

Startup Riot 2011 accepting apps to present/attend - sanjayparekh
http://startupriot.com

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sanjayparekh
2011 is going to be even bigger and better than 2010. We're taking 50 startups
again and we're anticipating 500+ attendees in 2010. As always, no cost to
present and we even have a travel fund for selected presenters that need help
paying their way. We also screen out service providers so everyone you meet
will be someone useful. Initial deadline for apps to present is mid-December.
I expect all 50 slots to be gone by the end of December.

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whimsy
What sort of service providers aren't allowed? Are you talking about SaaS
providers? Do you mean EMT dispatchers aren't allowed? Maybe Comcast has to
keep out?

This ad could do with a little more verbosity.

Incidentally, why isn't the "rockstar" fad dead yet?

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sanjayparekh
Service providers in this context are people who are lawyers, accountants,
headhunters, consultants, etc. Sorry for the lack of clarity. That said, these
folks can come if they are sponsors but other than that - no entry for them.
And this year we'll have an EMT on site. Not that I wanted it but the venue
requires it - go figure.

Re: rockstar - we're at a venue that normally has shows for real rockstars so
I kinda feel like it's justified. :-)

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sanjayparekh
Also, just announced that Andrew Warner of Mixergy is the keynote speaker.

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AndrewWarner
I want to get together for a drink with HN'ers at the conference. Email me if
you'll be there. mail at awarner dot com

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sanjayparekh
FYI - we'll likely be doing a pre-party on Tuesday which may be perfect for
this and also an after-party on Wednesday.

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b_bradley
Does Startup Riot offer any type of mentoring pre-show assistance? Also, the
application states that presenting companies receive a table at the event.
What materials are normally used at this event? I have a small startup and am
not sure if I can afford a lot of professional sales materials at this time.
The application also asks how many people from your company will be attending.
Will they receive passes if we are accepted or do they have to apply to attend
the event?

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sanjayparekh
I'll try to go point by point.

* pre-show assistance may be available in 2011 for selected presenters. We're thinking of doing a bunch of practice sessions on Monday and Tuesday before the main event.

* re:tables, it really depends on the startup. The main purpose is so that people can easily find you when they want to talk to you. Some startups just show up with themselves and a laptop for demos. That's totally cool. Others bring a big shebang. That's fine too. It totally ranges and usually depends on where they are at in terms of lifecycle. Honestly, this is more about susbtance than style.

* Additional company reps are $30 each although I'm considering of waiving that for the 1st attendee after the presenter (presenter is ALWAYS free to attend of course). We might do more than that but it'll depend on what we can line up in terms of sponsor dollars. Even if we can't, it's only $30 per person. Compared to other so called "inexpensive" events, we're one or more orders of magnitude cheaper. And company reps have an easy time getting approved to attend - we've never barred startup personnel UNLESS they are consultants (like PR firm reps or something) in which case we have a discussion about it.

Hope that long winded answer helps. This stuff should go online in the near
future via a FAQ page. You can find the FAQs for 2010 at
<http://2010.startupriot.com>

Thanks for the questions!

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b_bradley
Thanks for the info. I like the idea of the practice sessions - probably since
I am new to this and more of a computer person than sales guy.

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jimsumblay
What types of companies are you looking for as presenters? Also, what does a
typical presentation consist of - revenue forecasts, market size, product
demos, management background, marketing strategy? With just 3 minutes, I'm
wondering if we should just present our product and company background or if
we should focus more on why you should invest in us.

~~~
sanjayparekh
The focus is Internet/software startups. We take startups of all stages from
idea stage to post-funded/post-revenue.

There is no "typical" presentation - it should really be centered around what
you're trying to get out of the presentation. But personally the most
successful I've seen talk almost exclusively about the service/product being
offered. The presentation isn't a time to convey everything about what you're
doing - it's more about getting people to come and talk to you afterward to
learn more.

Hope that helps.

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jimsumblay
It helps. In watching videos from previous years, it did appear to be more
product oriented. When selecting companies, what else do you look at?
Readiness to take on investors? size of the market? prototype of the product?
or is simply based on how interesting the presentation is and how comfortable
the speaker is in making it?

~~~
sanjayparekh
I don't have an exact formula. I mainly judge if the idea is interesting and
if the presentation is compelling.

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andywatson
This is a great event and I would encourage entrepreneurs to attend. I
presented at it last year and LOVED IT. I met tons of great entrepreneurs
there. The 3 minutes deadline seemed crazy but I think I ended with 25 seconds
to spare so I should have slowed down a little bit!

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malbiniak
someone get ben chestnut from mailchimp there. they're based in ATL, have a
startup integration (w/ mailchimp) fund currently going[1], and ben is one
smart cookie[2].

[1][http://www.mailchimp.com/blog/mailchimp-
launches-1-million-i...](http://www.mailchimp.com/blog/mailchimp-
launches-1-million-integration-fund/)

[2]<http://www.mailchimp.com/blog/going-freemium-one-year-later/>

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sanjayparekh
MailChimp seems to be pretty involved locally. So you just might see them
there... Not that I'm confirming or denying anything. :-)

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whimsy
... Why is it called a riot?

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sanjayparekh
Because the presentations are fast paced. Each presenter has 3 minutes, 4
slides. It's fast. And it's about changing things compared to "normal" events.
To attend it's cheap ($30 to $70) and everyone is pre-screened so we can make
sure the _right_ people are in the room (not an army of lawyers, accountants,
headhunters, consultants, etc.). It's all about helping entrepreneurs succeed.
That shouldn't be different than "normal" events but unfortunately, it is.

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whimsy
Sounds like "Startup Races" to me. "Riot" connotes disorganized violence... or
anarchy. =\

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scottgibson
Been every year and it's an extremely well organized and fast paced event.
Loaded with a ton of smart and interesting people!

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sanjayparekh
Yeah, by disorganized I really meant some parts that are supposed to be
"riot"-like. We try to do a fairly well choreographed event so that people
know what is going to happen but also have time for random chance meetings to
occur that turn into gold for the participants.

