Here we go again... In a pre-Thanksgiving post on Valley Wag titled "Is the Demo conference still worth $18,500?" Paul Boutin stirs up the old DEMO vs. TechCrunch50 debate, dismissing the complete and transparent discussion of DEMO's business practices published here last week and instead calling for a "list [of] all the successful products that were launched at DEMO."
I'm happy to oblige. Over the past five years, companies that have presented at DEMO have raised at least $3.5 billion in venture investment after they appeared at DEMO, according to our quick search through VentureSource.
But Paul asked about products, and after all that's what DEMO is all about. DEMO has seen both up markets and down markets. That experience in both good and bad times has honed our methodology of selecting companies and presenting to an audience of thought leaders and market makers, helping companies reach customers who are ready to spend. Here, our record is unparalleled.
In 28 events over the past 18 years, more than 1,500 products have been selected to launch at DEMO from an estimated 20,000 applications screened for the conferences. Cumulatively, those products have received an estimated 3 billion press impressions. DEMO consistently delivers over 200 million media impressions in the weeks following each show, and each demonstrator averages close to 3 million media impressions from reportage at the event.
A way for companies to launch to real and ready customers is welcome in any market, and particularly in down markets. The DEMO way has ushered in new products that have become well-known brands in business and consumer markets: Adobe Acrobat; Sun's Java; Netscape Navigator; Placeware, the foundation for Microsoft Live Meeting; Palm Computing; WebEx; Autonomy; salesforce.com; TiVo; E-Trade; VM Ware; Google's first foray into mobile search; Linden Labs' LindenWorld, the precursor to SecondLife; NetObjects; Boingo Wireless; Aliph's Jawbone mobile headset; Shopping.com (nee DealTime),, and Skype's first implementation for mobile handsets.
In the most recent cycle that began in 2004, DEMO had the privilege helping these companies usher products to market: VideoEgg, Seesmic, blist, Skyfire, Sharpcast, Riya/Like.com, Imeem, Zoho, Feedster, GarageBand.com, Ugobe, Yodio, Vringo, BuzzLogic, Jajah, Shazam Entertainment, Sprout, coComment, Yuuguu, Blinkx, ffwd.com, Leapfrog and Liquid Planner among many others.
Surely, the simple reduction of DEMO to a 6-minute stage presentation is an insult to the many product managers who have done their own calculus, weighed their options, and elected DEMO as the fast track to broad market awareness for their products and services. Indeed, many companies have chosen DEMO multiple times, having received direct and substantial benefit from their initial appearance. Among the repeat performers are Fusion-io, UpShot, IronPort, Six Apart, Glam Media, Teneros, Openwave, Support.com, and DesignIn. Krugle CEO Steve Larsen, not a guy to throw money around lightly, has launched four products at DEMO. As a "portfolio," more mature DEMO alumni classes have shown exceptional returns; 25% of the companies at DEMO 2004 were acquired, 20% for DEMO 2005, for example. More than 40 demonstrating companies have been acquired in the last four years alone. Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Motorola, Symantec and Yahoo! have all gone to the well more than once, purchasing multiple DEMO companies.
