My Experience at the TechCrunch Meetup in Seattle

Yesterday, I attended the TechCrunch Meetup in Seattle which took place at the Showbox across from the historic Pike Place Market. The event was an opportunity for attendees to network, meet and greet with startups, with the main focus being the startup pitch-off. Unfortunately, the speakers were not quite loud enough for me to hear all of the startup pitches, so I missed a handful of the pitches before I moved close enough to the stage to hear the proceedings. Here are some of my thoughts on the startups that I recall.

Red Ride: This company is trying to become the 'Kayak of ride-sharing' by aggregating the various ridesharing options (e.g. Uber, Lyft) available so that users can make a decision on the fastest and/or cheapest rideshare vehicle at a particular moment. This seems like something that fans of ridesharing would find very useful.

HearIt: This company lets users create a 'playlist' of text content (e.g. blogs, docs, web pages) that can then be listened to via text-to-speech (similar, in some respects, to Audible). It's limited to Android at the moment, but this seems like an interesting app to watch since the Googles, Apples, and Yahoos of the world are moving into this space.

Hypejar: This startup focuses on creating a community around products that have not yet entered the market. Honestly, this seems like it isn't very different from an interest site like Pinterest.

Braintree: This is essentially a competitor to payments processing platforms like Stripe and Square. As far as I can tell, nothing really differentiates it from the other competitors.

Pigeonews: As far as I can tell, this is not yet a company so much as it is a Kickstarter project (which has not yet reached its funding goal as of this writing). If you liked Google Reader, Google Currents, and/or Google Alerts then this may be a service for you.

Apptentive: This is in some respects similar to Crittercism or HockeyApp, but rather than focusing on app crashes and analytics, this company is focusing on being able to have conversations with customers so that they don't leave a poor review of your app on the App Store. As a developer, I understand the desire to have more communication with customers than what Google and Apple provide (i.e. slim to none), but I fear that this could very quickly devolve into spammier apps.

Coach Cheetah: If you've ever participated in a recreational sports league, then you know it can be a hassle to assemble a team and keep it participating during the season. This company provides a platform to simplify and manage this process.

Poshlight: This company has an app that lets users create 'levitation' photos using their phone. Users take two photos of the same subject, one photo with the object at the appropriate placement, and one photo of just the background. The 'levitation' magic trick pretty much boils down to letting users 'erase' the parts of the photo they don't want so that the underlying background photo peeks through. It's like Photoshop masking in an app container.

Lootcheck: I wasn't entirely clear how this service would work. It sounds like users would use their phone to take photos of everything in their house (i.e. inventory), and then their system would tell users how much value they have. It was presented as a way to make insurance valuations easier, as well as a way to figure out a source of money should the need arise to sell items. However, it seems as though this would be information that is most interesting to burglars. No need to take chances on what you will find when breaking into somebody's home, because if you can hack into this data source then you pretty much know what everyone has in their house.

Skyjuke: The idea behind this app is that it allows you to share your music by streaming to your friends connected to the same Wi-Fi network. There are other services out there like this, but I'm not sure that I've seen one with this particular 'locality' twist.

DailyDollar: This company lets you register your credit card so that users can have a digital copy of their receipts without requiring any sort of scanning process. As far as I can tell, this is the sort of 'service' that really should just be a feature of a larger product such as Mint.

In summary, this was an interesting event with quite a variety of attendees and startups. I hope to continue to attend this event in the future.

London Startup what3words is a Strange Location Service

Natasha Lomas over at TechCrunch:

London-based U.K. startup what3words has set itself the ambitious task of reinventing postcodes/ZIP codes. Instead of a tricky-to-remember string of letters and/or numbers, it’s created three-word sequences that can be more easily memorised and shared. Or that’s the thinking. It launched its three-word location pinpointing service last week, assigning trios of words to the 57 trillion or so 3 meter x 3 meter squares around the globe. The system apparently pinpoints locations to the nearest 2 million, making it more location-specific than a postcode in some more expansive postcode areas. what3words also argues that its system has the benefit of being universal, whereas postcode/ZIP code conventions vary by nation.

A search for "Seattle, WA" in what3words returns the words "crowd.next.stops" for a location in Seattle's downtown area. That search result isn't something that is inherently meaningful or actionable by a user. I suppose a user could fire up their browser, navigate to what3words, and enter the three words to find that particular location, but why would a user want to do that? It would be much simpler and quicker to use the mapping and sharing tools already available on the user's phone.

Seriously. Fire up your phone's mapping app, drop a pin or enter an address, then use the nifty 'share' button to share that precise location with your friends and family. Easy as pie. The folks at what3words have created a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. In fact, their proposed 'solution' is a bit convoluted compared to what is already supported in every smartphone out there.

