Damn, with press like this (Startups: your web site sucks), who the hell needs the Big Conference launch?  Well, there’s that old adage any publicity is good publicity even if “they” say you suck.  But seriously, we start-ups should heed some of Scoble’s advice (1) leverage video (which we’re NOT currently doing, but should.  None of us are telegenic, but I guess Scoble is living proof that you don’t need to have a hot geek chick host and a Panasonic VariCam to do this) and (2) explain the pain that your start-up solves (This seems to be Commandment Number One: see Kawasaki, Calacanis (1 | 2), Solis).  

How does ButtonALL stack up on pain relief (or at least, our attempts at communicating our pain relief message)?  Right now, I think we do a fair to middling job in describing our “value proposition.”  The home page is purposely simple (deceptively simple…Google is our role model on that decision).  No signup barriers, and a default screen that even a caveman’s grandmother can figure out (actually, field-tested with Grandmothers…none were harmed).   There are only three links right now that go to pages that describe how we deliver our solution (About Us, What are the Red Buttons, and Customization…the first two links economically double as gateways to this blog)   Customization, of course, is what makes us cool, useful, and different as an all-in-one search engine.

So I guess to follow-up on Scoble’s post, Commandment Number Two might be don’t launch anything this week (September unless you are freakin insane…Let’s see…

70 companies debuting at Demo
+
53 companies launching at TechCrunch50 (plus a 150 companies in the demo pit…see why ButtonALL chose not to demo pit.)
=
273 New Launches + Every tech journalist going to California with an aching in their heart*.

So call us crazy, next week we plan to blast a press release and launch a new website… It’ll make sense once you see it, eh. (I’ve been furiously working on it all day).  It’s almost akin to counter-programming the Super Bowl or Olympics.  Yeah, it’s gonna be the moral equivalent of the ESPN Cheerleading competition.**

*For my Richmond readers, Janet Martin Band’s cover of this song is almost as good as Zeppelin’s!
**Speaking of cheerleaders, I need to send a shout out to my good friend Marni Singer.  Marni is the first person that I ever met who actually competed on ESPN’s cheerleader challenge (where she brought it on).  She went on to law school at Emory, passed the bar, and joined the rat race.  She recently quit that racket to follow her dreams of opening a dance studio in Atlanta, Georgia teaching young children.  That, my friends, is a real start-up.  None of this Silicon Valley bullsh…

We had an incredibly productive meeting last Friday at our Short Pump branch office (ie, Starbucks…LOL, which one?…as Wray pointed out, there are literally FIVE locations within about ONE square mile– TWO in Short Pump Town Center, Lauderdale (our branch office), Barnes and Noble, and Target–that’s not even counting Cox Rd, Gaskins, and Nuckols).

Number one item on our agenda was TechCrunch50 (or rather TechCrunch 53).  Should we accept the demo pit invitation and go in the hole for $5,000?–($3,000 for registration, $1200 for 2 plane tickets, $450 for hotel, $150 for car rental, $100 for meals (that’s underestimating cause it’s me…hell, I’ll eat $100 in San Fran Dim Sum alone), and $100 for shwag)

First off (reading from cue cards ;)), it was an honor to make Second-Team All-American .  Considering this company is only a couple of months old, we couldn’t be more excited about getting a runners-up nod.  It’s like getting external validation (West Coast Tech Gods validation, no less) that we’re on some kind of right track strategically.  More importantly, Wray just shared some recent “stickiness” statistics for August.  People are using ButtonALL.  They are starting to customize.  And they are definitely returning.  Man, if we can just get it into more people’s hands…

So why not just go to TechCrunch50 then?  Look, it might be different in California, but in Virginia, Five Grand is a lot of money for a “garage” startup.  The promotional ROI is difficult to forecast (especially, with the focus of the event being on the 50 debutantes).  As for “venture funding,” honestly, we don’t need it right now for this project, and even if we did…Wray brought up a farcical scenario about our current readiness…

• VC:  “Well, boys, we like your company.  Why don’t we meet up in San Mateo in two weeks?”
• Us: “Uh, could you pay for our plane ticket?”
  n00bie lambs to the slaughter!

When you are a start-up, wise bootstrapping is a must.  Cashflow is king, and all expenses must be prioritized by cashflow potential and probability of immediate financial return.  A tech conference, no matter how sexy, just can’t pass this litmus test, for us, for now.  OK, that’s my final word on TC50* (that is until next year when we make Varsity!)

