Better Late Than Never: Paul and Sarah Liveblog the Final Batch of Launch Startups
By Paul Carr
On March 8, 2012
Ok! Here we go! Refresh for updates!
BlackLocus: “Intelligence to Drive Your eCommerce Competitive Pricing Strategy.”
Paul: I tried really hard to think of something to say about this company. Not a good start to a liveblog.
Sarah: I couldn’t really hear because Shervin is going crazy and screaming back stage.
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common red: An IMDB for Web work like videos, logos, designs and UI. This guy didn’t do a great job pitching– only two of the judges understood what they did. But I think it’s actually a great idea. The way he explained it, if you want to find the person who made, say, the Dollar Shave Club video, this could help find that for you. Execution is obviously a big variable, but I think it’s a good idea.
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PunchTab: “Google Analytics For Loyalty”
Paul: This looks pretty cool — a way to build a loyalty program without spending a trillion dollars. Integrates with shopping carts, social etc etc. Javascript snippet. Power 6000 programs so far.
Sarah: Agreed. Seems solid. Plus they are giving “shots” of Orange Crush at their booth. I love Orange Crush.
Paul: Me too!
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Sarah: A way to allow people to add content and things like that to Facebook brand pages. I think. It was a little unclear. Not trying to be a jerk– they didn’t know that they’d be pulled out of the demo pit. (As evidence by the hastily thrown company T-shirt over his button down.)
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Crowd Funder: The law will soon be changed to allow even non-accredited investors to invest in startups. Crowd Funder makes that easier to do.
Paul: You can imagine exactly what this company looks like. Lots of easy tools to value the company, set prices and share types etc. Also upload documents for potential investors. I have no idea of the legality of this.
Jason: Right now you’re going to jail for 14 years.
Sarah: This is hard to pull off. Legal issues aside, many businesses (including mine) wouldn’t want to raise money over Amazon.
Paul: This is going to make it easier than ever for idiots to get absolutely FUCKED out of their money.
Sarah: If this passes, it’ll all end in tears. The question is whether it’s the companies who are letting all kinds of random individuals in or the individuals investors who don’t understand what they are investing in.
Everyone here says it’s awful that people can go gamble away $10,000 in Vegas but not invest in companies. Not for the companies!! Companies should have investors who are partners, not people who view that as a “gamble.” That money should go to Vegas.
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Scoot Zipcar for scooters.
Paul: Unlocks with a smartphone dock. That’s pretty cool.
Sarah: I love this, because I’ve always wanted a Vespa and my husband won’t let me have one. Only problem to adoption is insurance and motorcycle licenses. I think you have to have one to drive a Vespa. People who have them probably already have a scooter.
(He says it only goes 30 MPH so it doesn’t require a license. That’s still a perception issue though.)
I wish Tony Hsieh was here because this is cooler than the little golf cart company he liked yesterday.
Francisco Dao is sitting next to me. He points out that you have to have leather jackets etc to drive a scooter. You can’t just waltz out in shorts and a T-shirt. Not that it’s a deal-breaker, but it’s not an impulse grab like the ZipCar.
Still, this is a cool idea and the entrepreneur seems to have thought through a lot of issues. They should have been main stage, not demo pit, IMHO.
That’s it! Sorry we didn’t get to see all the companies. But we loved a lot of the ones we saw.
Paul Carr is author of "The Upgrade: A Cautionary Tale of a Life Without Reservations" and "Bringing Nothing to the Party: True Confessions of a New Media Whore".
He has written for a variety of publications, including The Guardian, and TechCrunch. He is the founder of NSFW Corporation.