Why would they do this? This is why:

It comes down to money. This company wants to make itself into the 'go-to' location services platform, all the while charging users and business for something that is inferior in almost every way to existing technology and standards.

Folks, I have three words that could be used to describe this startup: Whiskey.Tango.Foxtrot.

What If Creating a Startup Was Like a Videogame?

The folks at GeekWire have produced a nifty animation that shows us what it would be like if creating a startup was a videogame. The graphics and sound are deliciously retro, and the story has tons of industry in-jokes. I almost spit on my screen when I saw the 'pivot' sequence.

Bonus: The story takes place in Seattle. Pay attention to the Space Needle for something amusing.

Conferences are Important, Folks

Previously, I wrote about the importance of developer perks, and conferences are an important perk. To be sure, there always are costs associated with attending a conference. Often times this involves a financial cost (e.g. ticket price, airfare, lodging), but there are other costs as well such as opportunity costs due to time away from work that must be managed. Whether you attend a large conference such as
Apple's WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) or a more intimate conference such as Cocoaconf, the benefits of attending a conference can far outweigh the costs involved.

The most obvious benefit is the ability to enhance critical skills. Many conferences understandably focus on this aspect as a major selling point, and sometimes increase the skill enhancement by offering pre-conference workshops. However, the advent of live session streaming (or at least the quick posting of session videos to the conference website) has caused this part of the value proposition to diminish. That's not to say that skill enhancement is an unimportant part of the conference experience, just that it isn't the most important.

Why, then, is it important to attend conferences? Two reasons, really: networking and exposure to new ideas.

Networking is an often undervalued aspect of conference attendance. It is, however, something that cannot be done while watching session videos at home. Meeting people at the conference can lead to new business connections, new business or job opportunities, and new friends. In addition, the social interaction before sessions, between sessions, at lunch time, and after the sessions end for the day is when much of the learning takes place. While you are in a session, your mind is still absorbing the content as it is presented. The non-session time provides an opportunity for you to collect your thoughts and to share those thoughts with other attendees. This will often be a good way to 'break the ice' and to clarify things that may not have been immediately clear during the session.

Exposure to new ideas is quite possibly the best reason to attend a conference. Sure, new ideas are hypothetically only a quick web search away. However, meeting and having conversations with new people is by far the quickest way to be exposed to ideas that would not have otherwise crossed your mind. You could learn about a new technology or technique that will solve a long-standing problem you've been having, or you could be inspired to move in a whole new business direction.

In a way, conferences can be considered as great examples of concentrated serendipity . Where else can you enhance your skills, make new contacts, and discover new ideas in only a few days? Just make sure you can get a ticket, folks.

Developer Perks are Important, Folks

Eric Spiegel in an article on Datamation.com:

Now it was Frank’s turn to roll his eyes. “Whatever, Shaun. Sipping soda helps keep me in rhythm while I code. It’s hard to explain–it’s like a part of my creative process. Security guards and nurses don’t need to be concerned about their creative juices.” I interjected, “I don’t know about that, Frank, but I will tell you that this new policy likely is just the beginning of changes we won’t like. It’s a sign that things are changing–and not for the better. This isn’t a startup anymore. I’m sure the latest investors are trying to squeeze out as much profit as possible so we can go public or sell the company. These changes are clear signs that the culture of the company is changing right before our eyes. “

In his post, Spiegel covers his experience at a company that had some fairly standard snacks & beverages perks at the beginning but over time cut the perks and related 'non-essentials' such as training and conferences. Predictably, reduced pay raises and layoffs followed.

Perks such as snacks & beverages are not necessarily essential to a nice work environment, but they can act as a weak indicator of a company's health and/or management attention to making developers comfortable. The addition of new perks signals that management is maintaining a keen interest in creating a comfortable work environment and that the business is healthy enough to financial support such a move. In contrast, the removal of existing perks signals that management no longer cares about its employees or that the business can no longer financial support the perks.

Remember, folks, perks don't have to actually cost the company any money. While snacks & beverages are relatively cheap compared to the return on investment in terms of developer goodwill, they do in fact cost the business money. What doesn't cost much (if anything) for a business is letting developers work from home. People appreciate the flexibility that working from home offers, and developers (as part of the creative class) often need 'heads-down' time that is relatively free from distractions so that they can be productive. (Of course, make sure that you don't botch the work from home program.)

Perks are important for a business to maintain top talent. Making your company attractive to developers is almost as important as making your company attractive to your customers. After all, without talented developers, how will your company deliver on its promises to your customers?

