Comments on: Don’t drink your own Kool-Aid (surviving TC50)

By: Technology blog » Countdown To TechCrunch50, And Some Advice From Veterans

Technology blog » Countdown To TechCrunch50, And Some Advice From Veterans — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:07:00 +0000

[...] Don’t drink your own Kool-Aid (surviving TC50): Mark Suster says not to get too into the hype and attention you’ll receive right around the conference. Memorialize it, but don’t believe too much of the hype. Use all that attention to build a sustainable business. [...]

By: Technology blog » Social Media Guide to #TC50

Technology blog » Social Media Guide to #TC50 — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:06:27 +0000

[...] less than 24 hours away, and already the reviews and advice to startups are coming hot and heavy. For all of you who want to know how to keep on top of the latest Tweets, posts photos, and news [...]

By: SeatGeek

SeatGeek — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:28:07 +0000

[...] Alistair Croll & Sean Power covered how to handle the TC50 bump, Mark Suster discussed how to avoid letting the event irreparably distract you, and the folks at Expensify wrote about how to work a Demo Pit booth like a pro. But we have a [...]

By: Drinking from the Fire hose: Our TC50 Experience « FreedomSpeaks Official Blog

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:58:30 +0000

[...] The second lesson we can share is to be humble and calm. It does help to believe in a power greater than oneself and acknowledge them for getting you this far and to ask for the ability to cope. Despite practicing a lot, things will go wrong. I guarantee it. You may flub a word or fail to stay on message during the demo or Q&A. That’s likely not the end of the world. One of the lessons in Silicon Valley I learned over the past two years was that it’s ok to fail, but fail fast. If you find one of your key team members unable to cope with the stress due to failure or a mistake made, take them out of the game until they can recover. Despite their strong value add in getting to this point, if they are too emotional, they of no value to you at the present. In addition, it’s important also to be humble. Make sure you watch other presentations to get a feel of how others present and what the questions judges ask. That was another form of practicing for us. Be sure to visit your fellow peers at their booths. Yes, it is a cutthroat competition, and we are all in it to win it, but we are also a community of entrepreneurs who ultimately need to have each others’ back. In short, as one blog post noted, don’t drink your own Kool-Aide. [...]

By: LEADSExplorer.com

LEADSExplorer.com — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:28:55 +0000

A TC50 event gives you a quick Word Of Mouth: a spike http://bit.ly/Lyfpw
WOM needs to be build up over time in order to become a slow burning fire that keeps on going.

By: julespieri

julespieri — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:11:40 +0000

Well when we are both successful and actually have time to be full-time mentors and helpers instead of “doers”, we can go to these events too.

By: Roman Giverts

Roman Giverts — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:53:49 +0000

I Know! I was working all day and around 3pm I finally watched about an hour on ustream. After a busy, productive day, it seemed so ridiculous listening to everyone talk so theoretically about their ideas.

I honestly wonder, if you add up all of the time it takes to submit, prepare, and go to conference, is it even worth it once your selected? I wonder if many of those companies would have been better off spending weeks learning about their users/customers, etc.

By: julespieri

julespieri — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:06:44 +0000

You made me feel better for not being at the conference….and focussing on my business.

By: julespieri

julespieri — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:05:30 +0000

Glad to know I am not the only entrepreneur whose spouse keeps them on the straight and narrow. My digital trail includes plenty of evidence of my husband's two cents too.

By: msuster

msuster — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:46:04 +0000

she's my harshest critic