7 ms·

The New York Tech Meetup: Start-ups: don't mention the money

35 points by mblakele 16y ago

jasonkolb 16y ago
Better to fail early and often, right? As far as I'm concerned, I want to hear my harshest critics often. I'd rather take my lumps as early as possible.
zaidf 16y ago
But Tech Meetup has its own peculiar etiquette, which is that there are certain questions that you simply do not ask. One, apparently, is "How will you reach a critical mass of users?" Really? That's a perfectly legit question. I'm biased though...that is the first question I shoot out because I expect the founder to have some creative ideas about getting traction. If you are building a site that requires critical mass and you have put in no serious thought to how you'll get users you are pretty doomed. Kevin Rose depended on shilling his site on his show. Zuck had the freakin email address of everybody at school, I think. MySpace guys pushed myspace across the parent company's sites and at LA clubs.
il 16y ago
Is the startup echo chamber so bad that people literally get booed for asking how a startup will make money? A startup is, at least in theory supposed to be a business(vs a side project, which doesn't have to be one). Have we forgotten that? This article's either greatly exaggerating the prevailing attitude, or the tech community is in big trouble.
- torrenegra 16y ago
  Not all presentations are made by startups. More importantly, not all innovations have to be profitable, nor they have to be a business.
  - il 16y ago
    I would argue that,unless you're a nonprofit or heavily government funded if you want to keep innovating yes, you need to be a business.
    - acgourley 16y ago
      Or you know, it could just be for pleasure...
torrenegra 16y ago
The article is not very accurate. I've attended the NY Tech Meetup dozens of times and I've seen the questions "How will you reach a critical mass of users?" and "Aren't you doomed to fail because X already does the same thing?" asked a few times with no backslash whatsoever. The third one ("how are you going to make money") is the only one that gets the "boooos". BTW, I happen to like that. After all, the meetup is about technology and innovation and not about making money.
ryanwanger 16y ago
Are all tech meetups like that? At the Boulder New Tech Meetup, every company is asked how they will make money. No one boos - it's acceptable, and completely expected. I think it's a common misconception that every web company is innovating, when most are just using existing tech to solve a problem (or provide a solution that is better than the existing ones). If you're developing some new technology that will change the world for the better, then I don't care if/how you'll make money. Otherwise, it matters.
- mkramlich 16y ago
  I have mixed feelings about the money question. On one hand, it's good to hear if the founders have thought about it and have a realistic answer. On the other, there are so many different ways of monetizing things, many of them are obvious to anybody who's experienced in business, and the exact way in which a particular new business does it is probably not too important. Whatever works, works. And they may even have to try several different things to see which is most effective. But the "how do I monetize this" aspect is generic and reusable across many different types of businesses. It's generally not part of a startup's secret sauce. The product, the service, the "what problem are you solving that people will pay you to solve" element is. Btw, I also attend Boulder New Tech Meetup regularly. Awesome series of events. However, as I write this I realize I just missed the Colo Green Tech Meetup tonight -- gah!
  - camz 16y ago
    I think that any entrepreneur needs to evaluate their position before they ever enter an industry. Walking blindly into business is rarely a mistake people can afford to make. You need to either asks yourself (1) can I generate insane conversion or users or (2) how will I monetize the business. If you can generate the user base that Facebook, Twitter or drop box has then monetization is irrelevant because any effective and intelligent management team can devise a business model when the customers have already walked into the store. I can't remember exactly but I think Ron Conway said that you don't need a business model when you have traffic like google's. But if you can't generate the users, then you need a plan to take to the bank. So, I think that if the ny tech meetup can't be realistic then it's like masturbation. It's great until you realize that you're screwing yourself lol.
nostromo 16y ago
I've been to NYTM many times and in my experience you can ask anything you want, just don't sound link an MBA when you do it. Understand that NY is the nexus of MBA speak. There are just so many corporate offices and financial firms and lawyers there -- NYTM is the one place that cuts through the regular NY bullshit and talks about technology for its own sake, not just as a conduit to make money. So if you get up and ask about synergies or exit strategies (or the worst offense, using slides instead of a demo) prepare to be booed.
- brianmwang 16y ago
  I've only attended one NYTM so far, but the one time I witnessed somebody get booed for asking the "how will you make money" question, it certainly wasn't wrapped in MBA speak. The crowd response seriously saddened me - this sort of attitude will only detract from the amazing things going on in NYC right now.
  - nostromo 16y ago
    Agreed -- I should have clarified that I haven't been to a NYTM since moving back to the West Coast over a year ago -- so it may have evolved since then.
  - andrewjshults 16y ago
    The "how will you make money" question got "banned" about a year ago (from my understanding) because it was getting asked of every company (which is fair) and given the amount of time presenters have, the on-stage answers were always really vague (ads!) or the revenue model should have been obvious (sales/commission). I don't think it's fair of The Economist to say that those questions are looked down on, it's just that given how little time is given for each company there are often a number of more interesting questions that could be asked and were getting pushed out. Plus, it had kind of become like a FIRST POST! type reaction that someone just had to ask. I've always found that if you are really interested in the specifics of the company (especially their business model) it's better to ask them afterwards since you can actually have a real dialog with them. Also, the during the presentation questions always seem better when it's actually about the demo since they can often show it right there on stage.
paul9290 16y ago
I had opportunity to present at one. This was when it was in the IAC building. I definitely recall them stressing even addressing audience about the money question; saying you can not ask the following we are here to see new/innovative things in tech. I'm sure many wanted to ask me how do you make $.
jesselamb 16y ago
I've been to NYTM, and the booing for the "money" question seems to be all in good fun. More like an inside joke than a jeer. As andrewjshults said, it seems less about ignoring the the viability of the presenter's business and more about keeping the technology and novel aspects of the product front and center.
joshu 16y ago
Strange - I demoed Delicious at the very first NYTM, back when it was in Meetup's offices.

