As the home to tech giants HP and Apple, Cupertino occupies a unique place among approximately 19,000 cities in America as a major employer for innovating companies.  But Cupertino also challenges not unlike many other cities, specifically, how to offer more services with declining tax revenue.

There’s a new movement afoot that helps answer this question: community partnership governing.  In short, it’s the idea that citizens are no longer passive players in the governing process.

We hope everyone feels motivated to vote, but for many, that is the extent of their civic participation.  What more could one do and how can we measure the success of civic participation?  Thankfully, we have a good idea of how to measure civic participation courtesy of the National Conference on Citizenship which, in August of 2009 released their annual report, America’s Civic Health Index.  The report looked at the state of civic engagement in America that reflects the impact of the economic crisis. They found that 72 percent of respondents saying they have cut back on time engaged in civic participation. But they also found that Millennials who use social networking sites for civic purposes are, on average 17% more likely to actively engage in civic participation in their communities.

So, the question is, can we increase civic participation, lower the cost of governing by instituting community partnership governing?  The answer is definitely yes.

One California Tech Startup, CitySourced (www.citysourced.com) has the solution when it comes to addressing urban blights like potholes and graffiti.  Urban blights are some of the most noticeable and costly problems that a city faces.  Take for instance a study by Law Enforcement Journal (09/2005), which estimated that in the United States the annual cost of graffiti abatement programs is estimated between $10 and $12 billion. In just the mass transit industry, the cost of vandalism is growing by 11 percent a year, according to a survey sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration.

Urban blights also have a “hidden” cost.  They are often the incubators of larger crimes.  George L. Kelling and Catherine Cole, authors of Fixing Broken Windows (Free Press, 1998) identified a successful strategy for combating crime and vandalism is to fix the problems when they are small, such as burned out street lights, graffiti, etc.

But cities still face the challenge of having to identify the problems.  This is where products like CitySourced come in.  CitySourced focuses on real time mobile civic engagement.  If you have a smartphone (very common in a tech-city like Cupertino), you can download the app on your iPhone and take a photo of a problem and submit it directly to City hall, complete with the GPS coordinates which are automatically captured because of the nature of a smartphone.

City Governments in these economic difficulties are cutting back on services and are looking for more ways to lower cost of managing their city by outsourcing or using technology to do more with less.   To fix these problems, we need to empower citizens to be partners in community governing to easily report them when they are small in nature, in real time, as they see them (so it’s accurate), not later on when they are likely to forget.

]]> http://cupertinodaily.com/2009/11/23/how-cupertino-wins-with-community-partnership-governing/feed/ http://cupertinodaily.com/2009/11/02/bob-marleys-entire-library-of-trademarks/ http://cupertinodaily.com/2009/11/02/bob-marleys-entire-library-of-trademarks/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:47:54 +0000 admin http://cupertinodaily.com/2009/11/02/bob-marleys-entire-library-of-trademarks/ Coming to a store near you: Bob Marley video games, shoes … snowboards? Take a look at the whole collection of Bob Marley trademarks on this link on Trademarkia.

Heirs of the Jamaican reggae legend are plunging into the global trademark wars, seeking to enforce their exclusive rights to an image that has grown steadily in scope and appeal since the Jamaican superstar died of brain cancer in 1981 at age 36.

The Marley name, look and sound are estimated to generate an estimated $600 million a year in sales of unlicensed wares. Legal sales are much smaller — just $4 million for his descendants in 2007, according to Forbes magazine. The Marleys refuse to give a figure.

Now the family has hired Toronto-based Hilco Consumer Capital to protect their rights to the brand. Hilco CEO Jamie Salter believes Marley products could be a $1 billion business in a few years.

“The family managed all the rights before Hilco was brought on board,” said Marley’s fourth son, Rohan. “We didn’t have a real good grasp on the international scope prior to Hilco, nor the proper management.”

The turn to big business has stirred some grousing from die-hard fans in Internet chat rooms, who say it goes against the grain of a singer who preached nonmaterialism and popularized the Rastafarian credo of oneness with nature and marijuana consumption as a sacrament.

But Lorna Wainwright, who manages a Kingston studio and music shop called Tuff Gong, Marley’s nickname during his boyhood in a nearby slum, backed the move, saying “the world needs the Bob Marley police.”

“It’s a free-for-all out there with all the fakes, all the piracy,” she said. “It’s important to continue getting his real message out like when he was alive because the world is in a crisis and Bob Marley’s lyrics provide a solution.”

A representative of the Bobo Ashanti order, a Rastafarian group, also expressed support.

“Bob Marley was and still is a stepping stone for many around the world who seek Rastafari roots and culture,” said the Rasta rep who identified himself as the Honorable Prophet Moambeh Acosta in an e-mail. “We can only hope and pray for the (family’s) success … as the task seems insurmountable due to the years of piracy and counterfeiting.”

