Is the TechCrunch50 DemoPit worth it?

Very interesting advice on how to make the most of the DemoPit. It seems like a complete scam to me - anyone not accepted into TC50 is invited to pay $3,000 for what will likely be nothing of value.

But if you take the approach this startup did, practice your pitch until it's rock-solid, then innocuously latch onto each passerby with a unique presentation, then you may actually end up with something of lasting value.

Even so, it's likely to end up a bitter disappointment for most, who I suspect are expecting much more from it.

If you were an east coast startup (or really from outside California) I could see the value, but if you are a startup in the Valley, it does not seem to really make sense. If you can't hustle and make the right connections, then what you are working on probably is not headed in the right direction.

We(nobodies from east coast) were a demopit company in 07. What it led us too was...

- Being featured on many of the high profiled tech blogs - Being invited to present alongside MS & FB at an event - Being selected into one of the incubators & some other things

Did it make our company a huge hit. No, but it indeed put us in the spotlight and made it easier to get press & some funding. Also, it was an amazing fun journey!

Off course not!

If you really want to participate TC50, you should try everything else. Talk yourself into TC50, leave a comment on every TechCrunch article for the next 14 days and ask for a ticket or an invite, wait in front of 635 8th Street and pitch to angel's you recognize the day of the conference, dress like a Janitor with an old college ID and a van to get in.

Invent something but do not spend 3K just to be on the DemoPit. The area no one cares about that day anyway. Leave the 3K in your bank account and be happy to have more runway, or get a freelancer to do "that thing" that will make your product that much better.

Basti.

Save the money for food/beer......