Gawker
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capitalism
Why Demo's conference beat TechCrunch40
Techdirt, the ever-opinionated analysis blog, has weighed in and found Demo's lineup of startups and new products more compelling than last week's TechCrunch40. Why? Mike Masnick doesn't come out and say it, but his implication is clear: Unlike the parade of Web 2.0 one-note-Johnnies drummed up by TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, most of experienced Demo organizer Chris Shipley's picks were focused on useful improvements to existing technology, not gimmicky new ideas. Arrington and Calacanis launched TechCrunch40 because they felt that it was somehow wrong for conferences to charge startups to present. Nonsense, of course. I think that the fact that Demo charges presenters — reportedly $18,500 apiece — was actually what makes it a stronger event. More » -
great moments in journalism
The TechCrunch40 aftermath
Congratulations to entrepreneur Aaron Patzer, pictured above with an oversized novelty check. His financial-services startup Mint was the big winner in this week's TechCrunch40 conference, bringing home the $50,000 prize for being the "best in show." So, what was the overall view of TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis's big event? This take, sent to us late last night from an out-of-town journalist, explains it better than we could. More »
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Comment by MATIC: @STAWKER how about theory c. they knew that none of the companies were really worth writing about and that a... more » | Other threads
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party report
Liquidating the TechCrunch40 at Fluid
My fellow Valleywaggers Owen Thomas and Nick Douglas were banned from the TechCrunch40 conference, and, odds are, I would have been banned from the afterparty at Fluid nightclub, had I asked permission to attend. So, I didn't bother asking, and scrounged up a ticket though back-channel connections, instead. Specifically, through the generosity of my new crush, the mysterious "TechCrunch40" Twitter guy, who left an envelope with an extra ticket and a cryptic note with the bartender at the House of Shields around the corner from Fluid. (Turns out "TechCrunch40" is a group effort — the note was signed by Rick Diculous, El Guapo, Mr. Gray, and Harvey Farquard.) More »
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Comment by mblevin: Alternative caption: What's fat, sweaty, and green all over? more » | Other threads
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techcrunch40
The TechCrunch40 attendee who's been brutally parodying the conference on Twitter as "Techcrunch40" says that the service — whose founder, Evan Williams, is a TechCrunch40 panelist — abruptly changed his username to "NotTechcrunch40." [Twitter]
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By Owen ThomasComment by Keymaster: Who else thinks the latest batch of WiFi interrupts were the result of putting blocks in place to keep our... more » | Other threads
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By Owen ThomasComment by waynelambright: That business model always works. more » | Other threads
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techcrunch40
Michael Arrington's pet photo copier
ProfileBuilder is a sponsor of TechCrunch40, the startup conference organized by TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington. It's also the subject of a glowing, "exclusive" writeup in TechCrunch today. Coincidence? I'll let you decide. The writeup celebrates ProfileBuilder's acquisition of ZingFu. Say who buys say whom? Exactly. These are companies you're unlikely to need to care about, ever. Except to note this: The friendly TechCrunch article doesn't mention ZingFu's nasty habit of nicking copyrighted images, like this photo of Arrington by Laughing Squid blogger Scott Beale, with no fair-use rationale in sight.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Owen Thomas: @Duncan: We need to get you sleeping more, clearly! Australia-to-U.S. jet lag is a pretty decent explanation, I've got to... more » | Other threads
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techcrunch40
Mark Cuban disses Jason Calacanis
So much for old pals. Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and billionaire founder of Broadcast.com, was Jason Calacanis's original backer at Weblogs Inc. And Cuban had agreed to show up at Calacanis's latest venture, the TechCrunch40 conference, as an expert judge. Cuban's still listed on the site, but he's a no-show at the conference, attendees say. Why? Apparently he's taping the ABC reality series "Dancing with the Stars." He's surely having a better time being critiqued for his soft-shoe technique than debating the merits of startups like Orgoo, Kerpoof, and ZocDoc. Once again, old media trumps new media. -
media relations
Don't mess with Michael Arrington
Prickly TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington is given to griping about PR people and their capricious rules. But he's not above setting his own rules when it comes to his TechCrunch40 conference. Specifically, presenting companies have been required to observe a press embargo until their turn on stage, and violators may be yanked from the lineup. With only 10 companies left to go, it seems like most of the startups have been sheepishly obedient to this rule. Anyone get yanked? Let us know. The full rules and regulations after the jump. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by teleprax: What's all this about presentations? I'm a bit more interested in finding a list of the 39 types of appetizers... more » | Other threads
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picture of the day
Letting loose at TechCrunch40
Microsoft executive Don Dodge captures a moment from the TechCrunch40 conference. Or, more specifically, after the conference, in the limo ferrying VIPs from the TechCrunch40 VIP dinner to the after party at Fluid. Pictured, from left, Mayfield Fund VC Raj Kapoor on the floor of the limo; Allen Morgan, also from Mayfield, throwing gang signs; DanceJam cofounder MC Hammer; and angel investor Ron Conway, looking bewildered.