Rather than focusing on street vendors, who hawk everything from Bob Marley T-shirts to beach towels, the partnership is creating a new line of products dubbed “House of Marley” and will police the trademark vigilantly.

“You’re never going to stop the guys in the streets, flea markets … but you try as much as you can,” said Salter.

Snowboards and tropical Jamaica may seem an odd pairing, but they’re among a wide variety of planned merchandise featuring the dreadlocked musician’s image, name or message — backpacks, stationery, headphones, musical instruments, restaurants.

Items are expected to hit the market in mid-2010.

Marley “would be amused to know that his face is being used to brand a wide range of products and services, some of which he himself might never have thought of using,” said Professor Carolyn Cooper, former coordinator of the reggae studies unit at Jamaica’s University of the West Indies.

But Cooper added in an interview that the Marley family is absolutely right to emulate the estates of Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and other pop heroes in protecting the trademark. Presley’s estate brought in nearly $55 million in revenue last year.

Marley’s lyrics promoting social justice made him an icon. His acceptance by mainstream America was sealed when the Budweiser frogs grooved to his song “Jamming” in a 1999 beer ad. His “One Love” anthem woos tourists to Jamaica on TV spots featuring white-sand beaches and swaying palms.

Mark Roesler, whose marketing and talent agency, CMG Worldwide, has a client list that includes the estates of James Dean and Marilyn Monroe, says protecting a famous name is a long-term task.

“If a celebrity has not had the focus and the attention that a personality like James Dean has had over the years, it is much more difficult to just suddenly get started and ‘clean up the market,’” said Roesler, who is not involved with the Marley effort.

Most of Marley’s heirs are also musicians, including his widow, Rita, and son Ziggy, who won four Grammys with the Melody Makers, a band that included another son, Stephen, and daughters Sharon and Cedella. Son Damian has won three Grammys.

The family says it cares less about moving merchandise than about preserving the patriarch’s legacy in such efforts as the Marley organic coffee farm, whose product is dried, roasted and packaged in bags emblazoned with Marley song titles such as “One Love” and “Mystic Morning.”

“People need to know what they’re getting is from the Marley movement, a movement of sustainability,” said son Rohan as he showed The Associated Press around the farm, a teeth-rattling drive over rutted roads from Kingston, the capital.

The former University of Miami star linebacker, who resembles his father, said an undisclosed share of Marley Coffee proceeds will go toward youth soccer programs in Jamaica, an island as crime-ridden and poor as it is alluringly beautiful.

What was really interesting about this conference also was that it was Hollywood meets Nerdville all the way. Technominded bay area entrepeneurs clammored to get the attention of slick Hollywood executive types such as Curt Marvis, the President of Lionsgate Digital Media. Numerous entrepeneurs (in think cracklin’ voices, rimmed glasses, and pocket protectors) were seen outside his presentation talking to the expensive suit wearing Mr. Marvis trying to make a connection for future meetings. Overall, the event was a great success and enjoyed by attendees.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF., OCTOBER 26, 2009

The controversy over Trademarkia

 At the heart of the controversy is a new website called Trademarkia (www.trademarkia.com) that has built a unique historical record of U.S. trademarks filed from 1870 until today.   Trademarkia was built using 6 million pre-Great Depression historical logos, names and slogans that were never publicly searchable on the Internet, even by the United States Trademark Office itself.      Since the site’s launch last month at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco, Trademarkia’s employees have been contributing content on Wikipedia by correcting and adding anecdotes on historically famous trademarks and businesses.   For example, Trademarkia employees have been adding and correcting details of famous trademarks such as the board game Connect Four by Hasbro all the way to the origins and brands of Morman Church.     In addition, Trademarkia employees have been adding background details on more current issues such as the history of Google’s Gmail service and Apple’s recent disputes over its use of the words Mighty Mouse using government information released on the Trademarkia site.  

However, unlike other contributors, Trademarkia is a commercial business that makes money from registering new trademarks and letting consumers reapply for expired trademarks after finding them on their free search engine.   Therein lays the controversy.    In a new forum started last week by Wikipedia’s elite editors, a Wikipedia editor writes been that a Trademarkia executive has been adding links on different pages that link to Trademarkia in a manner that violates Wikipedia policy.

One highly regarded Wikipedia administrator “SlimVirgin” who has made more than 80,000 edits on Wikipedia says that “we seem increasingly to be dealing with people who are self-promoting, and it would be good if we had a page that prohibited it without exception. On the other hand, we don’t want to exclude people who may be experts in something, so the wording would need to be just right. The writing would also need to be tightened generally.”  Trademarkia employees have made “good edits which just happen to add promotions of a particular web site.”     Another writes that to allow a business such as Trademarkia to mass spam Wikipedia is misguided because it violates Wikipedia’s founding principal of neutrality.     The editor goes on to say conflict of interest isn’t just a matter of useful vs. non-useful, but about self-promotion in general.    The Wikipedia editor writes that sites such as Trademarkia should not use Wikipedia to promote their own interests.

