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That's the kind of crap we have in Chicago. http://fundingfeedingfrenzy.com/present-your-company/ $330 early bird special... :( That and "entrepreneur networking" events that are full of service companies or software shops trying to drum up business. Lame.
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Thanks SemanticFog, I appreciate the kind words. Running good events is very time consuming, more than people often realize. And yet my landlord continues to "prey on" me by demanding that I pay rent. Somehow, he fails to see comrade Calacanis' logic that everything should be free... Graham Lawlor - Ultra Light Startups
Are you in the event planning business or something? Isn't the idea for investors to make their money via return on the investment they make in startups? That said, charging enough to cover the cost of pizza and what-not, that seems reasonable. But any outfits that are charging more than a nominal fee are highly questionable to me.
The culture of feedback and mentorship in the valley is what makes entrepreneurship flourish here, decade after decade.
I am not a founder looking for an investment (at least, yet), but $50 in USA does not sounds bad for a lean start up. It act more as a filter than as an income for event host IMHO. Founder probably will spend more on a hotel alone. On the other hand, practice of not disclosing fees and charging in the range of $1.000 - $8.000 definitely look shady. Just my .05
what do you think it filters? Do you really think there are a large number of low-quality companies that would be deterred from pitching by a $50 entrance fee?
If someone offered me it for $25 - I would pass it, since I have no place to put it nor I have time to watch it.
Similar could be observed in .99 games at any app stores. While 99 cents is really close to 0 cents for most US persons, still .99 games will have much less downloads. But ones who downloaded had much bigger motivation to actually play it and not just check it out.
Most of things should have associated costs. At least nominal. In case of such events it is good for both pitchers and for public listening to them. It is different topic if costs should be in dollars or some sort of efforts tho..
IMHO, as usual :)
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It's like a scam...no one is forcing you to be a victim of a scam, you just don't know better. reply
"You don't know better." If an entrepreneur is that helpless, paying-to-pitch is the least of their problems.
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Are you in the event planning business or something? Isn't the idea for investors to make their money via return on the investment they make in startups? That said, charging enough to cover the cost of pizza and what-not, that seems reasonable. But any outfits that are charging more than a nominal fee are highly questionable to me.
Yes, planning events (Ultra Light Startups) is a full-time job for me. I need to cover pizza, etc - and my rent...
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It's not about being coddled, it's about exploiting entrepreneurs who are either desperate, or new to the game. We don't want to encourage that type of behavior in our community. "entrepreneur learns that the hard way, so be it." That attitude is like saying children should learn to look both way before crossing the street the hard way...by getting hit by a bus!
How is anyone being exploited? You have a choice to pitch or not. It's not blackmail. It may be foolish to pitch at these events, but as far as I know, nobody is being forced into pitching or being told "you can't research this event and our track record before signing up."
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what do you think it filters? Do you really think there are a large number of low-quality companies that would be deterred from pitching by a $50 entrance fee?
Well.. Let me show you it this way - If someone offered me a free 32" LCD good TV - I would definitely take it. Just because it is free and it feels like it have value. If someone offered me it for $25 - I would pass it, since I have no place to put it nor I have time to watch it. Similar could be observed in .99 games at any app stores. While 99 cents is really close to 0 cents for most US persons, still .99 games w…
>If someone offered me it for $25 - I would pass it, since I have no place to put it nor I have time to watch it.
Growing up, I hunted down free and really cheap computer hardware. I've always had a sizable stash of equipment that I'd play with, learn about, and eventually use to run services. As I've grown older, the initial purchase price has become less important, and the storage cost has become more important; my current workshop/office is maybe 200-300sqft, and it's got two people and a lot of hardware in it.
The thing is, here the cost is time, not storage space; and I think people learn the 'time is valuable' lesson sooner. But yeah, you would be keeping out 12 year old me, which is fine. Personally, I would think that the majority of people at these events would be past that point. dono.
You'd certainly need to apply another level of filtering; obviously you don't want to listen to a pitch from every joker with fifty bucks, the question then would be how much easier would that filtering process be if you first filter out all the 12 year old lsc types for whom the fifty bucks is a big opportunity cost. Personally, I don't think it would save you much time, but I could be wrong.