I should have posted this immediately when I returned from Phoenix, but as usual, I got pulled in a bunch of different things. Anyway…
Many people have asked me what I thought of DEMO 2006, and overall I am glad I went. DEMO offers a concentration of interesting startups, VCs, press, that allows you to get a good pulse on what’s going on in industries that I might not be tracking per se. It is true that you don’t go to DEMO to find immediate investment opportunities, rather companies to put in your pipeline for future rounds.
I got 3 of the 10 DEMOgods right – online or in discussions locally: Riya, Kosmix and Ugobe. I am especially happy for my friends of Riya and Kosmix, and I know that my kids will want Pleo – the dinosaur robot created by Ugobe – as soon as it shows up on retail shelves (pictured here without its synthetic skin).
Here are my posts covering the two days of DEMO: Day One Morning, Day One Afternoon, Day Two Morning, Day Two Afternoon.
Update: I forgot to mention something about my liveblogging experience. I decided to write a short paragraph on each of the 68 companies, which had 6 minutes to demonstrate their unique product/service. Some presenters would spill the beans on what they were doing immediately, clarifying who they were and what their offer was, then going through a demonstration and/or a narrative. Others started with general considerations (“Wouldn’t it be cool if…”), or mock-ups of 24 (3 of them ?). The difference ? I was unable to write anyting the latter companies since I did not have any context. You can bet that other attendees were in the same situation, blogging or not, as they were trying to decipher what the nth company was doing.