Developer TV We Love StartUps Part 1

Host: Mark Herring

Running Time: 5:27

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SDNtv is Starting the New Year with a Month of Content about Startups.

This week Mark Herring gets the lowdown on StartUp Camp, a Sun-sponsored "un-conference" that brought together hundreds of successful and aspiring entrepreneurs. The two-day event took place last November at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

"We're not a typical conference format where people listen to talking heads in front of PowerPoints," says David Berlind, co-organizer of Startup Camp and executive editor at ZDNet. The event takes the best part of regular conferences--the coffee breaks, after-hours events, and Q&A sessions--and turns them into the event itself.

"Generally speaking, at any one of the sessions you enter, you're either getting something out of the discussion or you're contributing to it. If you're not, you move your feet to another," says Berlind.

Think you have what it takes to create a successful startup? Could you pitch your business idea in the length of time it takes to make toast? Dozens of Startup Camp participants did just that, vying for honors as Best Startup during intense rounds of Speed Geeking.

The energy and intimacy of Startup Camp was never stronger than during these round-robin sessions where startup founders and executives had just five minutes to make their pitch to other Startup Camp attendees.

"The presentations are literally being honed as each round takes place," says Berlind. "[The pitches] get better and better and better."

Later this month, SDNtv takes a closer look at two of these Speed Geeking players-- EchoSign and Zooomr, which received Best Startup honors.

Also this week, Greg Posten, SDNtv's Geek Gadget Guru, chats with Roger Meike, senior director at SunLabs.

Meike shows off the Sun SPOT, part of an ongoing research project at Sun Labs. The handheld Sun SPOT includes a radio transmitter, light and temperature sensors, and a 3D accelerometer.

Meike says the Sun SPOT can be connected to servos or even used to build a robot. Tune in later this month to see the Sun SPOT in action.

If you're starting a company, you're probably cost-conscious, yet don't want to skimp on performance. Sun designed Startup Essentials so new businesses can get a leg up, and hopefully become long-term Sun customers.

Next week, Mark Herring chats with Sun VP Juan Carlos Soto about Startup Essentials, a program that gives qualifying startups big discounts on Sun systems, software, and services.

Show Notes

• Links

  • StartUp Camp - an "unconference" for the startup community
  • Startup Essentials Program - get big discounts on Sun products
  • Sun Partner Advantage Program - become a Sun Business Partner
  • Project Sun SPOT - Sun, small programmable object technology
  • Zooomr - 1st place winner of StartUp Camp
  • EchoSign - 2nd place winner of StartUp Camp

• Blogs

  • Johnathan Schwartz - what we learned from StartUp Camp
  • David Berlind, Mass Events Labs - plays head counselor at StartUp Camp
  • Adam Kalsey's blog - Sun StartUp Essentials Pricing

• Downloads

  • NetBeans IDE 5.5 - create cross-platform, Java desktop, enterprise and web applications
  • Solaris 10 - Free and Open Source Operating System

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