Craig Newmark from Craigslist Chimes In

 At the recent BizTechDay Meetup conference in San Francisco on Friday October 23, Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist chimed in during his keynote address and offered some of his own advice on Trademarkia.   Craig commented that he believes that sites like new startups like Trademarkia that leverage government data and make the data more accessible to people are potentially very valuable and important to democracy.    Craig contributes to a non-profit group called the Sunlight Foundation that helps government departments open up access to information such as the data Trademarkia has leveraged.   Craig comments that sites like Trademarkia can help to make governments more efficient, transparent, and less susceptible to corruption by bringing information to people in more direct and transparent ways.    Craig believes that trends in news on sites such as Twitter and Trademarkia bring news to consumers rather than them having to search it out on their own.    When asked on the Trademarkia controversy on Wikipedia specifically, Craig commented that he wants to research the issue more and get more involved on the issue directly on the Wikipedia community. 

Interview with Mahesh Nihalani
By Bryan Zhang, Contributor

The third interview brings us to Mr. Mahesh Nihalani, a small business owner who has lived in Cupertino for nine years. Mahesh was voted Chamber Citizen of the Year in 2007 and Distinguished Citizen of the Year in 2009. He has also initiated and helped organize the annual Diwali Festival among other fundraisers.

BZ: How would your experiences as a small business owner help you for the City Council seat?

MN: Small business in Cupertino during these challenging economic times makes you a little hard-nosed because if you are still able to make payroll out here, you learn how to run a business. For our city, it’s important to have someone with this fiscal leadership along with someone who knows how to enhance revenues and reserves.

BZ: Large businesses such as HP and Apple play a large role in Cupertino’s economy, but at the same time you can’t ignore the small businesses. So how would you go about balancing the needs of each?

MN: I am a believer and advocate of supporting a strong local economy. I definitely support the big players in Cupertino. If these big businesses are able to flourish, then it will also help the small businesses. I would definitely look to create a partnership between the big and small businesses so the small businesses will also be able to benefit from the facilities that the city can provide.

BZ: So you would look at a relationship between big and small businesses?

MN: Yes, exactly. Perhaps have an annual exposition before holidays on the campus of Apple and have small businesses participate.

BZ: Do you think it’s a problem that Cupertino doesn’t have a standard downtown area?

MN: The way Cupertino has grown over the years; we have been unable to create a downtown area. But that area by Cupertino Square can be built to a downtown area.

BZ: With the city planning to develop another area by Wolfe, what are your thoughts on Cupertino Square?

MN: Cupertino Square has an identity of its own. With the development across the road, we can have the developers plan so that we can create a downtown area with walkability. What we have in Cupertino are “pockets” such as Oaks Mall and Cupertino Square.

BZ: Would you be in favor of drawing new stores to Cupertino Square or just redeveloping that whole area?

MN: I would definitely support the redevelopment of that area. It should have happened already but unfortunately it became kind of a mess with the financial and legal troubles.

BZ: Would you ever support a store like Wal-Mart or Costco in Cupertino?

MN: No, not really. Small businesses work best with the set-up we have in Cupertino. It would also affect things like traffic. I also don’t see where we would get the land for a large warehouse that a store like Wal-Mart or Costco would need. I’m more for small businesses especially, especially small stores like retail. However, I would support a large business like Symantec.

BZ: Do you think there’s a problem with diversity in Cupertino?

MN: I don’t think there’s a problem with diversity. We have lots of diversity in Cupertino. We celebrate lots of different holidays in Cupertino.

BZ: What I mean by that is Cupertino is predominantly White and Asian- approximately 50% white population and 40% Asian. So would you try to draw other minority groups to come live in Cupertino?

MN: Cupertino’s an open place for anyone to come live. Over the years we have seen many different ethnicities come. Over the nine years I’ve lived here, the Indian population has increased dramatically. Diversity is always good and it’s happening everywhere. The amount of culture we celebrate in Cupertino is happening all the time.

BZ: What role do you think faith should play in Cupertino families?

MN: I’m a believer of faith myself. But it’s nothing that should be forced or directed on people. It’s from people’s inner feelings. Personally I think faith is always good. But it’s totally individualistic and personal.

BZ: How do you feel about a dog park in Cupertino?

MN: I feel safety of our citizens always come first. I believe everyone should be accommodated. If we can have a fenced off area for the dogs to be in, it should be fine. It should be a fenced space meant for them so they can be off leash. But safety of citizens should definitely come first. It shouldn’t be a part of an existing park where an issue of safety could arise

BZ: How has the current budget crisis affected Cupertino?