35 points by mblakele 16y ago

Better to fail early and often, right? As far as I'm concerned, I want to hear my harshest critics often. I'd rather take my lumps as early as possible.

zaidf 16y ago

But Tech Meetup has its own peculiar etiquette, which is that there are certain questions that you simply do not ask. One, apparently, is "How will you reach a critical mass of users?" Really? That's a perfectly legit question. I'm biased though...that is the first question I shoot out because I expect the founder to have some creative ideas about getting traction. If you are building a site that requires critical mass and you have put in no serious thought to how you'll get users you are pretty doomed. Kevin Rose depended on shilling his site on his show. Zuck had the freakin email address of everybody at school, I think. MySpace guys pushed myspace across the parent company's sites and at LA clubs.

il 16y ago

Is the startup echo chamber so bad that people literally get booed for asking how a startup will make money? A startup is, at least in theory supposed to be a business(vs a side project, which doesn't have to be one). Have we forgotten that? This article's either greatly exaggerating the prevailing attitude, or the tech community is in big trouble.

torrenegra 16y ago
Not all presentations are made by startups. More importantly, not all innovations have to be profitable, nor they have to be a business.
- il 16y ago
  I would argue that,unless you're a nonprofit or heavily government funded if you want to keep innovating yes, you need to be a business.
  - acgourley 16y ago
    Or you know, it could just be for pleasure...

torrenegra 16y ago

The article is not very accurate. I've attended the NY Tech Meetup dozens of times and I've seen the questions "How will you reach a critical mass of users?" and "Aren't you doomed to fail because X already does the same thing?" asked a few times with no backslash whatsoever. The third one ("how are you going to make money") is the only one that gets the "boooos". BTW, I happen to like that. After all, the meetup is about technology and innovation and not about making money.

