If your marketing strategy relies on being at TechCrunch 50 or Demo, you've already failed
thisisgoingtobebig.com
thisisgoingtobebig.com
And for anything inherantly, viral-- an event like this is a big bump... It's compound interest with a larger initial principal. If you have a viral service that starts with 2 users and I have a viral service that starts with the 10k I'll get at TC50 and we both have the same viral co-efficient, who wins?
And for any company that is fundraising, the visibility/credibility provided by this event is HUGE.
And for any company that is actively looking for partners/bizdev deals, the visibility/credibility provided by this event is big.
Is the value big enough to be worth shifting your launch date dramatically? Probably not. But if your launch date is in the neighborhood, trying to get it done at TC50 (or a similar event) is a low-cost/high-value proposition. Hell, even DEMO is low cost compared to most other PR/marketing spending you could do.
The best apps are BETTER with critical mass, but work on their own. del.icio.us works just fine if you're the only user.
Twitter wasn't just on display. It served a real function. The audience WAS the conference goers. You can't really use it as a comparable example in this case. I seriously doubt a social network aimed at kids will achieve even a fraction of growth from TC50.
Whats important here is that the type of people that will pay attention enough to go to tc50/demo aren't just going to go there and then not say anything about it.
They'll come home, get on their macbooks and start blogging what they saw ( some really nice programmers building a kids network ). Some of their friends will check out the links, maybe share it on facebook, myspace, or , gosh, in an email. And so forth...
If you know your customers and marketplace (and have a good marketing effort), an official launch should be irrelevant.
And besides, the reason so many startups go out to California is a larger tech talent pool. California has a lot of universities with excellent tech programs, very favorable laws and protections for tech workers, and very reasonable taxes for tech workers.
Incorporate wherever you want, your employees are going to look at the legal issues with working wherever you are. If your office is in a state that honors no-compete clauses, many people simply will not work there no matter how much money you offer them. Likewise, we've all got to pay our own private income taxes, and I'm not a big fan of New York's local taxes when your income rises above a certain level.
As far as I can tell, a few notable east coast bloggers are trying to spearhead a movement to call the East the new West for tech, and by and large it's failing because the reality is that despite the overhype and stiff competition, your engineers know they've still got a better shot in the Valley and surrounding areas than basically anywhere else in the country.
BTW... If your bottom line income (i.e. NY local taxes) is what you optimize for, you're probably not going to want to work for a startup anyway. Try a bank. I hear they have some nice cubes there.
I've worked at a company that secured funding because of connections made at one of these types of events. So yeah. I guess we're at an impasse, because your statement is exactly as unsupportable as mine.
> BTW... If your bottom line income (i.e. NY local taxes) is what you optimize for, you're probably not going to want to work for a startup anyway. Try a bank. I hear they have some nice cubes there.
I've made much more money in startups than I would have staying at a big company. And believe me, I know. I left a few people at Lockheed Martin (check out those 3% yearly raises!) and I've rejoined a few people who went to MS, and I've consistently been better paid, had at least equivalent benefits (better than LMCO, acceptably comparable to Microsoft) for a majority of the time.
Good luck with your startup, dawg.
1. Larger talent pool - yes. 2. Lots of universities with excellent tech programs - Stanford, UC-B. Anything else? No 3. Very favorable laws? No. California has some of the worst labor laws and tax laws in the country. You only start companies here because you need the talent. There's no other reason to be in CA 4. Favorable taxes for tech workers? Compared to what? Marginal tax rates on Scandinavian billionaires? 5. Capital gains taxes in CA are insane. Entrepreneurs beware.
I'm not an East coaster or West coaster but you sir need a reality check.
UCSB has a leading Computer Science program, with a really great talent pool for Computer Security in particular. UCSD has a fairly good department.
> 4. Very favorable laws? No. California has some of the worst labor laws and tax laws in the country. You only start companies here because you need the talent. There's no other reason to be in CA
It's favorable from the point of a tech worker. Which is why we like to stay here. For example, check out when a tech worker gets exempt status in California.
> 5. Capital gains taxes in CA are insane. Entrepreneurs beware.
Compared to New York's?
Why would that make a startup want to locate in California?
I.e., two of the most valuable "markets" are the primary attendees of e.g. DEMO... investors and press. The next tier can also be a boon: partners.
Another facet that's typically overlooked is the value in really getting clear on what you're delivering. Trying to get a powerful message about what you're doing into a 6 minute presentation in front of an audience of heavy-hitters is worth a lot. It was truly amazing to see so many aimless, jam-packed, and generally crappy presentations right up against so many really fantastic presentations.
What is the success rate of the companies that have participated in the past? Does anyone have stats on that?
http://www.techcrunch50.com/2007/
How many of those companies do you recognize after a year...
Mint Powerset (though only because of permanent beta) TripIt (awesome!) Flock (for some, not me) Xobni
And with a decent effort, any of them would have been just as successful without TC40. (Though TC40 could very well have helped them quite a bit.)
I think the average reader here deserves a little more credit than the original poster has given by submitting an article advising against such an obviously stupid strategy. How on earth did this make the front page?
If your marketing strategy does not involve every high visibility low effort opportunity you can get your hands on, you have already failed.
How much work does it take to get in the TC50? How much visibility does it provide?
"How much work does it take to get in the TC50?" A ton - business planning, networking, product development; it's a lot more than just starting up in some private beta.
One question not asked is, "How much work is required the four weeks before TC?" Answer: all of your time.
Another unasked question is, "How much time is required the eight weeks after TC?" Answer: probably all of them for at least 50% of the employees since you must follow up and follow through (investors, demos, press, networking, invitations).
That's not low effort at all, neither pre- or post-event; it's probably 8-12 weeks of your time that you aren't doing product development or other marketing. I'll agree that it's high visibility, of course, but don't overhype what it takes to be included and have a successful event.