MN: Fortunately, Cupertino has a very healthy reserve. There is some shortfall in the budget but the city has been fiscally responsible. However, generating revenues is important so we can increase our reserves. I think we need to attract more revenue-generating businesses into Cupertino as well as revitalizing older areas such as Cupertino Square so people will choose to stay in Cupertino and shop rather than go to places like Valley Fair. But we are currently in a healthy situation compared to other cities.

BZ: Great, I think that covers everything. Thank you for answering my questions.

MN: Thank you, Bryan. It was a pleasure.

My second interview was with Mr. Darcy Paul, a Patent Attorney who came to Cupertino in 2005. Darcy came in 2005 to take a job at a patent litigation firm. In 2007, Darcy was appointed to the Parks and Recreation commission and has now decided to run for City Council.

BZ: Given that you are relatively new to Cupertino, why would you think you are the best fit for the City Council?

DP: I think what makes me qualified to serve the council is that I am committed, concerned, and have gotten involved in the city to the extent where I have actually approached it and thought how I can best serve this community. I actually planned to run two years ago but I talked to several of the community leaders and a common consensus was that it was a little premature given I had only lived in Cupertino for two years. So they recommended rather than a run outright, to get involved on the commission level so I applied to the Parks and Recreation commission.

BZ: Do you think diversity is a problem here in Cupertino?

DP: I wouldn’t characterize it as a problem. If you approach it in a thoughtful manner and honest way, it’s something that ultimately strengthens the community. Where we get in trouble is often times we have underlying prejudices and concerns about other groups and they just go unspoken. As members of the community, we need to take steps to be understanding to groups in the community and also make our own groups history and values known to others.

BZ: Would you ever support encouraging other minority groups to move to Cupertino?

DP: I don’t think minority groups need encouraging to move to Cupertino. I would like to see a little more socioeconomically diversity in the city. I wouldn’t necessarily go out and target specific minority groups but I would try to foster an attitude of inclusion in the community.

BZ: Do you think it is a problem that Cupertino does not have a downtown area?

DP: Well, I think that is a gap in our city offerings right now. What we are doing as a city to try and develop a downtown area is to develop the 17 acres west of Wolfe and North of Stevens Creek. The concept is that this area will emerge as our de facto downtown area where people can meet and enjoy a cup of coffee. We need to think about providing a good pedestrian connection between Vallco and the proposed main street area. It’s important to preserve the safety and concerns of residents in the area.

BZ: Would you ever support adding new stores and businesses to the Vallco/Cupertino Square area?

DP: I would actually support a pretty drastic change in the Cupertino Square space. I think for the future of the city, it makes the most sense to rethink the existing structures entirely. It wouldn’t be a physically easy task to undertake, but it wouldn’t be impossible to rethink the existing structures, especially since the buildings have increasingly fallen into ineptitude. I do not believe it is being used in an optimal manner.

BZ: Large businesses play a large role in the local economy but there are many small businesses as well. How would you balance the needs of each?

DP: What affects the small businesses is having a sufficient consumer base. We have a lot of empty office space in the city and we need to occupy those spaces in order to help the smaller businesses. But I don’t think there’s any type of conflict between large and small businesses.

BZ: Any specific ideas on helping out the smaller businesses?

DP: I would support an annual guide that would be updated on a semi-annual basis. People can see the types of shops and services available. We can make it available on the web and widely disseminate the URL. I would also like to see an improvement in the city’s transportation. I would like to see a city wide shuttle that would get people from point to point in an efficient manner.

BZ: Would you ever support a Wal-Mart or Costco in Cupertino?

DP: A Wal-Mart or Costco would probably not set up shop here in the first place because there’s a lack of overhead here. I also do not believe Cupertino needs a Wal-Mart or Costco and I would not take steps to welcome a Wal-Mart or Costco.

BZ: Great, thank you for taking this interview at Bonjour Crepe.

DP: Thank you for having me.

By Bryan Zhang, Contributor

With the Cupertino Council Elections coming up on the 3rd of November, campaigning by the candidates has gone in full swing. I had a chance to sit with several of the candidates at the newly opened Bonjour Crepe Co. on Stevens Creek and ask them a series of questions ranging from the local economy to diversity in Cupertino.

Interview with Orrin Mahoney

My first interview was with none other than the mayor of Cupertino himself, Orrin Mahoney. As a resident of Cupertino for over 35 years, Mr. Mahoney has been involved with all facets of Cupertino. He has been on the De Anza commission, spent 8 years on the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce, 10 years on the Cupertino Rotary, and was 2005’s Cupertino Citizen of the Year. I was able to sit with him before the chamber ribbon cutting of the newly opened Bonjour Crepe Co. on Stevens Creek.

BZ: Thank you for taking the time to join me today. You’ve lived in Cupertino for a long time. What are the biggest changes in Cupertino in the past 35 years?

OM: There have been many changes. There are these big companies here now and the city has become much more affluent. In addition, the level of diversity in the community has increased as well. 30 years ago we basically had two groups in the area, now we have a nice mix of different people.

