
Ask HN: Is it worth being in TechCrunch “Startup Alley”? - fiokoden
edit: Judging from the lack of definitively positive about Startup Alley, maybe TechCrunch needs to make it more valuable somehow to participants?
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Danilka
I participated in the Startup Alley 3 times and in Battlefield once. Here is
my take:

\- Battlefield gives you great exposure to investors and gives you some
"validation" in their eyes. It is mostly true for noname VCs. If you network
well, you will get some good connections out of it. That being said, it will
not make your company. Even if it might seem so for a bit.

\- Startup Alley is a complete waste of time, unless you sell to other
startups. If you are starting something like Twilio, you will get plenty of
early adopters in a few days. Otherwise, there is no real exposure, no
traffic, no VCs, and almost no business partners. TechCrunch loves to hype it
up because they are making $1.7K on each booth. If you are not sure why you
want to participate, don't. Stay at the office and double down on your product
and customers. YOu are better off spending your money on youtube influencers
or what have you.

~~~
bradhe
> because they are making $1.7K on each booth.

Really? How many booths are they selling? That's a pretty small ticket price
all things considered.

~~~
andreasklinger
The startups technically pay to be part of the entertainment program

The value is in corporates buying tickets

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jdbiggs
Hey it's John Biggs kind of sort of from TechCrunch. I think what you've seen
here is a good assessment of why you want to go. It's great for connections -
I try to walk the Alley daily to see what cool stuff is there - and I've met
people who have signed deals in the side rooms. That said you make out of it
what you put in and it all depends on your product or company.

Want to know what I think it's good for? It puts you in the show, so to speak.
I've been over a hundred startup events and I think TC's is the best primarily
because of the people you meet and the ability to interact with other
startups. It helps you place yourself in the firmament of startups and figure
out where to go next.

I'm a founder and I wouldn't want to launch anywhere else. I'm biased to a
fault but that's the truth.

~~~
fiokoden
I wonder if techcrunch could do more somehow to connect Startup Alley
participants to its online traffic flow. No idea how, just germ of an idea.

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ibudiallo
Earlier this year, we were in the Alley and also participated in Battlefield.
I would say it's worth it because it gives exposure to your start up.

However, techcrunch is not all it is said to be. It is much of a self
congratulatory Enterprise. A lot of people that came to our booth were other
start ups trying to find new customers. The amount of web traffic we received
was dismal, compared to that famous cloudflare article.

In the end any advertising is better then no advertising. plus it helps you
come up with a one liner that describe what your startup is and does.

If you want to read the whole experience: [https://idiallo.com/blog/renly-
techrunch-disrupt-ny-2017](https://idiallo.com/blog/renly-techrunch-disrupt-
ny-2017)

~~~
fiokoden
I read your blog post nice read. With respect I suggest your product is too
narrow.... space in salons is a very small target user base. I'm not surprised
you didn't get much traffic or sign ups from SU Battlefield.... probably no
one watching owns a salon or is a beautician.

Humble suggestion is to pivot to a new or revised idea.

How is your traction right now?

~~~
ibudiallo
Thanks for reading. Actually since then there has been greater traction. The
low traffic however wasn't just us. Live video showed a very low number of
viewers (never more then 100).

Also we are adding verticals as the we see the demand increase. We started
with fitness, dental, office and now we are seeing more and more people asking
for generic spaces. So this is our next goal, renting any sort of space
possible.

------
mceoin
Context: I have been to Techcrunch Disrupt a few times (free both times) and
have friends whose companies were in startup alley.

The answer to this is relative to the time and cost inputs. If you are a small
company and bootstrapping, then no, it's unlikely to be worth it. Better to
skip the table and just hustle to meet press/investors/other startups, since
$2k can go a long way elsewhere.

My advice is to go to the hackathon the weekend before and build "something"
with your cofounder (presuming you have one). This should* get you two free
tickets to the conference.

Someone else here mentioned that if you sell to startups it might be worth it
- I'd probably agree with that as an exception if you aren't already based in
the Bay Area.

* You would have to confirm that Techcrunch are still offering this. They're usually pretty quiet about it (for obvious reasons) but I've used this method both times I went (for free).

~~~
sagivo
I also got in twice through the Hackathon. You have to end at the top 10 to
get free tickets to the event.

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exogeny
It was marginally worth it for my company, albeit it was free and it
was..seven years ago now.

I met at least two very important people while there, one of which ended up
investing into our seed round and the other who ended up introducing us to the
lead of said round.

My general advice is that the Alley is pretty much what it sounds like, and
the attendant quality of other companies there with you will be low. It's on
you to get out there and network; just standing by your kiosk will do
absolutely nothing for you.

~~~
Danilka
What startup was it?

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hayksaakian
If you think about it like a high ticket networking event or a business
conference then it can be.

If you show up and expect to get rich and famous by standing next to a table,
then you'll be disappointed.

~~~
sillysaurus3
Dunno about that. If you work each day in any random coffee shop in SV --
well, maybe not random, but one of the popular ones -- you'll run into people
working on some exciting tech. I don't think most of the country is like that.

~~~
Caveman_Coder
> "...exciting tech"

That's debatable. Here are some of the Startup Alley companies:

\- Stemless Co (buying weed)

\- Mycroft AI (another freaking voice assistant...with AI)

\- Topology Eyewear (custom glasses using 3D face models)

\- Reely (Sports hightlights...with AI)

\- WeTravel (disrupting the dead travel planner industry)

\- Teuko (lunchboxes and tech?)

\- Switchit (uh...business cards)

\- GamerLink (Facebook, but for gamers)

[https://techcrunch.com/event-info/disrupt-sf-2017/startup-
al...](https://techcrunch.com/event-info/disrupt-sf-2017/startup-alley/)

~~~
lozenge
It's like something out of Silicon Valley.

> If you pack lunch boxes, Teuko was made for you. We connect lunchbox makers
> and enhance their lunch packing experience. Teuko is the online community
> for lunchbox makers. Join us.

It contains 0 lunchbox content before signing in.

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justinbaker84
Not unless your product or service is specifically for other early stage
startups. I brought a booth one time an it was a complete waste of money.

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dustedrob
My company participated in the Battlefield and had a space in the Alley. You
do get extra attention if you also participated in Battlefield but the Startup
Alley by itself is not worth it. It's complicated and exhausting to stand
there for the length of the event and it's definitely the most inefficient way
to get tractiton.

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vbrendel
Me and my co-founder refined our pitching skills somewhat. Overall I wouldn't
say it's worth it.

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taytus
It depends. It worked for Pied Piper.

