Hey startup parasites: We don't have time for you
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Hey startup parasites: We don't have time for you
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Re: Hey startup parasites: We don't have time for you
#2Just to be clear - there are good and legitimate startup events/pitches/conferences. And there is a sea of parasites.
Re: Hey startup parasites: We don't have time for you
#3http://www.keiretsuforum.com/about/team/
I like how most people are directors or presidents of Keiretsu Forum and TWO people are staff employees.
Re: Hey startup parasites: We don't have time for you
#4I went to Collision (Las Vegas) last year, and it was a waste of time and money.
Same startups, same VCs, same bloggers, etc, repeating the same stuff they said in a similar conference the week before i.e. loads of words are spoken, but no real content. Add to that the junk food they served, no seating (seriously, no seating through out the event for all the attendees), loud fans made it impossible to have a proper conversation, remote and random location, expensive, etc... and now the pay-to-pitch schemes. I felt treated like cattle. Stay away from these events.
The only tech event I strongly recommend attending is LAUNCH Festival by Jason Calacanis.
Re: Hey startup parasites: We don't have time for you
#5Collision is run by Paddy Cosgrave, who conned the Irish Government into paying for the Dublin Web Summit (DWS) and F.ounders. Mind you, he has a fair track record in conning gullible politicians out of their money! http://www.irishelection.com/2009/04/micandidateeu-the-full-...
He once threatened to sue someone for organising an event during the same week as DWS, claiming that they were riding on his coattails.
Avoid like the plague!
Re: Hey startup parasites: We don't have time for you
#6Worse, if you do present, you'll find that the "angels" who are members of these groups are often wealthy professionals with no startup or technical background (lawyers, doctors, ranchers etc).
They're often tire-kickers who will waste a lot of your time doing "diligence" and trying to negotiate absurd notes with excessive warrant gearing/premiums. As you talk with them, you'll come to find they have never put in more than $50K and have only done one or two investments.
Re: Hey startup parasites: We don't have time for you
#7Offering a discount if you're accepted to pitch isn't comparable to conferences (I won't name names) that make you pay to come AND pay to "present" if selected.
I wouldn't call that parasitic at all - I think it's silly though (they're clearly not making money on those folks so why charge them at all?) but it's a reasonable way to do things.
Re: Hey startup parasites: We don't have time for you
#8Worse, if you do present, you'll find that the "angels" who are members of these groups are often wealthy professionals with no startup or technical background (lawyers, doctors, ranchers etc). They're often tire-kickers who will waste a lot of your time doing "diligence" and trying to negotiate absurd notes with excessive warrant gearing/premiums. As you talk with them, you'll come to find they have never put in mor…
Hey, we survived a couple of years on these kind of investments. It was a fulltime job for one founder; he burned out. But it kept us going.
Re: Hey startup parasites: We don't have time for you
#9We're attending Collision this May, and were offered the deal the article mentions. I wasn't cold called, but applied on their site directly for their startup offer.
We saw it as a fair good deal, and didn't feel scammed at all. It took us one 10 minute phone call, and then we got offered the tickets for $1,500.
It's our first conference, other ones we've looked at cost far more. So for a first one, we thought the event looks interesting, not as expensive as other events we've cost up, looks like there will be interesting people there and Vegas is a fun city for us all anyway!
Re: Hey startup parasites: We don't have time for you
#10Yeah, we had the same thing with the web summit run by the same people who run Collision. "Hey, we think you've got a great startup, and we'd love to talk to you to see if you qualify for our start-up track."
After the interview, of course, they follow up with the exact same sort of line:
"As you know, we can't invite everyone. However, I'm happy to say that it seems XXX is doing great things in an exciting space and you've been selected for XXX, the later stage startup track at XXX."
Followed by this...
"Your code will reduce the cost from €12,950 to €1,950. As discussed the package includes 3 attendee tickets, plus a complimentary exhibition stand for one of the three days."
Afterwards, if you interact with them in any way, expect to get 5-15 average spam mails a week with "Guess who's going to be at our conference!" If you unsubscribe from the list, it seems like they just invent another conference to spam you with.
Not surprisingly, their "exhibitor" costs rival some of the largest and most successful industry conference costs, even though, in the case of the one I inquired about, it it was the first event that they had put on in that track. Afterwards, of course, "oh, but you qualify for our start-up track which lets you stand in this hall for one day for $5,000!"
Agree with earlier poster to avoid.