BZ: Couldn’t you say it’s dominated by two groups now as well?

OM: Well, over the past few years we have seen a significant rise in the Indian and Chinese population here in Cupertino. It wasn’t like that before. When you speak of just two groups, I think it’s a little misleading as there are many different ethnicities within those two groups. It’s that level of ethnicity that has increased.

BZ: Would you support an effort to encourage other minorities to move to Cupertino?

OM: I don’t see it as an issue. Of course anyone is welcome to come and live here- and they have over the years. We have some of the top schools in the county and are a very affluent city. I don’t see a need to actively recruit specific minorities as everyone is welcome to come live here.

BZ: How have your experiences prepared you for this job?

OM: I’ve been involved in many aspects of Cupertino life. I’ve worked at HP for 35 years, including 25 in Cupertino. I have served on the De Anza school commission and have been on the Chamber of Commerce Board. I’ve also been the President of the Rotary Club. One of the things I got to do while in the Rotary Club was go to China which was a wonderful experience. I believe my wide range of experiences and expertise can greatly benefit the people of Cupertino.

BZ: Cupertino doesn’t have a standard downtown area like other cities. Do you think that’s a problem?

OM: Well, that is an issue of the way Cupertino is set up. There isn’t really a way to have your standard downtown area. However, we have been looking at a “Town Square” project. This would essentially act as an area where people can congregate and shop. It would basically be a large plot of land with a road running through it and four more roads running across.

BZ: How will this “Town Square” project affect Cupertino Square?

OM: Cupertino Square has been in disarray for quite some time now. The owners have had some financial trouble but I would support efforts to revitalize that area considering it is on prime land. New restaurants and a movie theater were added. Rather than treat each as a separate project, I would look to link both Cupertino Square and the area we are developing.

BZ: There is a good mixture of large and small businesses in Cupertino. How would you go about balancing the needs of each?

OM: Large businesses play a vital role in the local economy due to the taxes they pay. We have to be able to accommodate them if they wish to expand. Losing Symantec wasn’t an ideal situation but we have a healthy relationship with the other large businesses in the city. Small businesses also play a central part of Cupertino and they should definitely not be ignored. Rather than looking at it as a big business vs. small business, I would see it as a relationship. Helping our large businesses could only help the small businesses.

BZ: Would you ever welcome a store like Wal-Mart?

OM: If anything I would think a Costco would be more of a store Cupertino would have. Finding available space would be a challenge but it’s something I would support. Of course nothing is planned but a Costco in the future is definitely a possibility.

BZ: That about sums everything up. Thank you again for taking the time to chat with me before the ribbon cutting here at Bonjour Crepe.

OM: It was my pleasure.

By Austin Jones

It feels like it is 1999 again!   The TechCrunch 50 event was held this week (September 14-15) at the San Francisco Design Center.   It promised to be the biggest tech event of the year.   Instead, it was a horrible flop.    The VCs and even the pundits have become jaded and confused about determining what exactly is a good startup and what is a bad one.  At this year’s TechCrunch50 2009, there were few surprises and many disappointments.    The people, this time, have voted with their stomachs and pressure from hecklers rather than with their heads.

First, the event space was horrible.  For $2000 a ticket, you’d expect much better food and drinks at lunch and snacks.   Instead, we got cheap soft drinks and some trail mix to boot.  With the flu bug permeating the space because of the moldy old wooden panels of the dilapidated meeting space (the San Francisco Design Center site of TechCrunch50), perhaps attendees voted out of shear boredom, confusion, and menthol-eucalyptus cough syrup induced physical fatigue.

Let me give you my thoughts about the startups at TechCrunch 50 this year.    The winners and runner ups this year are true DOT bombs waiting to happen.    TechCrunch 50 and their ‘expert’ panel of judges thought these startups were the best:

RedBeacon

Threadsy

AnyClip

CitySourced

Here is my brief analysis of why I think these startups are not the best:

RedBeacon. Reminds me of a Web 1.0 lead generation tool for plumbers and handymen.   A dumb idea because most plumbers, handymen and local home services helpers barely know how to check their email, much less use a service like theirs.   Even still, their site sucks.  It is defocused, and you can virtually type in anything in the search box.   They supposedly have a cool ‘fast search’ algorithm when you type in ‘mas’ for massage, it comes up with “Animal Breeder”.  When you type in ‘att’ for attorney, it comes up with ‘Personal Assistant’.   How retarded is that?     Most people in neighborhoods would rather ask their neighbor for recommendations to find services rather than go on a dumb site like this.   Even if they were to go on a site, who would they rather trust, an advertisement in a local news publication, or on RedBeacon.     I visited RedBeacon’s site toward closing time of voting.

