TechCrunch40 Debuts with Search: Google Beware?
And they are off! TechCrunch40 Round 1 brought to us, play by play, courtesy of TechCrunch’s own Duncan Riley!
Search & Discovery launched the TechCrunch40 purported startup launch pad and our old friend Powerset was the first out of the not so below the radar startup gate.
TechCrunch commenter RBA aptly notes:
Hold it there. Not to be unfair to the other search companies, but following the buzz, does this mean Powerset will be available to the public today? As of right now the only box in their home page is the one asking for your email, and the quote “TC40 attendees will be amongst first in private beta” doesn’t sound like it will launch today, which I thought it was a requirement to present at TC40.
Riley has apparently been flown in by Arrington from his home base of Australind Western Australia to cheerlead for all actors in the TechCrunch40 show: Startup presenters and “expert” panelists, as he gives some big ‘ol high fives all the way around.
The good, old chisled Duncan we know and love is not far off, however; He can be found at his own blog trashing hotels, airlines AND Americans he encountered on the way over. After calling the staff at Hotel Adagio “rude” because they were unable to accomodate his demand for a room before their published check-in time and alleging a Quantas “scam” because he was unable to fenagle the Frequent Flyer deal he wanted AND bad mouthing fellow (American) travelers for not going along with his plan for an uninterrupted nap on a public airline, he STILL hyped TechCrunch40 demoers, even before the event kick-off!
Riley at duncanriley.com on his sojurn to the TechCrunch40:
Grrrr, not sure I can go that long with limited sleep again…hopefully this time the loud Americans sitting next to me don’t need to piss 7 times in a 14-15 hour flight…particularly when I’m trying to sleep.
Nevertheless, Riley was sitll game:
TechCrunch 40 starts tomorrow. I’m live blogging it at TechCrunch along with Nick Gonzales. Crazy stuff with a cast of thousands, amazing speakers and having seen the list now some bloody good startups as well.
Today, he is steadfastly rallying for the TechCrunch cause.
POWERSET: “Interesting take, great start to TC40″
COGNITIVE CODE: “Clever idea, if they can pull it off we’re seeing the future of toys”
CASTTV: “Nice results, even if they have no interest in American Football (chuckle)”
FAROO: “Interesting concept, the SEO crowd is going to love this, nice results.”
VIEWDLE: “Much more efective than the old method of text-based metadata indexing. Slick demo video.”
“EXPERT PANEL”: “Great” Marc Andreessen question to Powerset; “How do you break out APIs?” “Good response” WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE, DUNCAN?
BUSINESS MODEL DISCUSSION?:
Cognitive Code target market smart toys; embedding AI into a toy would be cool for my 5 year old, anyway.
FAROO shares advertising revenues with its users.
Riley and TechCrunch colleague Nick Gonzales conclusion:
We agree that CastTV was the winner in a very competitive group, good tech which just works with a practical use. Cognitive Code had the coolest product, but the demo wasn’t great which lost it for them.
ARE THE TECHCRUNCH40 REALLY THE NEXT BIG THINGS? FOR A REALITY CHECK SEE: Web 3.0: Madison Avenue Money Trumps TechCrunch40 Cool Apps
PLUS: Powerset Reveals Strategy: Sell Out to Google by 2009 and Yahoo Buys Zimbra: Beats Google for Web Office Leadership and Zoho at Risk as Yahoo Zimbra Attacks Google Apps