March 1, 2013 at 11:56The coolest result at TechCrunch Moscow '12
Hello, Habrachelovek!
Take a seat in our DeLorian DMC-12 - we will take you a couple of months ago, last December, when TechCrunch Moscow 2012 died in Moscow. It is about him, as well as our modest participation in it, that we are going to tell during this short trip .
We are the Result , or RZLTT for short .
Full-cycle interactive marketing agency.
We help ambitious businesses to quickly launch new services in the form of startups in the Russian and global markets. It is probably useless to write more words about our main activity - if you want, you will find it yourself.
Also, it’s unlikely that you should talk about TechCrunch — you already know everything. And you remember that his first Russian version happened in 2010, when it became clear that our level is also a level, and in general it is no worse than behind a hill.
Plus, an event with TechCrunch sauce allows you to smear this same sauce on yourself, and then argue your own "global". A trifle, but nice.
One way or another, we monitored each event individually, and coming to the third TechCrunch it became obvious that the composition of the party had not changed and its core has remained static for three years now. On the one hand, it’s good, leaders remain leaders, on the other hand, I would like to see new, interesting faces. Of course, they tried to put them on public display, but, apparently, the person of Arkady Volozh is so huge and comprehensive that it is he who has been taking center stage at the event for more than a year, the other speakers and interesting visitors are lost in his shadow.
This is followed by another statement that adds fuel to the hypothesis that the Russian IT party needs to be diluted with new faces, ideas and projects - most of the projects shown at the event, one way or another, have been going on for a considerable time.
There are enough examples of this, but perhaps the most powerful fact is the victory of Excursiopedia - a resource with more than three years of history, and, according to our subjective feelings, even five years. But this is all the little things that have little relation to the project with which we came to the event - PromiseUP .
A project without a project
Perhaps the most curious in the entire history of PromiseUP's participation in Moscow TechCrunch was that, in fact, we were almost the only ones who came without, in fact, a product.
By the time we showed ourselves on the Startup Alley, we had a website, a corporate identity (it turned out that now designers call their own design exactly that - we were surprised too), a presentation and stickers. We prayed to the spirit of Steve, wrote complaints letters to Apple and, in general, shamanized as best we could, but the miracle did not happen - the application was not posted on the AppStore for the event.
Having decided that such a trifle didn’t stop us anyway, we armed ourselves with our own closed beta (in a test environment) on connected devices, and it was it that was shown to everyone interested in our project. We were especially pleased with the fact that no one expressed a curse on this fact, but on the contrary, tried in every possible way to help with advice or recommendation that would help us at the time of release.
In other words, people reacted very positively to the idea itself and its visual design, which was very important for ourselves, since we do not provide any unique service or technology, but a unique idea, philosophy and psychology, if you like.
Hence the conclusion: a very positive audience comes to TechCrunch, ready to communicate on any topic with anyone who is interesting enough to start a dialogue. From our own experience, we say that far from always and far from everywhere unknown teams meet this, sorry, startupers.
But, probably, the absence of an understandable product that can be felt was the main obstacle to our getting into the list of semifinalists of Startup Alley. Still, whatever one may say, the level of projects, as well as the general level of the event, is very high. And if you look at the most interesting ideas and their implementation presented at the conference, it becomes clear that PromiseUP did not reach the best either in terms of implementation, or the complexity of the service, its thoughtfulness and, probably, the visual part. Of course, this can only frighten the coward, so we decided to lay down the bricks and try our hand in the form in which we can.
On December 9, the first day of the event, it became clear that all our fears were, if not baseless, then definitely exaggerated.
We managed to come up with several entertaining elements that could interest most of the visitors. Partly because many were afraid to turn to people with non-standard offers and ideas, we immediately realized that this was the only thing that could hook a sophisticated person.
This gives advice to all people and teams participating in events of any level: do not be afraid to talk to people, ask questions, gather opinions, yank people, climb into the camera in front of their faces, pick up snacks from plates and so on. This has not hurt anyone yet - we checked and made sure.
