My reactions from the first day of TechCrunch Disrupt in SF.
Thanks to Michael Arrington and the TechCrunch team for the blogger’s pass. It was well worth the trip to experience this event and great seats really make a difference!
This is a really smart conference design…household names and industry dominant companies counterbalanced with scrappy startups demoing to the audience. At its very best an homage to the entrepreneurial spirit.
Agenda of conference is here to get descriptions and bios of the speakers.
Brilliant pairing of Mark PIncus (Zynga) and Bing Gordon (Electronic Arts Founder, now with KP). Social game mogul by data analysis dancing with game studio creator by intuition and creativity. More to come on this.
Mess of a Super Angel Panel. Comical in its abruptness and squeezing seven panelists into a 30 minute spot. This is pulp VC at its most sensational and boring. I suggest you read Mark Suster’s post this morning in Both Sides of the Table for his point of view on the panel and what he really wanted to say. Thanks Mark!
Reid Hoffman (Founder of LinkedIn and investor) hitting it right that there is lots of room for multiple social networks (besides Facebook) but doing a less than clear job of articulating the difference between the two. Disappointing as this was a great opportunity for him to clarify LinkedIn’s unique DNA and future directions. I blogged on the missed potential of LinkedIn here.
Todd Bradley from HP topping the boredom chart with a corporate pitch for HP that was not only all spin but also arrogant in its defensiveness of the company. This was just out of place. He and HP are like Microsoft of old at their very worse.
Peter Thiel, Facebook Board member and Founders Fund. Articulate. Believable. Fascinating. Thoughtful.
Scott Cook from Intuit, a brilliant burst of fresh air, still excited, still the product guy for Intuit after two decades of caring deeply about the customer. Now tackling healthcare for the small business market. His standout quote of the talk was “I believe you either disrupt or get disrupted”.
Chegg CEO Dan Rosensweig, a detailed deep dive into an industry I knew nothing about but came away inspired.
Loved the start-up pitches to the audience and panel. Fun time and thought provoking. Broke up a long day with diversity and intensity.
Best part of the day for me was connecting with old friend Greg Woock, CEO of Pinger and getting to meet Mark Suster in person, after a year of conversations on his blog, Both Sides of the Table. Proof that friendships can really be created online that can move to the offline world.