If acquisition is a measure of the success of a product, then the list gets quite long:
Half.com (eBay), Five Across (Cisco), Picasa (Google), Homestead Technologies (Intuit), Pluck (Demand Media), Ribbit (BT), Sonaptic (Wolfson Microelectronics), Teleo (Microsoft), Elastic Networks (Paradyne Networks), Allaire Corp (Macromedia), UpShot (Oracle), Bigonthenet (Azeus), Reactivity (Cisco), Expert City (Citrix), Magnifire (F5), Good Technology (Motorola), Pantero (Progress Software), Our Pictures (Simple Star), Mail Frontier (Sonic Wall), IMLogic (Symantec), TurnTide (Symantec),Whole Security (Symantec), Xfire (Viacom), Oddpost (Yahoo), IronPort (Cisco), Kaboodle (Hearst), Nexo (Shutterfly), Serious Magic (Adobe), Infomersion (Business Objects), JotSpot (Google), Livevault (Iron Mountain), Mediabolic (Macrovision), Onfolio (Microsoft), Avvenu (Nokia), Lusora (Western Standard Energy), Livedeal (YP Corp), Kenai (Forum), Insors (Iocom), Streamload (Mediamax), Trimergent (Microsoft), Inxight Software (Business Objects), Live Picture (MGI Software), Determina (VMWare), Zing (Dell), Grand Central (Google), Koral (salesforce.com), Autoxray (SPX), Stata Labs (Yahoo), Zone Labs (Checkpoint), Mailblocks (America Online), SightSpeed (Logitech) , AvantGo (Sybase), Danger, Inc. (Microsoft), Personify (Accrue Software), Handspring (3Com/Palm), Good Technology (Motorola), Flarion Technologies (Qualcomm), Preventsys (McAfee), SalesLogix (Symantec), and Kana Communications (merged with Silknet), Loudcloud (EDS), Digital Impact (Acxiom), Bitfone (HP), Plumtree Software (BEA Systems), Softbook (Gemstar), CustomerSat.com (MarketTools), and Epicentric (Vignette).
And I have a nagging feeling I'm missing a few others.
While many people think of DEMO as the place for entrepreneurs to launch their companies as well as their products, DEMO has been trusted as a launch venue by major brands, companies with the resources to choose any event or create one of their own, companies like: IBM, Micrografx, NEC, Borland International, Microsoft, Caere, NTT, Intuit, Electronic Arts, Kodak, Oracle, Plantronics, Electronics for Imaging, Logitech, ViewSonic, Adobe Systems, Fujitsu, Lotus Development, Nokia, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Philips , Symantec, Xerox, Intel, Trend Micro, File Maker, America Online, CNET, BestBuy, Lenovo, Yahoo!, Real Networks, Motorola, Wyse Technology, Openwave Systems, Symbol Technologies, 3Com/Palm Computing, Acer America, Citrix Systems, and Seagate.
Any set of lists derived from more than 1,500 products introduced at 28 DEMO conferences over 18 years is bound to be incomplete. I hope the many successful companies and products that I have no doubt inadvertently overlooked will feel free to comment here, on ValleyWag, and any other post where inquiring minds seek evidence of the value of DEMO.
And Paul, I hope you're not sorry you asked.
In this market the 18k a startup has to put forth for DEMO is riskier than normal investment but ultimately what's good for one startup isn't for another. I wrote research paper on this topic.
Demo is one tool for startups to get exposure, Tech50 is another - especially on the west coast. There are dozens of regional venture conferences as well that startups can get exposure to, if they are from the region. There are so many startups that to say both TechCrunch and Demo can't jointly exist seems premature - the more opportunities afforded to more companies the better on some level. Ultimately the market place determines the sustainability of any event (or any product for that matter). We're from Northern Virginia and presented at the Southeast Venture Conference (www.seventure.org) last year and made new contacts that ultimately participated in our investment round we closed Q4. Prior to that we pitched at an event in Boston and that was good for us. For us, neither Demo or Tech50 was the best fit at the time, but for others one is a stronger fit than other. In this market the 18k a startup has to put forth for DEMO is riskier than normal investment but ultimately what's good for one startup isn't for another. In the end, the main thing is to have a great product/business model and put the petal to the medal and make it work, no matter where you find money. Good luck to all.
If you're so confident in the quality of the companies why not take the fee in equity? That'd make a bold statement about the value of Demo because the value of your pre-Demo stake would, by definition, increase due to the exposure at Demo. Some companies would fail but others would go on to do well and, theoretically, you could end up averaging even more income per company than if you just take cash. Of course, that's only true if you a) believe in the companies, and b) believe that exhibiting at Demo will increase their value. There's a compelling argument that startups should not spend so much cash on a trade show.
Chris,
I think it's really sad that you even have to take the time to address this bantha fodder. Leave it to the test of time. Competition is healthy, especially when it's inferior.
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
Winston Churchill
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