URDB: What’s Your World Record?

Having your very own world record is probably something you never knew you wanted. But if you think about it, who wouldn’t want to be the world’s best at something? The Guinness World Records site is one place to go, but they have to approve the record you are attempting to set/break. The process can take weeks, and they may reject the application.

Enter the Universal Record Database, or URDB. The site, founded by Dan Rollman and Corey Henderson, first launched in November 2008.

The two first started doing their own world record camp at Burning Man in 2004, and the idea evolved from there. From the history of URDB: “Camp visitors were dreaming up and setting unique, creative and spectacular records. They were taking great pride in their feats. Competition was fierce, with record setters returning daily to make sure their achievements hadn’t been topped.”

Fast forward to today. Over 1,000 wild and wacky world records have been set on URDB, and about 1/3 of those have been broken. Among my favorites: Most Giraffe Tattoos On A Shoulder (record is currently a mere 4), Tallest Tower Of Humans Wearing One Sock Each, Brushing Teeth And Listening To ‘Thriller’ (record is four) and Most Bunnies Snuggled With In A Hammock (record is 50, but actress Cameron Diaz briefly held the record with 48 bunnies):

The point is you can do what you want and have fun with it. But there’s a serious side too. Rollman told me earlier today that they fully intend the site to evolve into a serious records site that will compete with Guinness.

There are many parallels to what Wikipedia did to the old Encyclopedia companies. There’s no reason for a group of people to try to control the process, and there’s nothing wrong with people trying to set a record for the tallest tower of humans wearing one sock each while brushing their teeth and listening to Thriller. Nothing wrong with that at all.

URDB has just closed their first round of financing – an angel round that included an investment from Chris Sacca.

We’ll be setting a world record at the TechCrunch offices sometime this week, and another next week at TechCrunch50 involving the audience. Have any great ideas? let us know below.