Heading to DEMO

In one week we are launching our company, Iterasi, at DEMO 08. Launching at DEMO is magic for a small company. I’ve done it before - in 98 and 99 – and feel as excited now as I did then.

Chasing the DEMO dream

I have been to more trade events in various factions of high tech than I care to admit. I’ve attended multiple NCC, Comdex, InterOp, and Networld shows as well as vendor and industry specific variations. Of them all, the early InterOp and DEMO shows really stand out as great events. But right now DEMO is on my mind.

I attended my first DEMO in 1998. My company, PlusFactor, was deep into cool Java technologies. I had never been to a show I had to actually apply for – usually it was just come up with a booth and pay outrageous fees. DEMO was different. First and foremost is Chris Shipley. She is an engaging and approachable person. It is a treat to meet someone as well regarded who still has a handle on the entrepreneurial spirit.

My second DEMO was DEMO Mobile99. We had run the gauntlet on client side Java – our Demo 1998 product – and decided to port our vision to handhelds. There we pulled a real coup by showing our wireless collaborative data synchronization – named WeSync - on the Palm 7. This was the very event that Palm chose to launch the Palm 7 so we drew tons of attention.

What kind of attention does DEMO generate?

I describe the attendees of DEMO as among the top talent among three groups: Press, VC, and Business Development. What draws them is the fact that DEMO is such a wonderful, fun and familiar event. If you had a choice, would you crawl among the 150,000 attendees scattered among 8 hotels in Vegas, or a 600 person, comfortable, well produced event in a plush resort in Palm Desert? Besides the press, there is a high concentration of venture capitalists looking to line up companies for the next tour to Sand Hill Road. Likewise, the corporate biz dev people are running a mock looking to get a jump on the next big thing.

Bottom Line: Make Contact

I have never seen a higher concentration of quality prospects for a startup. At DEMO98, one early portal company bought a presenter virtually right off the floor for $55M. Not only have I pitched to some of the best in the categories mentioned above, but I have met some of the legends of the computer industry. I avoid naming names here as I don’t want to come off as a starry-eyed wannabe. But DEMO is the real deal. I can’t wait.