5 ms·

If your marketing strategy relies on being at TechCrunch 50 or Demo, you've already failed

45 points by jedc 18y ago

mattjung 18y ago
He's made a point. Finding its users is the most important tasks for a startup. Startup events like TechCrunch 50 or Demo may become a flash in the pan that cost lots of energy and time to participate.
- jedc 18y ago
  Being one of 50 startups, even at a very highly promoted conference, isn't exactly what I would relish. If you know your customers and marketplace (and have a good marketing effort), an official launch should be irrelevant.
dbreunig 18y ago
The headline says it all. Solve a real problem for a group of people who care and will be the foundation for your product. (And that group of people should not be Arrington and Calacanis!)
jlogic77 18y ago
To have the top 50 companies seems does more of a disservice to the people named in the top. 50 is just too many! After that it just seems like you lose the attention, impact and intensity of being on top. What is the success rate of the companies that have participated in the past? Does anyone have stats on that?
- ceonyc 18y ago
  You tell me: http://www.techcrunch50.com/2007/ http://www.techcrunch50.com/2007/ How many of those companies do you recognize after a year...
  - andymoe 18y ago
    Maybe it was a rhetorical question but xobni, mint and flock are the only ones I recognize and the only one I really use everyday is xobni. Mint is OK but I really only read the summary emails and don't log in often.
  - jedc 18y ago
    I'd say: 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.)
natrius 18y ago
I was under the impression that participating in these events is primarily to help get funding, not to help get users. From that perspective, these events are clearly valuable to startups.
- KirinDave 18y ago
  Right. It's kinda ridiculous to see people on the east coast basically vomit a steaming pile about west coast events they only vaguely understand. 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.
  - ceonyc 18y ago
    Actually, I used to work for a VC firm (and I wrote the article), so trust me, I more than "vaguely understand" how companies get funding, and they're not through these events. The companies that get funded would have gotten funding anyway and no one with a great product ever lacked for funding just because they couldn't get in front of a VC. We never went to these types of events looking for things to invest in. 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.
    - KirinDave 18y ago
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
bigbang 18y ago
I think events like these give crediblity and opens up conversations with the investors.
webwright 18y ago
The knee-kerk reaction against this event (and marketing/pr in general) on News.YC is pretty daft, IMO. There are some (very social) services that require "critical mass" to be engaging. The spike of TC50 MIGHT just push a service like that into having a self-sustaining/growing user population. Example: What Twitter experienced at SXSW. 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.
- pxlpshr 18y ago
  There are two sides to a coin and I find myself agreeing with both the article, and your response.
  - webwright 18y ago
    Me too, FWIW. :-) I think the "throw up balloons and bunting" mentality as a solution to a product that users aren't responding to is all-to-common. Great read on the topic here: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/06/not-so-grand.html http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/06/not-so-grand...
- ceonyc 18y ago
  "There are some (very social) services that require "critical mass" to be engaging." 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.
- dbreunig 18y ago
  "Example: What Twitter experienced at SXSW." 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.
ivankirigin 18y ago
includes != relies
- mrtron 18y ago
  I was going to write something very similar. 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?
  - ScottWhigham 18y ago
    Wait - you think TC50 is "high visibility low effort"? I completely disagree. "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.
keefe 18y ago
This article seemed to come to the conclusion that TC50 is not worthwhile and that working out of the east coast is better and then wrote up a piece justifying it.
fizx 18y ago
If your marketing strategy relies on <insert one idea here>, you've already failed.
- ceonyc 18y ago
  +1
johnm 18y ago
Depends very much on who you're "marketing" to. 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.
mattmaroon 18y ago
If your getting on HackerNews strategy relies on linkbaiting and TechCrunch trashing, you've already succeeded.
jm4 18y ago
Isn't this something that goes without saying? I'd be surprised if anyone outside of Hacker News has even heard of TechCrunch, and the only reason people have heard of it here is because the site is spammed daily with their lame articles. 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?

45 points by jedc 18y ago

He's made a point. Finding its users is the most important tasks for a startup. Startup events like TechCrunch 50 or Demo may become a flash in the pan that cost lots of energy and time to participate.

jedc 18y ago
Being one of 50 startups, even at a very highly promoted conference, isn't exactly what I would relish. If you know your customers and marketplace (and have a good marketing effort), an official launch should be irrelevant.

dbreunig 18y ago

The headline says it all. Solve a real problem for a group of people who care and will be the foundation for your product. (And that group of people should not be Arrington and Calacanis!)

jlogic77 18y ago

To have the top 50 companies seems does more of a disservice to the people named in the top. 50 is just too many! After that it just seems like you lose the attention, impact and intensity of being on top. What is the success rate of the companies that have participated in the past? Does anyone have stats on that?

ceonyc 18y ago
You tell me: http://www.techcrunch50.com/2007/ http://www.techcrunch50.com/2007/ How many of those companies do you recognize after a year...
- andymoe 18y ago
  Maybe it was a rhetorical question but xobni, mint and flock are the only ones I recognize and the only one I really use everyday is xobni. Mint is OK but I really only read the summary emails and don't log in often.
- jedc 18y ago
  I'd say: 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.)

natrius 18y ago

I was under the impression that participating in these events is primarily to help get funding, not to help get users. From that perspective, these events are clearly valuable to startups.

KirinDave 18y ago
Right. It's kinda ridiculous to see people on the east coast basically vomit a steaming pile about west coast events they only vaguely understand. 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.
- ceonyc 18y ago
  Actually, I used to work for a VC firm (and I wrote the article), so trust me, I more than "vaguely understand" how companies get funding, and they're not through these events. The companies that get funded would have gotten funding anyway and no one with a great product ever lacked for funding just because they couldn't get in front of a VC. We never went to these types of events looking for things to invest in. 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.
  - KirinDave 18y ago

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

bigbang 18y ago

I think events like these give crediblity and opens up conversations with the investors.

webwright 18y ago

The knee-kerk reaction against this event (and marketing/pr in general) on News.YC is pretty daft, IMO. There are some (very social) services that require "critical mass" to be engaging. The spike of TC50 MIGHT just push a service like that into having a self-sustaining/growing user population. Example: What Twitter experienced at SXSW. 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.

pxlpshr 18y ago
There are two sides to a coin and I find myself agreeing with both the article, and your response.
- webwright 18y ago
  Me too, FWIW. :-) I think the "throw up balloons and bunting" mentality as a solution to a product that users aren't responding to is all-to-common. Great read on the topic here: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/06/not-so-grand.html http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/06/not-so-grand...
ceonyc 18y ago
"There are some (very social) services that require "critical mass" to be engaging." 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.
dbreunig 18y ago
"Example: What Twitter experienced at SXSW." 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.

ivankirigin 18y ago

includes != relies

mrtron 18y ago
I was going to write something very similar. 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?
- ScottWhigham 18y ago
  Wait - you think TC50 is "high visibility low effort"? I completely disagree. "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.

keefe 18y ago

This article seemed to come to the conclusion that TC50 is not worthwhile and that working out of the east coast is better and then wrote up a piece justifying it.

fizx 18y ago

If your marketing strategy relies on <insert one idea here>, you've already failed.

ceonyc 18y ago
+1

johnm 18y ago

Depends very much on who you're "marketing" to. 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.

mattmaroon 18y ago

If your getting on HackerNews strategy relies on linkbaiting and TechCrunch trashing, you've already succeeded.

jm4 18y ago

Isn't this something that goes without saying? I'd be surprised if anyone outside of Hacker News has even heard of TechCrunch, and the only reason people have heard of it here is because the site is spammed daily with their lame articles. 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?