CATEGORIES
- WEB STARTUPS
- WEB NEWS
- CONFERENCES
- WEB TECH JOBS
- VENTURE CAPITAL
- MICROSOFT
- INTERVIEWS
- ADVERTISING
- VIDEO
- ALL TOPICS
- ALL COMPANIES
CONTRIBUTORS
- ADRIAN CHAN
- ALICIA NAVARRO
- ALLEN STERN-EDITOR
- CORSIN CAMICHEL
- DARREN HERMAN
- HANK WILLIAMS
- MARK DAVIS
- RICK TUROCZY
- SANFORD DICKERT
- SHANNON CLARK
A Bit of Advice for Startups
Over the past two weeks I've had over 50 companies ask me for advice on launching their startups. Many of them have come to me with a launch date in early September. My advice each time is simple, "don't do it". With the DEMO and TC50 conferences overlapping, launching a startup during that time means the likelyhood that you will get good press coverage is slim-to-none.
If you are planning a release, either a full product launch or major update, I would launch either before September 4th or after September 15th. While DEMO and TC50 will only occupy September 8-10, there will be discussion after the events are over about both the startups and the events themselves. This is why I would wait another week before pushing your message. Plus it gives the writers a few days to rest their fingers after the massive amount of writing that will take place.
The early part of September should be exciting and very fast-paced. I have been working my Mavis Beacon videos hard! Looking forward to meeting everyone in California and don't forget to register for our brunch.
Check out our previous TC50/Demo coverage:
Good advice Allen! Timing is often crucial. We went a bit against conventional wisdom by launching during the sleepy summer month of August (tomorrow actually!), but one of the reasons was the anticipated deluge of startup reviews from DEMO/TC50. Fingers crossed!
damn good advice
It's good advice but it's really sad that 2 events will garner all the attention during that time. It doesn't do anything for the 'echo chamber' reputation of the blogoshere either.
Shafqat, I like your site, even in its pre launch state.
That's really good advice, Allen.
And it doesn't just apply to DEMO and TC50. Don't try to launch during MacWorld, CES, or the Web 2.0 Expo either, unless you're launching at one of them -- your launch will just be buried in the flood of tech news that comes out of these types of events.
great point Josh - having a calendar is critical
note: comments may take up to 5 minutes to appear due to cache