ryanwanger 16y ago

Are all tech meetups like that? At the Boulder New Tech Meetup, every company is asked how they will make money. No one boos - it's acceptable, and completely expected. I think it's a common misconception that every web company is innovating, when most are just using existing tech to solve a problem (or provide a solution that is better than the existing ones). If you're developing some new technology that will change the world for the better, then I don't care if/how you'll make money. Otherwise, it matters.

mkramlich 16y ago
I have mixed feelings about the money question. On one hand, it's good to hear if the founders have thought about it and have a realistic answer. On the other, there are so many different ways of monetizing things, many of them are obvious to anybody who's experienced in business, and the exact way in which a particular new business does it is probably not too important. Whatever works, works. And they may even have to try several different things to see which is most effective. But the "how do I monetize this" aspect is generic and reusable across many different types of businesses. It's generally not part of a startup's secret sauce. The product, the service, the "what problem are you solving that people will pay you to solve" element is. Btw, I also attend Boulder New Tech Meetup regularly. Awesome series of events. However, as I write this I realize I just missed the Colo Green Tech Meetup tonight -- gah!
- camz 16y ago
  I think that any entrepreneur needs to evaluate their position before they ever enter an industry. Walking blindly into business is rarely a mistake people can afford to make. You need to either asks yourself (1) can I generate insane conversion or users or (2) how will I monetize the business. If you can generate the user base that Facebook, Twitter or drop box has then monetization is irrelevant because any effective and intelligent management team can devise a business model when the customers have already walked into the store. I can't remember exactly but I think Ron Conway said that you don't need a business model when you have traffic like google's. But if you can't generate the users, then you need a plan to take to the bank. So, I think that if the ny tech meetup can't be realistic then it's like masturbation. It's great until you realize that you're screwing yourself lol.

nostromo 16y ago

I've been to NYTM many times and in my experience you can ask anything you want, just don't sound link an MBA when you do it. Understand that NY is the nexus of MBA speak. There are just so many corporate offices and financial firms and lawyers there -- NYTM is the one place that cuts through the regular NY bullshit and talks about technology for its own sake, not just as a conduit to make money. So if you get up and ask about synergies or exit strategies (or the worst offense, using slides instead of a demo) prepare to be booed.

brianmwang 16y ago
I've only attended one NYTM so far, but the one time I witnessed somebody get booed for asking the "how will you make money" question, it certainly wasn't wrapped in MBA speak. The crowd response seriously saddened me - this sort of attitude will only detract from the amazing things going on in NYC right now.
- nostromo 16y ago
  Agreed -- I should have clarified that I haven't been to a NYTM since moving back to the West Coast over a year ago -- so it may have evolved since then.
- andrewjshults 16y ago
  The "how will you make money" question got "banned" about a year ago (from my understanding) because it was getting asked of every company (which is fair) and given the amount of time presenters have, the on-stage answers were always really vague (ads!) or the revenue model should have been obvious (sales/commission). I don't think it's fair of The Economist to say that those questions are looked down on, it's just that given how little time is given for each company there are often a number of more interesting questions that could be asked and were getting pushed out. Plus, it had kind of become like a FIRST POST! type reaction that someone just had to ask. I've always found that if you are really interested in the specifics of the company (especially their business model) it's better to ask them afterwards since you can actually have a real dialog with them. Also, the during the presentation questions always seem better when it's actually about the demo since they can often show it right there on stage.

paul9290 16y ago

I had opportunity to present at one. This was when it was in the IAC building. I definitely recall them stressing even addressing audience about the money question; saying you can not ask the following we are here to see new/innovative things in tech. I'm sure many wanted to ask me how do you make $.

jesselamb 16y ago

I've been to NYTM, and the booing for the "money" question seems to be all in good fun. More like an inside joke than a jeer. As andrewjshults said, it seems less about ignoring the the viability of the presenter's business and more about keeping the technology and novel aspects of the product front and center.

joshu 16y ago

Strange - I demoed Delicious at the very first NYTM, back when it was in Meetup's offices.