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Ask HN: What are ten HN startups I can give a free table to LAUNCH?

85 points by jasonmcalacanis ↗ HN
Dear HN,

I've got 150k square feet for the LAUNCH conference in San Francisco (in two weeks on Feb 23/24). We have 100 table tops (cocktail tables) just like at the Techcrunch50 show available.

I'd like to give 10 free tables to the startups that ask and get voted up the most in this thread.

That's a table, internet, electricity and three tickets to the event--on me!

Seriously, let's pick 10 companies that could use exposure to VCs, press and angels (there are 300-400 VCs and Angels coming to the event, as well as over 100 press already registered).

Note: two folks in the expo area are going to get to take the stage at the event. They will be selected by grand jury members.

154 comments

[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 227 ms ] thread
[dead] ilkthomas
Quantapps.cc aims to become the major player in the mobile application space with a totally new chance for developers all over the world
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[dead] ilkthomas
Hey Jason,

no we didn't apply, but I will write you a mail immediately.

We haven't launched and nobody knows details about us.

[dead] jasonmcalacanis
Is this launched yet? if not and you can launch on stage we might be able to give you one of the five remaining slots on stage so you can launch to the world!

did you apply?! email me jason@launch.is

[dead] twimbow
Twimbow.com (http://twimbow.com)-->; we would love to join. We are spending two weeks in San Francisco in that period for our Silicon Valley tour and would be glad to join the show. More details about our visit here: http://t.co/eiRVGrb Thanks :-)
[dead] twimbow
btw, Jason your Twitter account is enabled so if you want to give it a try ;-)
[dead] filos
Jason, are you sure this thing works? users are saying still see 2 votes to this comment, despite I think more than 10 voted...
[dead] joshfinnie
Please don't spam. You are probably not seeing the upvotes because of the downvotes you are getting. Creating accounts to upvote your pitch to a third-party person is not a smart idea; it really makes the people who go to this site daily angry.

I am sure Jason saw your pitch above, we do not need 10 new accounts saying "Twinbows!!!!"

[dead] speek
Zazu's (http://getzazu.com) heading over to the Bay Area from Boston right around then to meet people. We'd love to be there, it'd be an absolutely spectacular way to meet people!

Oh right, should probably tell y'all what we do: We're building Jarvis from Iron Man -- though we're starting a little less grandiose and building the world's most kickass alarm clock.

[dead] drewvolpe
I've been playing with your app and you've got my vote. It's fun to have HN read aloud while I'm eating breakfast. Good luck!
[dead] speek
We've got some major stuff we're about to launch, so keep your eyes peeled :)
[dead] dwowens
I can't wait to test the iPhone version.
[dead] blhack
That's awesome! I've been daydreaming about building something like this for a while now :).

Is it free? Is there a paid version where a real live person reads my message to me?

In fact, now I think I might hack this up to run as an timer on my laptop.

Where can I buy zazu?

[dead] speek
There's a free version of the app on the Android Marketplace that uses a TTS engine but we're about to bust some magic up in that bitch so it doesn't sound like an 80-year-old smoker ('scuse my french). There might be a paid version coming up soon, depending on how some stuff tests. iPhone app is in the works (timeframe in the magnitude of weeks), so is blackberry. We're trying to hit every platform -- so we do want to live on your computer too.
[dead] blhack
Well be sure to post when you finish the iPhone version, I'll be first in line to buy it :).

Out of curiosity, will you be able to activate the alarm even if I don't have the app "open"?

[dead] jasonmcalacanis
Zazu.... your stuff is so hot. You're one of the ten tables!

email me and I will set it up! jason@launch.is

[dead] speek
Just shot you an email. Gracias señor.
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[dead] jeffcody
Cool - we are making an Android TV, but no Android market access as of yet - I'd love to be able to bundle something like this in the TV. Let me know if interested.. tx
[dead] bradoyler
New startup weekend team MealTik just launched, sign-up @ http://mealtik.com to be the first in line.
[dead] jasonmcalacanis
ping me... jason@launch.is -- this might be good for the main stage!!! :-)
[dead] jgh-
YES BUT WHAT DOES IT DO?
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[dead] aresant
Jason - I emailed you via your newsletter a week back in response to your LAUNCH request for kickass unlaunched startups - wondering if you received or just pushed the "Delete" button - sent from Zack.
[dead] jasonmcalacanis
I get 400+ emails a day and sometimes can't get through all of them.

Make sure you apply for the conference at the website since I have four people working full-time on going through applications and you can't get lost there!!!

www.launch.is

[dead] aresant
Jason, got your email - appreciate the response and responded back.
[dead] dundas
Texting.ly is a game changing SMS marketing platform. We were recently mentioned as a rising start of telecom in Crain's magazine.
[dead] ggwarpig
iSpy (http://iSpyApp.com) is a Real World Game that gets you off your ass and OUT experiencing life. Its a location based scavenger hunt game that uses photography to make exploration fun and social, anytime, anywhere. http://bit.ly/ispyapp [iTunes Link]
[dead] ggwarpig
If you download the app, let me know what you think.
[dead] JeffBajayo
ProjectInterns.com, would be really awesome to be there :-). I also sent in an email about a scholarship to launch, i'm a student in New York, would love to attend!
[dead] rchaudhary
Jason, BusinessReel(http://www.businessreel.com), which is a vertical search engine for business for sale listings. It would be really great to attend the Launch conference.
[dead] io_floriano
Twimbow!!! The most colorful social media dashboard.
[dead] jeffcody
We are a group of 4 guys, trying to make something cool.