Perhaps the main tool to attract attention to ourselves was our investment agreement, which we proposed to conclude for everyone. Its essence is simple: any person could become a “PromiseUP investor” by investing any amount, at least ten rubles, at least a million, into our project and putting his signature next to ours on paper that we allowed to take home. The logic is simple: we guaranteed that if PromiseUP was selected in the semifinals, then we will return 200% of the amount invested, and if we win, then 300% of the initial investment.
If we talk about the specific results of this action: we concluded about 50 such agreements, for a variety of amounts, from 100 rubles (minimum) to 3,000 rubles (maximum). We were even a little worried - what if people take it seriously? But nothing of the kind happened (partly because we didn’t go to the semifinals and honestly answered on the second day that we were ready to treat each “investor” with a drink). Almost every person reacted positively to words, such as: “At the moment when half the world will use it, and Ivan Kochetov will give an interview to Bill Geist at the next AllThingsD in New York, you will not have such a chance.”
Before the speech of the founder of the company - Ivan Kochetov, on the stage of TechCrunch, people came up not very willingly. After it, we became the point of issuing gauze dressings during the plague - a traffic jam formed near our table, through which the hands of those who wished to put their signatures next to ours on the agreement reached.
Well, what do you say?
We believe that the prize of audience sympathy, if it were, would definitely go to us. Why? Firstly, this is evident from the reaction of the audience. Secondly, we decided to go not in a completely standard way, and instead of the details on which 99% of startup founders concentrate, to speak words and phrases that are understandable to every person.
Actually, we reaped the fruits of our own labors for two full days: shook hands, washed our hands, shook hands again, discussed some points in the application mechanics, listened to ideas and asked clarifying questions. Since we started bragging, it’s worth adding that we were one of the few that Mike “Butcher” Butcher himself paid attention to. We appreciated it, Mikey!
At the end of the first day, when the semi-finalists were announced and we didn’t hear our name, it was decided to concentrate fully on the construct, providing an opportunity to entertain those who needed it (we mean those who passed the selection, of course).
As a result, we received a noticeable amount of interesting ideas regarding what can be added to PromiseUP, which markets are potentially interesting for us, and so on. We were very pleased that people quickly penetrated the social model of responsibility for these promises and promoted it in ways that sometimes did not work out even during the assaults.
Well and, of course, we were rooting for friends and acquaintances. Especially for the guys from OhMyStats !, who went to the semifinals and, in our opinion, were (and still are) worthy of the title of finalist.
Towards the end, as a rule, it is customary to rant about cons, comments, shortcomings, and more. This rule does not suit us, so we want to leave a positive review, in fact, regarding everything.
The organization of the event was top notch. We never wanted to eat or drink, the Digital October employees didn’t leave us for a minute (hi, Masha!), Tried to help us in everything, answered any, even our most stupid questions, of which there were many. Thanks for the support and for the endurance, for the help on the site, for the fact that they did not refuse us anything.
If we talk about the actual results of our participation in the event, expressed in something tangible, then, ultimately, we are very lucky. The fact is that the PromiseUP release in the Apple AppStore happened the day after the end of TechCrunch Moscow, and given that the majority of discussions on the Internet began just then - we got a noticeable portion of downloads and reviews. Including those with whom we spoke at the event itself. Journalists, of course, also rendered all possible assistance: the Elephant, which included us in the top 10 best startups of TC Moscow; The rain, which showed us twice already on the air, Russia Beyond The Headlines, offered to tell us about the application on the pages of The New York Times and many others. Thank you, journalists and bloggers, we love you!
PS At some point, we managed to talk with a man from AOL, who was also one of the organizers of the event on the side of TechCrunch, on the topic of PromiseUP's participation in the American Disrupt this year. It turned out that this is quite real, and for this it is not necessary to get a million from Pavel Durov, you just need to have a visa and be able to cross or fly across the Atlantic. Take note! Well, we wave with a pen from the scene of TechCrunch Disrupt New-York 2013. We will show them how they keep promises in Russia.