They were desperately trying to give away as many of their fancy, expensive mini-red cupcakes a possible in hopes of getting votes as the top startup.   Clearly, fraud played a huge role in their victory.  Nonetheless, I would be less harsh if I thought that their site had any redeeming technical or actual business value.    As to revenue model?   Is Joe the Plumber actually going to pay them for advertising?   Joe the Plumbers became Joe the Plumbers for a reason – they hate computers and typing.    Dumb idea, Weak Execution, but somehow has emerged as the winner of TechCrunch50.

Threadsy. Actually a decent idea, but no real revenue model.   Discover new people and connect with them in conversations. Why would a VC want to fund this company?   Nobody in their right minds I suppose given how quickly that Twitter is bleeding money, and even if people were to use this site, it would bleed money.   Also, it is likely that more established companies in the Twitter space such as TweetDeck and others will add features of this site.   A bit too late to the party.

AnyClip. It is interesting to find quotes from old movies and embed them into your site. Like YouTube, this site is destined to be a money loser.    In this world, it might be better if a company like Google did something like AnyClip themselves.  The world does not need another billion dollar a year losing startup that tries to make more money for everyone else other than itself.       It got that ever so nerdy, trademarked thumbs up from Robert Scobble, a San Jose State dropout Tech Blogger extraordinaire on the panel of experts.   Robert seems to say nice things about every startup, except for those that really suck.   However, he loved this one and gave him a wine bottle.   I had never seen Robert Scobble in person.   He is a true physical specimen.    A big tummy surrounded by a big glasses rimmed face and short arms and legs.    He truly has a distinctive trademark when he stretches his arms to yawn and gives a broken thumbs up.

CitySourced. This is a highly useful idea.   Take pictures through your iphone of things that are broken in your city through an iPhone app and send them to your city leaders.  Might even be useful for Cupertino.    The problem is this… How often do people want to actually do this?   Not likely often.  Even when they do, the masses are generally lazy and the city council people change every so often.    How do city leaders provide feedback on fixes?     Not likely to be an easy proposition.  Furthermore, for a local government to allocate the necessary budget to actually do anything major, people need to physically show up to city council meetings and talk with their leaders.     In summary, a site with somewhat of a useful, if not generic and boring, purpose, but not something that any VC should want to fund.

Let me take an opportunity to rip on the VCs at the event participating in the ‘Panel of Experts’.   Most of them, including the planted fake VC from Microsoft Don Dodge, were ME TOO VCs.    ps.  was that a Toupe or Real Hair?  None that were truly enlightened or wise for that matter, save a few such as Roeloff Botha from Sequoia Capital, Sean Parker from the Founders Fund.   For entertainment value Yossi Vardi had some interesting quips, but his comments were generally inapplicable to the real issue at hand.      Tim O’Reilly was also visually interesting as he looked like a grandpa who was either stoned, wasted, depressed, or drunk.  His hair was completely out of place and he sat there zoned out most of the time.    He did light-up a bit when hearing about the telepsychiatry startup Breakthough…  Hmmm…

The most insightful people on the ‘Panel of Experts’ were often the quietest and least impressed with the startups.   Reid Hoffman, the CEO of LinkedIn, who looks like he has lost about 50 pounds since I last saw him in October 2008 (but still has another 150 lbs to go) had some interesting things to say.   So did the often deadpan, and stone-faced honesty of Tony Hsieh, who sat there entirely unimpressed but made some strong and direct comments that challenged the value that this year’s panel of dead boring startups were bringing.

I also found a few things strangely interesting at this year’s TechCrunch 50.    First, Ron Conway and the rest of the sheep angels on the first day’s panel such as Yossi Verdi were impressed with the wrong companies.   For example, ToonsTunes. Great marketers those ToonsTunes people..  Gave away useless badges say ‘BackStage Passes’.  For a while, I thought I was cool.  However, later, I discovered that I as a walking doofus who was walking around the halls with an utterly useless self promotion item for a ToonsTunes and I wasn’t going to get to go backstage anywhere.

The ToonTunes concept looks interesting.  What is also interesting is that ToonTunes seems to be started by a bunch of former mortgage brokers/underwriters.  They must be really bored with their day jobs and decided to do something like ToonTunes on the side. While the VCs had a heart attack when the founders mentioned their valuation expectations, I cringed at the wolf pack mentality of the angels who seemed to start salivating for a minute.

