Ten Startups Debut At TechStars Demo Day | Hacker News Reader

Ten Startups Debut At TechStars Demo Day

techcrunch.com

28 pointssant0sk118 comments

I'm pleasantly surprised. I think this batch is as good as the most recent YC batch, at least from the perspective of business ideas...I don't know if they've executed as well. I kinda thought TechStars would fizzle out as an also-ran, but they seem to be hitting their stride. I still find it a little more than obnoxious that they're so focused on YC: They schedule their demo day for the same day as YC (I guess...YC's Valley Demo Day is today, I think...and the Valley Demo Day is the real one...the one in Boston last week is for practice...nobody ever gets funded in Boston), and they make their companies make a decision about acceptance a few days before YC makes their decision.

If TechStars wants to be a serious long-term contender they need to focus more on their customers and less on their competitors.

On a different note, I'm pretty sure Jamie and I chatted with one group of founders in this batch that also applied to YC. I guess they took the TechStar bird in the hand rather than the YC birds in the bush. We liked them, and I'm pretty sure pg and Co. at least gave them an interview.

Hey, we actually got funded by someone who found us at a Boston demo day. I'm pretty sure we're the only ones ever to do so though.

You're right about their cheesy sibling rivalry thing (which doesn't stop at demo day scheduling). I guess what else would you expect given that they straight up lifted their application from YC.

i met the disqus guys at boston demo day. i prefer boston demo day to sf demo day. but that's probably the east coast superiority complex coming out in me

I've always granted you honorary membership among the ranks of the bold Silicon Valley investors, Fred (you're also smart and good looking, and I bet you can cook, too). But I'm glad to hear that some (at least two) YC companies are getting funded in Boston, since pg doesn't seem interested in moving the SFP to the valley.

My favorites in this batch are Devver and Foodzie. I think there's a lot of great stuff that can be done with cloud based development -- especially blurring the line between deployment and development.

Foodzie is something my parents would use -- especially if they can offer some high-end European foods.

Gyminee seems to have a lot of traction already. They're doing one thing right -- even without the social features, it's still useful.

Foodzie is something I would definitely try if it existed in my area. It sounds like a combination of farmers' markets and the web. A great idea!

I also like the part about the producers making most of the money. Not only is that a classic cut-out-the-middleman play (in what seems like an inefficient market), it might lead to a whole bunch of interesting niche products becoming viable where they weren't before. Which, not to exaggerate too much, would make the world a better place.

I usually look at new apps from the perspective of a developer... can't remember the last time I got this excited as a customer.

totally agree with your picks. and i was there and met the teams

Personally, I was most impressed with the concept of BuyPlayWin -- the current design isn't great, but I think the idea is very novel -- if the prices are right, and they can reach a critical mass, I could see this becoming quite popular, especially with the college-aged crowd. I'm pretty sure every kid would think they were guaranteed a win, and I could see the process becoming somewhat addicting. Plus, who doesn't want a shot at something free?

I have to disagree, I think this one is most likely to fail. The concept is based on the idea that a group of people will somehow collectively gather on an unknown website and buy the same product, at the same time. I mean common, what are the chances?

They'd have to spend big big bucks on marketting to get the amount of visitors needed for this concept to fly. If it was amazon who was launching then it might work.

I think you're absolutely right about needing a large amount of visitors (and the Amazon suggestion, obviously) but that's why I put so many ifs -- I'm talking more about the idea itself -- I think it's really neat, and if Amazon were to do this on college textbooks for instance, I think it'd be great.

I like the concept of Ignighter, reminds me of this quote:

"What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured."

http://tumblr.iamdanw.com/post/25864804/what-should-young-pe...

I really, really like the logo for Travelfli. Whoever put that together, props. Very web 2.0, but with a grown and sexy feel (as Jay-Z might put it).

I'm really interested in the product. I used to travel a lot and still have enough friends who hang out on traveltalk to understand the market. It's a biggin.

Thanks for your interest. Please send me an email at krista{at}travelfli.com and I will get you a beta invite...

Thanks so much! Shoot me an email at krista{at}travelfli.com if you'd like to beta our site.....

I like the concept of Gyminee. I know this is the wrong place to post this, but the techstars batch this time seems more useful than the YC batch. This last YC batch was a bit like features, but the techcrunch stuff is actually useful.

I signed up for Gyminee, because it's a good idea and it's time for me to gain some muscle.

Foodzie looks like the most interesting one to try for myself. I hope it will exist in Canada, heh

Sucks when a singing girl is picked over you.

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