Employees at buuteeq Have an Awesome Travel Perk

Mitch Pittman, over at KING 5 News:

Lots of jobs have benefits: health care, paid vacation, maybe a 401k. But how about yearly all-expense-paid vacations to anywhere in the world? Perks like that are generally reserved for the world of tech start-ups, such as buuteeq, which offers that annual vacation benefit they call “Trotamundo.” The only catch, if you can even call it that, is you have to visit with three hoteliers you stay with along the way and then tell your coworkers about your experience.

Folks, that is one great perk. Presumably, the requirement to visit hoteliers means that buuteeq can qualify some portion of the employee's vacation as a business expense (and a tax write-off). That's a good example of a win-win scenario.

By the way (in the interests of full disclosure), I happen to be friends with Lisa Tran, one of the buuteeq employees featured in the video.

Looks like Lockerz is Pivoting Into a New Site Named 'Ador'

John Cook, over at GeekWire:

Lockerz appears to be unlocking its next chapter. The Seattle social commerce startup is behind a service called Ador, a new online fashion site where shoppers can “get new arrivals & sales alerts from your favorite stores.”

I previously wrote about Lockerz and its troubles, and this news seems to be part of the fallout from those issues. Based on separate information that has come to my attention, it sounds like the Lockerz team is pivoting to a new business model. The current model for Lockerz is to encourage users to share their favorite fashion styles and products via social networks (e.g. Facebook) by giving those users discounts on products based on their sharing and curation activities. The new business model, it seems, is to switch to a new site (Ador) which revolves around providing a service that acts as a sort of 'RSS Reader' for fashion styles, trends, and sales. In some respects, this is like a cross between Trendabl and Poshmark.

It remains to be seen if this pivot will be successful, but it is at the very least quite an interesting idea.

Google's Acquisition of Wavii is a Good Move

Alexia Tsotsis, in a post for TechCrunch:

Google has finally closed the deal on Wavii, a natural language processing startup, for a price that is more than $30 million, we’re hearing from a legitimate source. Both Apple and Google were competing for the Seattle-based startup, and Google eventually won.

If you're not familiar with Wavii, it is a startup that has produced some very cool natural language processing and machine learning technology that aggregates news and summarizes it in meaningful ways. Wavii has a blog post on its site that explains, in general, how its technology works. The short summary of it is that Wavii creates news feeds for news topics, so (for example) it can take information from different news sources such as "Kanye and Kim K Expecting" and "Kim Kardashian: Baby Bump" and aggregate and summarize that information into something such as "Kanye West and Kim Kardashian expecting a child". Perhaps the best part is that Wavii also maintains the original source links it used to generate the summarized information so users can dig into additional details.

Anyone who suffers from a deluge of articles about the same exact news topic will appreciate what Wavii can do for users. This acquisition is a good move for Google since it will help Google to add interesting features to its search technology as well as products such as Google Now.

'Engineering Serendipity'

Greg Lindsay, writing for The New York Times:

Silicon Valley is obsessed with serendipity, the reigning buzzword at last month’s South by Southwest Interactive Festival. The term, coined by the British aristocrat Horace Walpole in a 1754 letter, long referred to a fortunate accidental discovery. Today serendipity is regarded as close kin to creativity — the mysterious means by which new ideas enter the world. But are hallway collisions really the best way to stoke innovation?

It's tough to create an environment where creative professionals (such as developers) are highly productive. You have to hire the right team, you have to work on interesting things, and you have to figure out your workplace situation. The article covers a topic that has become de rigueur these days. It isn't enough to simply do the aforementioned steps; a company must cultivate an environment where developers meet each other in informal settings and 'talk shop', thereby generating fresh new ideas.

Path Apparently Doesn't Make Much Money

Colleen Taylor, writing for TechCrunch:

In fact, Morin said, in the first 24 hours after the 3.0 launch, Path made more money than it had in its entire lifetime as a company, total (starting with its 2.0 version, Path has collected affiliate revenue from media sales generated in the app.)

Without precise numbers, Path's statement doesn't mean anything. Of course, Path wants you to think that its 3.0 launch has been an astounding success from a revenue perspective. However, without a statement of how much money they have made previously, it's not possible to confidently make such an assessment. An alternative interpretation (which Path would obviously not like) is that Path has been, to date, an astounding failure from a revenue perspective.

It's maddening when the media lets companies make nonsense statements like this without further clarification. Amazon is notorious for making this type of announcement (e.g. when the iPad Mini launched), and it's time that the media did its job instead of just being a platform for corporate press releases.