The most entertaining aspect of the second day was Chamillionaire, a Grammy winning recording artist and rap star.  Like Obama, Chamillionaire’s father is African Muslim and his mother is a Christian.      I felt kind of old when this guy came on, because I had never heard of him before.   I come from the MCHammer, 2Pac, Biggie Smalls high school/college era.    Nonetheless, this dude, Chamillionaire, unlike Obama, seems to have sold out his true African birth name of Hakeem Seriki for Chamiillionaire.     Good too see that even after 15 years, it is still about the Benjamins baby.      Chamillionaire only black guy I saw at the TechCrunch50 event for sure. He came on as a guest judge.   Listening intently with a sideways hat and a stern-focused look on his face, Cahmillionaire was smart and had some great insights. It slightly squinted when the Stribe founders (who looked like the French version of Borat and his sidekick) called him ‘Bro’.    I thought they were going to go further, but then they didn’t..  What a dumb concept that Stribe was.  Stribe.   Who really wants to put a social network on their corporate page.    How will they ever make money?   The founders of Stribe should have stayed in Paris rather than spend the huge amount of money, time, and expenses to come to this event.   The guy even mentioned that his site was available in French.  Duh?

There were at least two other memorable, and interesting presentations.   The first one was from these dudes who looked like they were from the movie Scarface in a funny named startup called ‘Udorse‘.  Dressed in nice, fancy clothing and from New York, the CEO guy spoke on stage like it was a bar fight. Also, he kept showing pictures of himself surrounded by a bevy of female companions at different parties.  Clearly, this guy has an oversized ego.   I was just about falling asleep, resting downward in my TechCrunch50 chair when he began to speak.      Then, I sat up.     He started yelling at me and the audience.  When an Italian looking tough from New York in fancy clothes starts yelling at you on stage, you listen.   His arms moved about in an animated manner.   I don’t remember much of what he said, because I was too busy hiding behind my laptop screen.   The concept they have is interesting, but destined to flop.  Tony Hsieh was right.   Which sane person would want to make money off their friends’ clothes?    Might be a good site for metro-sexuals and fashion conscious gay singles, but that’s about it…

The other interesting company was Yext.   All I remember about them is that they claimed, right on stage, to already have 20 million in revenue.   Why the heck are they at the event in the first place then?   Trying to raise an extra $50 grand when they have so much revenue?   Seems a bit skeptical for me.    I challenge the Yext owners to make their financials public. Being a private company, they can say anything.    The dumber members on the Panel of Experts started to salivate.    However, at least one guy Paul Graham seemed skeptical.   I share his skepticism.   I can’t imagine that local gyms want to pay $1000 a year on average on hearing their phone ring (e.g., they claim to have 20,000 local customers).    Ridiculous if you ask me.    Sounds like a shady shell game.   Bernie Madoff of local advertising conspiracy theories anyone?

In the DemoPit, there were a number of interesting companies that didn’t get enough limelight.   In the game to get poker chips, there was tremendous fraud and deceit.     Both the winners on the first day secured their limelight in this fashion.   First, the startup YourVersion had 5 guys at their booth, including 3 Santa Clara University student walkers who went around heckling people for Chips.   Would be fine, if I didn’t think that they don’t have a revenue model at all, and are basically trying to build a new site around something that is destined to be a feature on Twitter and other more established twitter apps one day.    That being said, perhaps I shouldn’t single them out.   In general, too many “Me Too real time search, something weird and different” real time search productivity startups filled the entire moldy-smelling-warehouse conference floor.

My biggest beef in the demo pit goes for oDesk.   This company seems really desperate. Though not really a startup, and having raised more that $29million dollars to date from leading investors including Benchmark, the CEO and his staff were hustling for new $150 dollar business at this event.    oDesk somehow managed to con the greedy TechCrunch50 organizers to give them a Demo Pit spot.   I guess that the organizers really wanted as many $3K demo pits sold as possible.

While even Michael Arrington the venerable TechCrunch founder and dark force acknowledged that oDesk was really not a startup and didn’t have anything new, he still gave them their ten minutes on stage.   I imagine with $29 million in funding and plenty of staff, the oDesk team really hustled to get as many chips as possible.    The CEO basically rehashed most, if not, ALL old features on oDesk during his demo and sat their glibly afterward, having had the perverse pleasure of denying a truly deserving real startup launching at TechCrunch50 the opportunity to get their company in front stage.    What A Smuck. The VCs must be getting desperate that they are never going to see a 10X return on their investment, much less a 2X one.

So, who do I think were the top startups of TechCrunch if any?    Here is my list of favorites and why :

Trademarkia.com -   Interesting business with a real revenue model.   New ways for companies to create brands, logos, and slogans by looking at expired names.  Reminds me of the early days of the secondary market for expired domain names.  In addition to free trademark search and trademark registration, the company is creating a secondary market for expired business names, logos and slogans.   In addition, they have an awesome logo search capability that lets you search inside of logos.   This tool should be tremendously valuable for logo designers.    Trademarkia is probably the most under appreciated startups of the event.    The USPTO site sucks, Trademarkia has innovated around this boring space in a unique way.  It has much better search for logos, names and slogans and has a clear revenue model in selling trademarks both new and expired.   In addition, there are countless business partnership opportunities for this company such as domain name sellers such as GoDaddy, with Logo design companies like LogoWorks and 99designs.  A truly interesting and unique startup.    This company is bound to give LegalZoom and others a  run for their money.   They should partner with them as they clearly have a unique and winning product.