*Postscript: At the end of the meeting, the guys were giving me a lot of grief over this blog post….Ed’s attempt at edgy, Colbertesque humor on the blog….FAIL!
*Postscript 2: Counterpoint: TechCrunch: What Winning TechCrunch40 Did for Mint.com

Here was our submission:
 Top 10 reasons why we should get a free ticket to Techcrunch50. If we win a ticket, we will…

#10. Post the ticket on StubHub or Oakland Craigslist and split the booty with Jason and Michael
#9. Sneak in a bunch of Whedon fanboys where WE would break out into song during his panel (Janye’s Ballad and something from Buffy the musical episode)
#8. SO we can haz tikitz then proceed to do the demo all in MEME and leetspeak wearing Guy Fawkes masks.
#7. Arrington, Scoble, O’Reilly pillow fight! 
#6. Leverage this opportunity to fulfill life-long dream of touring the Rice-a-Roni museum and visitor’s center.
#5. Hire the Tron Guy as our sexy booth girl.
#4. Use ticket as downpayment and upgrade to luxurious exhibitor package. Get adjustable rate mortgage to gap finance the remainder (that would be so California)
#3. Give the conference badge to a North Beach “dancer” with a heart of gold working her way through community college to start-up a new media company.
#2. Utilize edge of ticket to cut victory cocaine lines after winning TC50 all the way from the demo pit.
#1. Hasn’t our Technorati Authority 2 blog already given you guys enough heat? 

Contest Rules:

• Contest Rules via 1 | 2
  Whoever does best BLOG POST on top10 reasons why they should get free ticket to techcrunch50 gets a free ticket. maybe top 3 will get it 04:50 PM August 15, 2008 from web
• Contest Submission Directions via
  when done send your blog post URL to me with an @jasoncalacanis and @techcrunch reply on twitter. happy hunting folks!!! 04:51 PM August 15, 2008 from web
• Contest Ends Sunday, August 17, 2008, Midnight PST via (update: contest was extended to Monday, Aug 18, 12 PM PST, via): 
  @bradhill that’s classic BH! @techcrunch - contest will run until Sunday midnight. 4every 20 blog posts i’ll pick one winner. got 10-15 now 09:02 PM August 15, 2008 from web in reply to BradHill

This Contest has ended, but since people are still googling here looking for a free ticket, I’ll keep track of other contests:

• Best Mark Cuban Question via  best question for Mark Cuban gets a free ticket to TechCrunch50! @techcrunch please retweet. 41 minutes ago from web
• Mint Contest: Win a Free Pass to TechCrunch50 | How Minty Are You? (hmm, don’t even bother on the “story” contest part…blog guy’s gonna win that one)

More Submissions:

• A little bit here and a little bit there: Top 10 Reasons I should get a free TechCrunch50 Ticket
• Brad Hill Weblog: The epic TC50 contest
• Food Channel: TechCrunch50 and the Food Channel
• Jeff “zmote” O’Hara: 10 reasons why Jason Calacanis should give me a free ticket to Techcrunch50 WINNER via
• Infinitely Media: Top 10 Reasons I should get a free Techcrunch50 invite
• Kansas City Startup: Top 10 reasons why I should get a free ticketed to TechCrunch50  WINNER via
• Learnanyway: 10 reasons I need to go to TechCrunch50
• michelleherrin.com: Top Ten Reasons I Should Get a TechCrunch50
• RXMEDICALEXPERTISE.COM: 10 reasons I need to go to TechCrunch50
• Sexiest Geeks Alive: Top 10 reasons SGA needs a TC50 ticket! (Or more than 1!)
• TheRealBennyLava: TechCrunch50 and the 50 Reasons I should go for Free WINNER via
• uLiken Media: 10 reason not to attend Techcrunch 50 
• Webalytics: Top 10 reasons I should be Jason Calacanis’ guest at Techcrunch50 
  • george @ southernohio.net Google is telling me “This site may harm your computer”…fyi

Update!:

• Amid Conference Halls and Keynote Speakers, a Rivalry Forms Brad Stone, NY Times, April 28, 2008 (response: TechCrunch: Pouring Our Heart Into TechCrunch50 | calacanis.com: A blog post regarding the fact that I’m still retired from blogging)
• My notes: This contest, this “war”…G-E-N-I-U-S…I’m taking furious notes learning from these masters. Chris Shipley is not a dude?
• Next step suggestions: (1) Partner with Mark Burnett on a TC50 reality show (for G4?).  (2) Create an East Coast TC50 (for selfish reasons) in New  York on the weekend of the next Demo. (3) Eventually, make it international (once a quarter)…rotate cities: London, Australia/New Zealand, Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, Dubai, Tel Aviv, Paris, etc
• Commentary Responses 
  • Adorkable Grrl: Twitter sent me something useful: Demo vs. TechCrunch50
  • The Blog Herald: New York Times examines the rivalry between TechCrunch50 and the …8 hours ago by Matt Craven 
  • CenterNetworks: A Bit of Advice for Startups
  • The Inquisitr: TechCrunch50: $3.5 million x Disingenuous
  • Loïc Le Meur blog: Conferences need revenue too whatever business model they have
  • Spark Effect: The Demise of Demo… by Michael Arrington
  • Startup Chatter by Donna Bogatin: TechCrunch50 Rejects Hundreds of Startups
  • Voodoo Ventures: We’re Demoing at TechCrunch 50

BTW, real quick…just for our blog readers, ButtonALL Customization is NOW ON!  I’ll “press release” this a little later, but just so you know…

Went to see Poison last night with a couple of good friends…for the kitsch value, mind you :)…It appeared all of Richmond (or, rather, Mechanicsville, Short Pump, and Midlothian) was there rocking out.  I’ve never seen Innsbrook/SnagaJob so packed, and I totally forgot that Poison had so many hits (I was just there for “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” and that Toyota song)…Almost every number they played was a radio/MTV hit; of course, the set was only like an hour.  Poison is getting old (which made me feel old) as they were breaking up the show with lots of solos (where the rest of the lads would go in the back and catch their breath/get oxygen?)…Well, back to the glam rock world of the Internets…

The Next Two Weeks for ButtonALL:

• Finish second press release announcing “version 2″
  • Thank those who have already blogged about us and give them a heads up of customization.
  • Push to some high enders
• Decide whether we should “accept” TechCrunch50’s invitation to DemoPit (see 2007 DemoPit Companies)…
  •  I was really enjoying the discussion/camaraderie going on in the TC50 discussion section of the FAQ.  It has been a therapeutic support group where my band of brothers (and sisters) shared stories.  Someone likened the whole process to that agonizing wait to see whether you got into college.  As we posted previously, we didn’t get in, so I guess that makes DemoPit our “safety school.” Anyways, they turned off the discussion on that thread. BOOOOO!
  • Email a couple of 2007 pit companies…One poster (Ralph) on the FAQ had this interesting metric: “It seems that 21 companies out of 100 TC40 DemoPit companies got “documented funding” AFTER the event. Perhaps another group got unpublished funding. The amounts on the top 19 range from 1.3M to $12M. So if your objective is to get funding, this may be a good route.”
  • DemoPit is $3,000 (free table for a day, 2 tickets).  Exhibitors get 3 days, bigger table, 4 tickets, VIP dinner, etc for $10,000. A wise Englishman once said, a grand don’t come for free (and neither does three or ten plus plane ticket/hotel).  We’ll go in the credit hole if we decide on a California road trip.
  • What are we looking for? Funding or Exposure?  Not funding, because we’re way too newbie…IF they were interested, VC would want half, Eddie, at this stage of our company.  So, the ROI is centering around “exposure.”  No doubt, the conference will be full of A-Listers, but whether they go slumming in the basement with the Morlocks?
• Create ButtonALL Favicon
• Blog about our new red buttons: Cuil, Knol, Bebo, Etsy
• Blog about our new channels as we post them.  Eric has already created a couple for anime otaku channels…
• Submit to other startup websites/events: National: Elevator Pitch; Scoble?; There are some local ones too (I’ll post the links soon)… 
• Finally, Download Unskinny Bop off Itunes, then Detox myself and listen to Slayer for a couple of hours.

ButtonALL’s End of Year Milestone Goals (tentative):

• 50,000 :: 100,000 :: 500,000 :: 1,000,000 searches
• 100 :: 500 :: 1,000 :: 2,500 :: 5,000 :: 10,000 customized search users
• $100 :: $500 :: $1,000 :: $5,000/ month profit

25 days since the last post…For you kids at home, this is an awful, awful practice, a cardinal sin…not updating the blog at startup phase. We’ve actually had a legitimate excuse: Snagged a first round interview with TechCrunch50 a couple weeks back. Jason Calacanis himself?! (website | twitter | wikepedia | mahalo) personally did the interview which I thought was really cool at the time, especially with Google Knol, the “human search engine” killer (more on them later), literally being launched on the same day of the interview (check out his eventual Google rebuke: Is Google A Content Company? Of Course It Is. So What Should Publishers Do? ). Also, you’d think first round interviews would have been handled by a minion, not the head monarch, but I guess TechCrunch50 has a special place in Calacanis’ heart (his roots are in tech cons). 