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Comment by categorically: Damn, that is so sad. What a bunch of losers. Why people continue to give these bozos money is beyond... more » | Other threads
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xobni
I'm too sexy for my install script
It's traditional for software developers to put their names on a product. When you launch Photoshop, for example, a long list of small-type names flashes on the screen while the product loads. But pictures? That's an innovation, as far as I know. Engineers at Xobni, the email-software startup which just presented at the TechCrunch40 conference and launched its first product in beta, pasted in photos of themselves that display when their software finishes installing. Perhaps they'll get some dates for their trouble. If not users.
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By Owen ThomasComment by fitt: So far I like it, quite helpful in organizing the trainwreck that is outlook. Threaded conversations, files exchanged, and "Keep... more » | Other threads
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conflicts of interest
TechCrunch40's VC sponsors
A Valleywag tipster whispers that a company that had made the initial cut of 20 companies for the Techcrunch40 conference — back when it was known as "TechCrunch20" — got bumped when conference organizers "doubled down" and expanded the list to 40 startups. The company's sin? Competing with a startup funded by one of TechCrunch40's four VC sponsors. The competitor got bumped, and room was made for a sponsor-backed startup. "Ah, the Valley mafia at its finest," the tipster concludes. Of course. Sand Hill Road was built on conflicts of interest. More » -
the chart
Do the TechCrunch40 startups need a $50,000 prize?
TechCrunch40 is different, organizer Jason Calacanis claims, from most startup conferences in not charging companies to present there. Never mind that, in fact, he and TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington are charging 100 companies to present at the conference's subsidiary DemoPit. The notion was that TechCrunch40 might discover promising companies that couldn't afford to present at a pay-to-play conference. But in reality, most of the 40 startups presenting here don't even need the $50,000 cash award. For them, at most, it might fund a nice victory bash. More » -
techcrunch40
Jason Calacanis is Willy Wonka
I've always had trouble understanding Jason Calacanis's rationalizations for DemoPit, the sleaziest part of the TechCrunch40 conference. Calacanis and his partner-in-wasting-time, TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington, launched the conference promising not to charge companies to demonstrate, as other startup conferences did. But then Calacanis turned around and announced DemoPit, a side room for also-rans to hawk their Web-based wares. He snuck in the news that the 100 DemoPit participants would have to buy a ticket — a sneaky way to charge, after all, for the right to demonstrate. Taking into account all the direct costs, Calacanis should turn a tidy profit on the sideline, I calculated. When I called him on it, Calacanis blustered and blathered, calling me a "pariah" for daring to question him. Charming. But then I figured it out: Jason Calacanis is Willy Wonka, the magical candyman. And the DemoPit participants are his Oompa Loompas. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Fetterman_07: duncan that is the problem. did anyone think about the audience - they are the customer. when you waste their... more » | Other threads
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geek love
Your Twitter makes my heart go flitter
FROM THE DESK OF MEGAN MCCARTHY — Is it possible to have a crush on a Twitter stream? Cause I do. Whoever you are, mysterious TC40 guest posting as "TechCrunch40" on Twitter, you need to call me. Now. A girl has needs.
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Comment by mandarin: Thats all it takes to get attention? Wow all those wasted flowers Ive been sending out... more » | Other threads
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techcrunch40
Meanwhile, in the real world of business
The Web 2.0 startups featured at TechCrunch40 are adorable, really. But they can't compete with the draw of a real business with real, paying customers, Six Apart executive Michael Sippey points out: "Around the corner from tc40 there are 7000 people at salesforce.com's conference." Salesforce.com, unlike most of the startups on display at TechCrunch40, dares to charge for its Web-based software — a recipe for disaster, according to TechCrunch40 organizer Michael Arrington. Right. If you consider half a billion dollars in annual revenues to be a disaster, that is.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Rock tha Hizzee: @fatbastard: I'll take that bet and even do you one better. Who wants to bet that five years from now... more » | Other threads
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techcrunch40
Startups face a wireless disconnect
TechCrunch40 organizer Jason Calacanis is madly spinning the glitch-filled presentations at his conference as a success. The back channel — on Twitter and IRC — begs to differ. The biggest problem: There's no cell phone service deep inside the Sheraton Palace, the hotel in which the conference is being held. You'd think organizers might have checked such a thing before scheduling wireless startups to go on stage with live demos, but no. Instead, with no canned presentations to show, entrepreneurs are attempting to talk about how cool their mobile Web products would be ... if they worked.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Whocares: They should feel right at home.. I dont' get coverage at most of the VC firms on SHR. Especially 3000... more » | Other threads
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loser-generated content
TechCrunch40 gets a bitter Twitter
Brilliant. Someone — apparently a rejected applicant for the TechCrunch40 conference going on now in San Francisco — has hijacked the shindig's name for a Twitter account and is skewering the presenters' every misstep live. Already, the organizers' lack of selectivity — if you'll recall, it was originally supposed to be 20, not 40, startups — is becoming clear. "Thus far, 50% of presenters have a better way to search for Britney Spears... GENIUS! (psych)" reads one Twitter.
