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In this case Arrington is right and Shipley is wrong. Charging $18k to present will weed out most good early stage startups. Maybe that wasn't true 17 years a
by pg 18y ago
In this case Arrington is right and Shipley is wrong. Charging $18k to present will weed out most good early stage startups. Maybe that wasn't true 17 years ago when DEMO started, but the world has changed.
- gojomo 18y agoThe fee may weed out a certain breed of scrappy startups, but ability to pay is an enduring fitness signal. I have a hunch Demo will still be around after Arrington retires and TechCrunch becomes a bubble-nostalgic brand like FuckedCompany or RedHerring.
- pg 18y agoAbility to pay may be a sign of fitness, but willingness to pay is a sign of wastefulness and desperation. If I were a VC I'd never want to invest in a company that was willing to blow that kind of money to present to me.
- gojomo 18y agoCertainly, Demo is not aimed at PG-style investors. As enough time passes, it will be valuable to compare the relative followup success of companies presenting at TC vs. Demo. For example, how do the DemoFall2007 and TC40/2007 rosters compare, a year or two later? (I don't know, but I hope the more-invested partisans of the two conferences undertake the analysis.)