Vidtonic's Homebrew DIY Android TV kit (http://www.vidtonic.com). The idea being if you can build your PC, you can build your own TV. The kit has everything you need to build your own Android TV (panels, main board, cool enclosure, etc..).

The TV kit is a 1080p HDTV, in sizes from 22" up to 42". We are expecting to start shipping kits this summer... we also will be selling the boards standalone as an Android development platform (it also has HDMI output).

The kit is for people that enjoy building, enjoy tinkering, and enjoy open platforms...

Hey, even if we don't get upvoted, drop us a line if you are interested in the kit - we love feedback.

[dead] Aegean
It's pretty interesting. Do you handle Android and TV broadcast in separation? We build a hypervisor for android on omap processors (http://b-labs.com). It might be interesting to build a prototype demo for this platform.
[dead] jeffcody
We have an ATSC tuner on board, and the transport stream output from that goes straight into the TI processor. We have our own input switcher and media player in Android that processes the video.

However, you have me very intrigued - I think there are ways we could use the hypervisor. Very cool. I'll drop you an email, thanks.

[dead] Aegean
Sure, please do. It would be helpful to exchange ideas.
[dead] randall
Not my startup (my friend Caleb's), but I think YoBongo should get a table. They're awesome.
[dead] HardyLeung
Tagxedo (http://www.tagxedo.com) turns words and shapes into highly personalized and unique word cloud artworks. As an example, I took a picture of you and some words from the "Launch Judges" page and I quickly turn that into a Tagxedo: http://i.imgur.com/nyzFa.jpg

More examples at http://www.facebook.com/tagxedo I hope to be there to show some amazing artworks, and what can be done with it (e.g. make a portrait of each judge using words descibing him/her)!

[dead] d3x
I was going to apply to launch but I will not be ready. I am a single founder that created dietmanager.org ( originally named digest.io ) to help me manage my diet. Since then I have pivoted to support 455 different diets and not just the one i use which is the Macrobiotic diet. I am not the kind of founder that will ever get into Y-Combinator but I have a track record of making cool and profitable products. I am currently in discussions with several diabetes foundations and this will allow me to offer my product to their members for free. I have listed some of the cool features below.

1. Text "Breakfast", "Lunch", "Dinner" or "Snack" and the site looks to see what diet you are on and gives you meal recommendations so u know what and where to eat in your area.

2. I use kpi's that matter; instead of calorie counting I track how what you eat impacts your mood, focus, weight, sleep and energy levels

3. When users enter things into their food diary I pull all nutrient info from USDA food database so that I can alert users of any deficiency that I detect.

4. I have custom KPI's for each diet e.g.: the paleo athletic diet uses data from run keeper and services like that to tell the user what they were eating when they had their best times and the Hacker Diet uses my github commits to tell me what foods make me most productive and what foods make me not very productive.

The system is not perfect but its getting better and better with the help of my beta testers. At the end of march I will have at least 3 beta testers using each diet and at that point I am going to open it all up to the public.

BTW: The video is the old digest.io video. I am doing a contract gig this week so that I can pay grumo to make one of those kick ass videos that they make to explain the service.

Edit: I forgot to mention that if you dont want to eat out all the time like me, the system also hooks you up w/ local cooks that will deliver meals for your specific diet and gives you recipes / grocery list so that you can cook. I cant cook so I never use this option but it does exist.

[dead] d3x
If anyone would like to participate in the private beta please e-mail me your HN username and the diet you want to try and your location.

edit: im need location because some I dont have enough meal info to generate the recommendations in some places. For example the hacker diet is only available in NY and SF because if you live in Arkansas I probably dont have any cooks in my db in that area or any restaurants that have register meals for specific diets.

--thx, dex

[dead] geoffclapp
EventEngines is a brand new (~ month), 3 person startup, pre-launch, that would love to exhibit at a table! We're focused on mobile business intelligence for small and medium sized companies. Our application helps collect data at tradeshows, usergroup meetings, sales meetings, and other events and pushing that back into the enterprise for better shared decision making.

Yeah, it's enterprise-ish and not so "cool" for HackerNews, but its making enterprise fun for startups and mid-size companies who need to know what's going on in their market without breaking the bank! Hope to see you @Launch

[dead] arne_d
That idea shows a lot of potential and I am very interested to see how it evolves.
[dead] thomasclarke01
Anything that could turn the pile of business cards and scribbled notes I usually get from tradeshows into something useful in terms of social media would be a huge win.
[dead] simonk
Rhino Accounting (http://www.rhinoaccounting.com) - Free web based accounting for small businesses that integrates with Google Apps.
[dead] aquark
I've been looking for a web based accounting solution ... but I can't tell from your site what features you actually have. Do you support multiple currencies, budgets?

How do you intend to monetize it with an 'always free' model?

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[dead] feudis
Twimbow is very interesting!
[dead] toisanji
I'd love to get a table at LAUNCH. We are doing PR as a service to help startups be able to do pr effectively so that they can focus on building their core product. The site is http://socmetrics.com
[dead] amirnathoo
I'm a paying customer and really excited about what these guys are doing. Am sure they'd get a lot of interest at launch.
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[dead] toisanji
socmetrics helps you find bloggers to target when preparing your campaigns. It takes time to read all their posts and figure out what's relevant to personalize each email. On the blogger side, they hate getting pitches that's not relevant or impersonal. We want to help both sides get what they want:more buzz and more targeted product pitches they might actually want to write about.
[dead] digiru
I've used socmetrics. I'm a beta customer and being able to search and find influencers according to topic is awesome!