Take a seat in our DeLorian DMC-12 - we will take you a couple of months ago, last December, when TechCrunch Moscow 2012 died in Moscow. It is about him, as well as our modest participation in it, that we are going to tell during this short trip .
We are the Result , or RZLTT for short .
Full-cycle interactive marketing agency.
We help ambitious businesses to quickly launch new services in the form of startups in the Russian and global markets. It is probably useless to write more words about our main activity - if you want, you will find it yourself.
Also, it’s unlikely that you should talk about TechCrunch — you already know everything. And you remember that his first Russian version happened in 2010, when it became clear that our level is also a level, and in general it is no worse than behind a hill.
Plus, an event with TechCrunch sauce allows you to smear this same sauce on yourself, and then argue your own "global". A trifle, but nice.
One way or another, we monitored each event individually, and coming to the third TechCrunch it became obvious that the composition of the party had not changed and its core has remained static for three years now. On the one hand, it’s good, leaders remain leaders, on the other hand, I would like to see new, interesting faces. Of course, they tried to put them on public display, but, apparently, the person of Arkady Volozh is so huge and comprehensive that it is he who has been taking center stage at the event for more than a year, the other speakers and interesting visitors are lost in his shadow.
This is followed by another statement that adds fuel to the hypothesis that the Russian IT party needs to be diluted with new faces, ideas and projects - most of the projects shown at the event, one way or another, have been going on for a considerable time.
There are enough examples of this, but perhaps the most powerful fact is the victory of Excursiopedia - a resource with more than three years of history, and, according to our subjective feelings, even five years. But this is all the little things that have little relation to the project with which we came to the event - PromiseUP .
A project without a project
Perhaps the most curious in the entire history of PromiseUP's participation in Moscow TechCrunch was that, in fact, we were almost the only ones who came without, in fact, a product.
By the time we showed ourselves on the Startup Alley, we had a website, a corporate identity (it turned out that now designers call their own design exactly that - we were surprised too), a presentation and stickers. We prayed to the spirit of Steve, wrote complaints letters to Apple and, in general, shamanized as best we could, but the miracle did not happen - the application was not posted on the AppStore for the event.
Having decided that such a trifle didn’t stop us anyway, we armed ourselves with our own closed beta (in a test environment) on connected devices, and it was it that was shown to everyone interested in our project. We were especially pleased with the fact that no one expressed a curse on this fact, but on the contrary, tried in every possible way to help with advice or recommendation that would help us at the time of release.
In other words, people reacted very positively to the idea itself and its visual design, which was very important for ourselves, since we do not provide any unique service or technology, but a unique idea, philosophy and psychology, if you like.
Hence the conclusion: a very positive audience comes to TechCrunch, ready to communicate on any topic with anyone who is interesting enough to start a dialogue. From our own experience, we say that far from always and far from everywhere unknown teams meet this, sorry, startupers.
But, probably, the absence of an understandable product that can be felt was the main obstacle to our getting into the list of semifinalists of Startup Alley. Still, whatever one may say, the level of projects, as well as the general level of the event, is very high. And if you look at the most interesting ideas and their implementation presented at the conference, it becomes clear that PromiseUP did not reach the best either in terms of implementation, or the complexity of the service, its thoughtfulness and, probably, the visual part. Of course, this can only frighten the coward, so we decided to lay down the bricks and try our hand in the form in which we can.
On December 9, the first day of the event, it became clear that all our fears were, if not baseless, then definitely exaggerated.
We managed to come up with several entertaining elements that could interest most of the visitors. Partly because many were afraid to turn to people with non-standard offers and ideas, we immediately realized that this was the only thing that could hook a sophisticated person.
This gives advice to all people and teams participating in events of any level: do not be afraid to talk to people, ask questions, gather opinions, yank people, climb into the camera in front of their faces, pick up snacks from plates and so on. This has not hurt anyone yet - we checked and made sure.
