
Its refreshing to see Microsoft win a Best Technology Innovation/Achievement award.
There are startup in the list that have been around for years. What defines a startup? “Still not making money”?
Lol…
I thought Yammer will win atleast 1 award. But has not done so . Very sad
Yay for Twitter!
Congrats my favorite FriendFeed and Twitter! Magic tech resources.
Congrats to the winners! Awesomeness across the board.
My only sadness is that Tony Hsieh didn’t win the CEO award. The leadership and culture at Zappos is the most amazing I’ve ever seen.
Hulu got SHANKED!
@jason I love the word “shanked”
Sure it’s not ‘Topspin Media’ … says ‘Topsin Media’ now that would be a totally different kind of company.
Firma Parkı
http://www.firmaparki.com
yawn ……
to check these out it would have have been nice
for your readers to use hyperlinks. I want hyperlinks!
“The 2008 Crunchies is our second annual competition and award ceremony to recognize and celebrate the most compelling startups, internet and technology innovations of the year.”
Please define a startup!!!!!
Facebook, Google & Amazon related people, products should not even be on those start-up categories
Yay for FriendFeed!!! woo hoo!
They sooo deserved that award this year! awesome!
That blonde lady from Google looks awesome. She deserves to win that category’s prize.
Classy comment.
Facebook ..still startup? Is not having a business model means it is a startup? and Shazam not in Applications category?
Great to be a part of this, photos coming up sometime tomorrow afternoon when I’m awake enough to edit. Sleep now!
Why the hell did Facebook win? It’s been around for years, while Twitter has really gotten into its stride in 2008.
Stupid voters.
Just another example how people just love to kiss Facebook’s a** – quite sickening really. Why not give the award to a deserving “startup” with an actual working business model that hasn’t been around since 2004!
As many people before me said, I think you guys should focus on small new companies that have just been started in that year. You know what I mean…
And also, no big players meaning no Google, no Apple, no Microsoft, no Facebook.
I know it will be hard but that way you will actually be saying something new…
I’m surprised there were 900 attendees and less than 35 comments about it so far. Okay, I admit, 34 comments when counting only this single post, but it seems like a bust. I’m sure every company that showed is going to enjoy a little more blog attention, but I feel 2008 was really about hardware. Netbooks and phones have really hit home to consumers this year. I’m looking forward to 2009, but I’m weary of more clones of clones of clones when it comes to the web.
I’m allowed to drunk post right? To clarify, I don’t want to sound like nothing exciting happened in web this year, that may have come off wrong.
Dank…., ours didn’t win in any category, Yahoo!, that’s…!
How are Amazon, Google and Facebook startups? Why not throw in Microsoft and HP in the mix too?
Ian
Would be nice if you added links to all the websites.
Google Alumni got top positions, congrats!
As long as the ranking is solely based on popularity (i.e. number of votes), small and innovative startups will never have a chance to win the crunchies. It’s simply a matter of networking effects.
Further, the whole event will always be leaning towards American and particularly SV companies. As that’s where companies can grow the quickest. But it’s not necessarily the place of the most refreshing startup ideas.
This borked setup basically hurts the importance of the crunchies for the industry. Nobody is really interested in seeing Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple etc. win a crunchie award, not even the media. These well established companies all own a lot of our mindset already.
What we want are real news, new uprising stars and great ideas!
is facebook still a startup? I really don´t think so. a decision like this makes the whole thing worthless for me.
Maybe we missed the small print
A photo of Zuckerberg attending and claiming the award is likely much more pleasing to the masses than some unknown from a new startup company, it also makes the actual award ceremony look good having him there. Everybody (the audience, sponsors and big companies) wins when the big guys win.
Congrats to all those who have made to the final screened list.
good night my friend, save your self for a good people
please, help me for backlink
Google’s gotta be hating the Crunchies this year. So many close finishes. Maybe their dog food bonuses will push them over the top next year. Or maybe they’ll just boycott the Crunchies next year. That’s what I would do.
Somehow I don’t think Google gives a flying fart about the Crunchies.
By the way, by the Crunchy definition, every company in the world can be classified as a startup!
Google knows all. Google cares about all. I agree that they probably don’t care that much, but it’s just something else negative about Google this year. In addition to not being among the most best corporate citizens this year, they aren’t being the most innovative (in the eyes of the industry). That’s my take.
Twitter.com/dankalmar
Facebook, Zoho and others here are great companies but they are not startups!
Maybe crunchies should have separated categories for true startup’s and other companies.
yeah … facebook – startup ?
what a fcking joke … 500 million later
haha “startup” … maybe crunchies will have some real value in the future but $500 million is hardly a “startup” …. seriously mike – take a step back and consider your awards
most importantly, if techcrunch were to consider itself for an award – how would it fare as a supposed “startup” ?
selammlar
Facebook and Google winning at the Cruchies is like The Matrix Revolutions wining at an independent film festival – long since franchised, co-opted, and certainly not scrappy startups. It’s so much more exciting and interesting to see what people can create when the don’t have a blockbuster budget.
Twitter and Facebook are tough to beat. I can’t believe how much momentum Twitter gained over the last 12 months. From the election to nearly every small business that it in tune with their online reputation.
crunchies video? {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/N7l8HRuKbA_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”crunchies video? ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/tOOGyPRTtr”}}}
I define a startup by having a significant percentage of people churning up new ideas in the middle of the night and on weekends. By that definition Facebook is definitely a startup.
When does Facebook end being a startup? When are they grown up?
It’s it kinda odd to refer to Mark Zuckerberg as a ‘Startup’ CEO? How long is Facebook going to be considered a startup?
Wow. facebook is a startup? How many people at techcrunch did it take to figure that out?
Mark Zuckerburg – best startup CEO? Biz Stone & Co. – best startup founders?
What a joke…
Facebook, Google and Amazon all considered startups?? And zuckerberg considered “best ceo”? Did anyone read tech crunch’s own coverage of what zuck did in the last year?!
Even calling hulu a “startup” is a stretch, given their backing.
Yay for friendfeed, evernote and imeem. Tony from Zappos got shafted.
The rest? A joke.
These awards are childish and have absolutely no credibility.