This year I had the pleasure of heading out to San Francisco to join 1700 other tech-startups, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in an event called the TechCrunch50. The event brings together 50 companies that are launching new technologies and another 150 companies that are demoing or showing off their new products.
While I didn't get the chance to see all the companies because I was demoing my own product Pic.Me I did manage to see a lot of great startups. These are my favorites:
- GoodGuide - Find out if your products are poisoning you
- Yammer - Twitter behind the enterprise curtain
- Swype - A new way to type on a small screen
- BlahGirls - Cartoon content with product placement
- BoJam - Jam with people online and sell the music
- DropBox - Sync files from your Mac and PC mostly automatically
- OtherInbox - Send spam and subscriptions here to save time
- BirdPost - Post your bird sightings with your GPS IPhone
- Atmosphir - Create your own Lego video game
- TrueCar - Never overpay for a commodity car
- FotoNauts - Photo albums with public pictures
- VideoSurf - Search inside the video for content
- HangOut - Online 3D world with real merchandise
There are many more companies that were showing off new technologies and it helped remind me of the global tech community. It's not just San-Fran.
The speakers were great. The startups were top-notch. The food was mediocre and the facilities were lacking both in terms of wifi and bathrooms. (Not always in that order).
I had a great time and have already been contacted by several companies so it sounds like the event will be a success from a business perspective as well.