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TC50: 1 – Demo: 1 – Startup: 0
This post isn’t about all the mudslinging between Techcrunch/Mahalo and DEMO. It’s not about who wants to kill who, who wants cement boots for the other. It’s not about which conference is better for you to attend. It’s not about which conference is better for a startup to launch at. That discussion is not for now.
I am sure that both conferences are considered successes by the respective participating companies. Startup visibility is a great thing that so many of us work on daily. This post is about one issue we are now faced with: overload. As many of you know by now, Techcrunch 50 (my bet is 80 as a final count) is now going heads on with DEMO. Both conferences have one day "off" and then the other two days now overlap.
And you know what the mission to "kill" DEMO has done? It’s hurt the entrepreneurs that Jason was screaming and yelling about this morning on his chat with the fanboys. What about the DEMO entrepreneurs? They are now screwed as well. Why are 140(?) entrepreneurs screwed?
How will any of the 140 startups get visibility over the massive amounts of posts that will be put out over that 5 day span? From my perspective last year was tough enough as reporters were running from TC40 to DEMO and cranking out posts at an alarming rate. I’d suggest that CN’s coverage (and Webware’s) were the best from both events and it was already working close to 24 hrs a day with only one conference to cover at a time. Yet I will do it again this year and love every minute of it.
Can most blogs or even larger news organizations like CNET/NY Times afford to send multiple people to both conferences for coverage? Or will some startups just get limited coverage due to where they fall on the schedule of their respective conference? I am guessing if you are applying to TC50 you will want to be on the last day and for DEMO on the first day.
Let’s do some simple math:
140 startups
60 press at each event – totally a lowball estimate
each press person will cover 35% of the startups
=
2,940 posts over the 4 days — this doesn’t include interviews, general coverage, networking/party recaps, etc.
How will readers even get a chance to review all of the coverage and try out the apps? Alright, that covers the press. What about VC firms? Will they cover both for the entire event? What about general attendees? I guess to some extent both events are forcing everyone to choose.
In a chat with a startup today, he wondered if any startups will just stay home and launch on their schedule so they can get the full blogger/PR buzz. For example, launch your startup tomorrow and you have 3-4 others to fight with for visibility. Launch at DEMO/TC50 and you now fight with 140 companies for visibility. In a later chat the startup’s founder said the best time might just be the week before both events – since 140 startups will be holding back, you might just be able to get a bigger bang? I sure hope that’s not the case and that both events provide better (much better) visibility.
Update: Jeremy seems to agree with the startup I spoke with.
It looks like I will attend DEMO the first two days, then TC50 the second two days. Better take the laptop in for a tuneup before I head to the west coast.
So to Heather Harde, Michael Arrington, Jason Calacanis, Chris Shipley (and whoever she is working with), ya’all need to get this straight. Remember why you created these great events in the first place. It’s about helping entrepreneurs succeed. All of us have the same end goal.
[...] Jason, Heather, Mike and Matt remember the end goal and don’t get back to last years “TC50: 1 – Demo: 1 – Startup: 0“. centernetwork257:http://www.centernetworks.com/tc50-advertising RSS [...]
Thanks – I actually think I met you at the W during a break in the TC40 schedule. Whoever came second in the scheduling could have easily went with say August or October.
This is a post that needed to be written, and I really wish more people would call the players on their complete lack of sensitivity to the startups they supposedly want to help. Saying it is one thing, but scheduling this type of conflict is just the opposite. What happened last year was’t perfect, but it was manageable. And ultimately being a week apart would let the best conference win. We were a finalist for TC40 and launched at DEMO. The process was challenging to manage, with the TC selection process being repeatedly delayed. First year teething pains, but we needed to commit and move forward. Still, it worked out for press, VC’s, and most important the attending startups.
Allen, I agree wit everything you said above. And I’d add that on the VC/investor front I think you’ll see an amplification of what happened last year – TC drawing the bay area investors and few outsiders, DEMO drawing everyone else but not Sand Hill Road.
While I’m at it – c’mon quality 140 startups (misnomer since there are plenty of big companies launching new “features” at both events) all ready to launch in September? I don’t think so.
TC claiming that they had no choice with the dates is utter nonsense. This is yet another attempt by Michael Arrington to level everybody around him so that he can get all the glory and all the money.
I have no doubt that Arrington decided to do this last year when there was a conflict between a couple of the TC40 selectioned companies and Demo.
Allen, you’re right that this ultimately hurts the startups, but as somebody who was at TC40 and went through the selection process and everything last year, I’m here to tell you that he doesn’t give a damn. The man only cares about himself as the center of his universe and wants all eyes on him alone. There’s no place in his ego for Demo.
Anybody who want to know what the DemoPit was like at TechCrunch40 should read my post about it:
http://dawnkey.wordpress.com/2007/09/23/is-techcrunch-doomed-to-be-replaced/
Save your money. Or spend it at Demo. Don’t bother paying to be in the DemoPit. We got less than 50 hits the days we were there! All eyes were on stage. Nobody cared about the DemoPit, and they will care even less when attention is split between TWO stages.
“It’s about helping entrepreneurs succeed.”
O RLY?
Let me know when the post is about who wants to kill whom. That will be more fun than playing Clue. I suggest Mr. Arrington in the Auditorium with a Candlestick.
Thx to livestreaming, you can watch both conferences at once. Attending is another story, but I think a lot of journalists, especially here in NYC (the tech editors at Business Week, Fortune, Forbes, WSJ, NYT) just watch from their desktops. As for the Jason vs. Chris flap, it’s just good natured trash talk from Jason, a good guy who has always looked out for the interests of startups, especially here in NYC. I’ve played basketball with him many times, and can tell you he just drives forward with his head down.
Guess we finally get to meet then! Guess which one I’m going to :D
yep, looking forward to meeting you as well!
Don’t you view TC50 and Demo as two startups dueling it out to have a monopoly?
You almost want to see a college or non-profit step in and say “this is for the startups, no one else.”
But who are we kidding, that wont happen, this will be a drawn out battle.