Breakthrough.com A well executed startup with a clear and focused business plan.  Has a real revenue model and is the CEO was professional and knowledgeable on stage.   The site basically allows depressed people to connect with psychiatrists through the internet before they meet in person. An interesting idea that I think will really take off. What’s more, health care plans (maybe even one day Obama’s public health care plan) covers this type of medical service. Bradley Horowitz, the Panel of Expert member from sponsor Google looked like a total idiot when the CEO responded to Bradley’s remarks about how it was kind of sad and depressing that people would have to use a site like this one.   The CEO ask Bradley to put himself in the position of someone who was depressed, had been raped, or was suicidal.  Bradley, who made smart-alecky remarks to many other companies and thereby provided some entertainment fodder (including a quip asking Jason Calacanis the pre-screener of the Techcrunch50 what exactly he saw interesting in a previous company he say, thereby putting Jason on the spot and sarcastically implying that Jason had made the wrong choice) but on this one, he seemed stumped.   Incidentally, Jason Calacanis’s personality took on a whole new dimension for me when he as shown in as a trash talking, f word using, basketball bouncer in a erotic, almost X rated independent film clip shown in the AnyClip demo.   For those you interested parties, the movie wis called We Live in Public (2009), a true independent work of art.       Jason apparently is a man of many interests.

CLASEMOVIL. A truly inspiring company that I think has a bright future.    A small team in Mexico developed what seemed to be a well thought out and immersive world in which students in Latin American learn while exploring and playing.    The site can clearly be localized to other languages.   However, CLASEMOVIL was dissed by the VCs and Panel of Experts as having no revenue model.  They might be right, but here is a business that might change the world.    Perhaps CLASSMOVIL should become a 501(3)c nonprofit and raise money from philanthropic funds.

FluidHTML. Seems technically very strong and solves an important need for developers who want to build applications in Flash, but don’t know the tools well and are more comfortable in code than with design applications.  That being said, the best Flash developers are artists and not coders.   Interesting concept none-the-less and has great potential for active usage by developers.

Other than that, the most of the other companies in the Demo Pit and on stage I saw were either more “Me Too real time search, something weird and different” or something with no real revenue model.    Admittedly, I didn’t get a chance to see all the presentations and I didn’t get a chance to visit all the Demo Pit booths, but this is my honest opinion.     Definitely no Mint-like quality startups in this year’s TechCrunch50, whose boastful CEO Aaron Patzer proudly if not cockily reportedly just sold for $170 million on the first day of the event. What A Smuck. Made everyone else jealous and himself look like a nouveau riche Tool.  Heck, no even Yammer, the winner last year.   This was clearly the weakest TechCrunch 50 in terms of startup quality in its brief 3 year history.    That being said, who am I?  Take it with a grain of salt…

By Austin Jones,

Reporter for The Daily Net,

San Francisco/Silicon Valley Tech Beat

Here are some interesting aggregate statistics about Cupertino, CA as of the year 2009. The city of Cupertino has about 54,000 residents. Approximately half or 27,200 are registered to vote. The city of Cupertino is rich with diversity, its residents coming from all parts of the globe. The two largest (and fastest growing) segments of the minority groups in Cupertino, CA are those of Chinese and South Asian descent. These recent immigrant groups, like the others before them, have contributed greatly to the growth and success of Silicon Valley and continue to make a significant impact in the quality, teaching methods, and academic excellence of Cupertino schools.

Here are some interesting voter statistics for you to consider.

Cupertino Fall Festival

China & Taiwan born U.S. citizens in Cupertino, CA as of 2009
Of those who are registered to vote in Cupertino, CA, approximately 22% (or about 5,500) citizens are of either Chinese (Mainland and Hong Kong) or Taiwanese birth. Mainland China born U.S. citizens registered to vote in Cupertino is approximately 2,848 voters (approximately 11% of voters). Taiwan born U.S. citizens registered to vote in Cupertino is approximately 2624 voters (approximately 10% of voters).

South Asia born U.S. citizens in Cupertino, CA as of 2009
Of those who are registered to vote in Cupertino, CA, approximately 10% (or about 5,500) citizens are of India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh birth. India born U.S. citizens registered to vote in Cupertino is approximately 2,648 voters (approximately 10% of voters). In other words, there is approximately the same number of India born U.S. citizens in Cupertino as there is Taiwan born U.S. citizens in Cupertino.

Pakistan and Bangladesh born U.S. citizens registered to vote in Cupertino is approximately 92 voters (approximately .3% of voters).

Age Demographics of voters in Cupertino, CA as of 2009
Of those who are registered to vote in Cupertino, CA, approximately 27% (or about 7,500) citizens are older than 55, and approximately 14% (or about 3700) are registered voters under the age of 29.