Perhaps the main tool to attract attention to ourselves was our investment agreement, which we proposed to conclude for everyone. Its essence is simple: any person could become a “PromiseUP investor” by investing any amount, at least ten rubles, at least a million, into our project and putting his signature next to ours on paper that we allowed to take home. The logic is simple: we guaranteed that if PromiseUP was selected in the semifinals, then we will return 200% of the amount invested, and if we win, then 300% of the initial investment.
If we talk about the specific results of this action: we concluded about 50 such agreements, for a variety of amounts, from 100 rubles (minimum) to 3,000 rubles (maximum). We were even a little worried - what if people take it seriously? But nothing of the kind happened (partly because we didn’t go to the semifinals and honestly answered on the second day that we were ready to treat each “investor” with a drink). Almost every person reacted positively to words, such as: “At the moment when half the world will use it, and Ivan Kochetov will give an interview to Bill Geist at the next AllThingsD in New York, you will not have such a chance.”
Before the speech of the founder of the company - Ivan Kochetov, on the stage of TechCrunch, people came up not very willingly. After it, we became the point of issuing gauze dressings during the plague - a traffic jam formed near our table, through which the hands of those who wished to put their signatures next to ours on the agreement reached.
Well, what do you say?
We believe that the prize of audience sympathy, if it were, would definitely go to us. Why? Firstly, this is evident from the reaction of the audience. Secondly, we decided to go not in a completely standard way, and instead of the details on which 99% of startup founders concentrate, to speak words and phrases that are understandable to every person.
Actually, we reaped the fruits of our own labors for two full days: shook hands, washed our hands, shook hands again, discussed some points in the application mechanics, listened to ideas and asked clarifying questions. Since we started bragging, it’s worth adding that we were one of the few that Mike “Butcher” Butcher himself paid attention to. We appreciated it, Mikey!
At the end of the first day, when the semi-finalists were announced and we didn’t hear our name, it was decided to concentrate fully on the construct, providing an opportunity to entertain those who needed it (we mean those who passed the selection, of course).
As a result, we received a noticeable amount of interesting ideas regarding what can be added to PromiseUP, which markets are potentially interesting for us, and so on. We were very pleased that people quickly penetrated the social model of responsibility for these promises and promoted it in ways that sometimes did not work out even during the assaults.
Well and, of course, we were rooting for friends and acquaintances. Especially for the guys from OhMyStats !, who went to the semifinals and, in our opinion, were (and still are) worthy of the title of finalist.
Towards the end, as a rule, it is customary to rant about cons, comments, shortcomings, and more. This rule does not suit us, so we want to leave a positive review, in fact, regarding everything.
The organization of the event was top notch. We never wanted to eat or drink, the Digital October employees didn’t leave us for a minute (hi, Masha!), Tried to help us in everything, answered any, even our most stupid questions, of which there were many. Thanks for the support and for the endurance, for the help on the site, for the fact that they did not refuse us anything.
If we talk about the actual results of our participation in the event, expressed in something tangible, then, ultimately, we are very lucky. The fact is that the PromiseUP release in the Apple AppStore happened the day after the end of TechCrunch Moscow, and given that the majority of discussions on the Internet began just then - we got a noticeable portion of downloads and reviews. Including those with whom we spoke at the event itself. Journalists, of course, also rendered all possible assistance: the Elephant, which included us in the top 10 best startups of TC Moscow; The rain, which showed us twice already on the air, Russia Beyond The Headlines, offered to tell us about the application on the pages of The New York Times and many others. Thank you, journalists and bloggers, we love you!
PS At some point, we managed to talk with a man from AOL, who was also one of the organizers of the event on the side of TechCrunch, on the topic of PromiseUP's participation in the American Disrupt this year. It turned out that this is quite real, and for this it is not necessary to get a million from Pavel Durov, you just need to have a visa and be able to cross or fly across the Atlantic. Take note! Well, we wave with a pen from the scene of TechCrunch Disrupt New-York 2013. We will show them how they keep promises in Russia.