Good morning everyone. Welcome to day 3 of Techcrunch!
So, the rich media section just ended. First of all, this is definitely a business I’m familiar with (I’ve worked in that area longer than any other). So I think I can say with a little authority that as cool as a lot of this is, I have seen it before and I don’t really understand how it is differentiated. More on those companies later.
I ran to the demopit between sessions and talked to Grooveshark, which is awesome. They’re similar to FF in that they’re a mostly-student company that sprang from research done at school (UF in their case). However, they have much better backing. The university took care of the patent and they’ve got angels, not to mention a neatly figured business model that’s already making multiple streams of revenue.
Next: the gaming session. I missed grockit, which is a learning game of some kind. I hear they have GMAT questions, so maybe I’ll play.
Akoha is a pay-it-forward game that encourages people doing nice things, like giving books to schoolkids or chocolate to couples in love. It’s a nice idea, and since I decided I’d take the starter kit, I just got a gift card for the value of an iPod touch. Pays to be nice, haha. I wonder who I’ll give it to.
Atmosphir is a 3D video game collaborative creation tool. They positioned themselves as the equivalent of Lego. Looks very cool, and if this doesn’t exist yet, then they can do very well because this is something that needs to exist soon. I think my brother would like it, as he makes games in his spare time (see them at Neal.Bhasin.com).
Skipped vertical social networks because I’m rather sick of social networks altogether. Stuff for them, fine; another one OF them, hell no.
I worked the demopit again and learned some really great stuff. I won’t detail them but check out: MaxRoam (cheap international SIM cards; most efficient company I’ve ever seen), Searchme (especially if you have an opinion about Cuil), keibe (social network content monitoring system), 911ICE (great implementation of an emergency contact system, I find this VERY important), and Yahoo Boss (search engine licensing).
Last session: research and recommendations. First is GoodGuide, which is a search engine for products that are green, healthy, socially responsible, whatever. Good solid idea that isn’t messed up by UGC (user generated content); this is very much the kind of content that should be carefully moderated by experts. I’ll use it.
So to wrap up today: these are probably the most interesting posts I’ll have on this blog ever. TechCrunch has been an absolutely amazing time and I’ve loved every minute of it. Met some awesome people and may even get a job (or at least a lead) from someone. Not to mention all the free stuff, haha. And last but not least, Wordpress is my new favorite iPhone app. 