The interview, you say? Really, really fast. Screw the powerpoint, just go straight to the demo!  Calacanis said some nice things (noted ButtonALL’s simplicity) and gave some legit criticism (noted similar services out in the market). But in the end, he just didn’t have a lot to say. We surmised either (1) ButtonALL is so elegant with its simplicity that the normally garrulous Calacanis was rendered speechless or (2) He was totally indifferent. Guessing the latter, we were ready to move on, but hedging our bets, we decided to withhold our next ButtonALL launch and go on a communications blackout….you know, just in case. Hence, 25 days since last post.

Well, a funny thing happened on our way to self-imposed exile. Technology blogs (including international ones) were starting to chat us up. We were getting unsolicited emails from established web companies wanting to be featured as red buttons. One significant ad network was being inquisitive. Most importantly, traffic was going through the roof! Recently, ButtonALL hit the 50,000(!) search benchmark. We have been passively watching in awe at this power of viral marketing…

At the time of this writing, 60 people have reviewed us on stumbleupon (granted not all positive :))…juxtapose this to the $31 million launch of Cuil.com (more on them later). As a comparison, they currently have 192 reviews, and that’s with Drudge Report main headline, coverage from every major news outlet, fancy PR firm, and, oh, about 30.99999 million dollars more than us. Last year’s TC40 winner Mint.com has 40 stumbleupon reviews after two full years! Calacanis’ own Mahalo has 26 reviews. Look, I understand the limitations of this metric, but I’m really, really excited about it as a crude proxy especially considering folks have only been test-driving the rudimentary version of ButtonALL in a zero marketing environment!

As you can imagine, there was some serious internal debates as to whether we should just f’ the contest and bull ahead. During this time, I had to personally bite my tongue as some of the aforementioned stumbleupon criticisms would be addressed by our embargoed version “2.0.” But you know what? If you don’t have haters, then you’re not doing anything meaningful.

So, finally, today, we get the formal rejection email from TechCrunch. Couldn’t be happier! Hello again, world, we’re ButtonALL!

Since publishing the press release, we haven’t been going with an “all-out blitz” marketing approach (it’s more Cover 2).  With our soft opening/Version 0.5, we’re spreading the word locally, one person at a time.  For example, pimped the site to a couple of folks I met at the Refresh Richmond networking happy hour this week.  If you are a “new media” entrepreneur or web person in Richmond, this is definitely a group you want to check out.  Still trying to figure out the local “scene”, but here is a list of other Richmond techie resources:

• Richmond Web Tech, Startup, and Entrepreneur Meetup
• Greater Richmond Technology Council
• Richmond Venture Forum
• Richmond Chamber of Commerce
• I’d love to see a Richmond BarCamp organized at some point….anyone else game?
• There are also a ton of User Groups in the area…feel free to email us and we’ll update this list
• Northern VA (Northern Virginia Technology Council/The Entrepreneur Center and  TiE-DC) and, surprisingly, Charlottesville (Neon Guild and Charlottesville Business Innovation Council) have good, active communities as well.

In regards to our national marketing, we aren’t exactly spamming Michael Arrington or Robert Scoble  (other than this incoming ping :)) quite yet.  We have been pretty much passive because we don’t have the sizzle/secret sauce piece of this project ready for prime time.  However, we went ahead and applied for this year’s TechCrunch50 (I know, I know uber longshot!) where we would love to launch the fully functional ButtonALL with user customization and our giant search engine database.

Well, it turns out, someone at TechCrunch’s Crunchbase recently added a ButtonALL listing to their database (most likely using our 50 submission).  Cool.  Which then begat a KillerStartups.com post this morning (I’ll be your best friend if you vote for us ;)…even though I have no idea what that even means).

In addition, our good friends at Xerpi had a nice ButtonALL shout-out on their blog recently.  Xerpi has a lot of Richmond roots on its leadership team.  Again, if you are looking for a favorites bookmarking application, look no further!

Damn, I love this no-work marketing…