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By Owen ThomasComment by ebourqui: Come on, you know it's Uncov, they vowed to do something like this. more » | Other threads
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to do
Valley rallies for TechCrunch borefest
I have never been more grateful to Jason Calacanis. The prickly Internet entrepreneur disinvited me, you see, from TechCrunch40, the conference opening today in San Francisco that he organized with TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington. And thereby saved me from a long nap at the Sheraton Palace. The conference was originally supposed to highlight 20 companies, but Arrington and Calacanis couldn't decide on just 20, so they "doubled down" and expanded the list to 40, ostensibly because all the companies were so great. But then we all saw the list last night. I'd considered jumping off my red-eye flight and heading to the Sheraton Palace — indeed, friends begged me to just show up and see what happened. But going by the list of startups presenting there — Zivity? Orgoo? — I'm just as content to get your reports and post the best of them.
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By Owen ThomasComment by MATIC: I liked the idea of the conference, letting interesting startups lead the way and making that process more egalitarian. However,... more » | Other threads
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to do
Are you hot enough for TechCrunch20?
Want to get into TechCrunch20, the upcoming startup conference held by Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis and TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington? Are you "RELIABLE," between 5'7" and 5'9" and have "long hair and a petite frame?" This is could be your chance. According to an ad on Craigslist, two models are needed to work all day on September 18, the second day of TechCrunch20, doing promotions for a "media company" in San Francisco's "Financial District." Interested? Just send in your resume, headshot, and full body shot to techcrunchmodel@gmail.com. But which "media company" is it? More » -
crash this bash
Uncov needs cash to crash TechCrunch20 conference
The crew from Uncov, the sarcastic self-styled anti-TechCrunch, wants to attend TechCrunch20. That, of course, is the conference where TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington will bless us with 20 demonstrations of the hottest new startups. Uncov's editors say they want to ask the hard questions we all suspect won't be posed to Arrington's handpicked favorites. But attendance, alas, isn't free. Each ticket costs $2,495. So the "bunch of poor startup founders who write a marginally popular blog that doesn't have any advertising on it" are having a hard time making ends meet. If you don't want Uncov absent at the TechCrunch20 "jerkoff," you can make a donation. So far, they have raised a whopping $185! So they need your support. More »
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By Tim FaulknerComment by ChiefCynic: So where the other guys would just drop the "e," you guys drop the "e" AND the "r." F'in brilliant. more » | Other threads
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party report
A Demo reunion in Palo Alto
Through her Demo conference, Chris Shipley strands some of the most important people in tech together in the desert and forces them to pay attention to strange new ideas. It's like Burning Man without the playa dust and with much fancier drinks, or so I'm told. The experience is apparently scarring enough to bond people for life, judging by the palsy-walsy crowd of past Demo participants and guests who crowded into Palo Alto's Zibibbo restaurant Tuesday night to mingle and mix with other "alumni." More »
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Comment by sattak: Vieux looks like the only one in a tie. Loosen up buddy; your company will be bankrupt soon more » | Other threads
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techcrunch20
Jason Calacanis's $75,000 fib about his conference
Entrepreneurs, how stupid does Jason Calacanis think you are? Pretty stupid, apparently. We recently pointed out how he and partner Michael Arrington were going back on their word by charging startups $1,247.50 to demo at TechCrunch20. Now, Calacanis has been going around claiming that the DemoPit program "[b]asically this wipes out any profit we would have from selling those slots." Nonsense. It's hard to know where to start in debunking this notion, but let's do it by the numbers. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by crasher: @Owen Thomas: ok like a dummy i go to [techcrunch20.com] then [techcrunch20.com] where i read "The format is simple: Twenty of the hottest new... more » | Other threads
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techcrunch
Michael Arrington lures startups into his money pit
When Jason Calacanis and Michael Arrington launched their startup conference, TechCrunch20, they promised to change the slimy business of launching new companies at high-priced shindigs. For the companies chosen to present their products, be no cost to pitch or attend, unlike other high-profile startup bashes. Now, though, he's figured out how to solve two problems at once: Bump up flagging ticket sales and charge startups for the privilege of showing their wares. It's so ingenious, so hypocritical, and so brazen, it could only be conceived by Michael Arrington. Here's the plan. More » -
techcrunch20
Michael Arrington yanks panel critique
More than one person has described TechCrunch's Michael Arrington to me as "touchy." Which is putting it mildly. Try "hypersensitive." Or "thin-skinned." Or "prickly." The latest example? Arrington recently posted about the naming of three people to the advisory panel of TechCrunch20, his upcoming startup conference: French blogger Loic Le Meur, angel investor Ron Conway, and Sarah Lacy. The panelists, unexpectedly, proved controversial — and Arrington, predictably, overreacted. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Owen Thomas: @Duncan: No, it's not. Follow the link above, where you'll get the blank TechCrunch page where a post and comments... more » | Other threads
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