Paul Walsh, the Irish Opportunist

The Library House 2008 Mediatech 100 supported by Kemp Little and NMA was released in New Media Age today. There are some great companies such as a Moo, Mind Candy and Rummble. But there are companies that in my opinion, although great in their own right, are not startups. Take Volantis for example, a company I admire, it’s 8 years old and is extremely well established within its field. Volantis is not a startup in my opinion and therefore, should not be listed.

By listing companies that don’t belong on the podium, you leave out those that are more deserving. I know from experience that Library House needs to be a little more intelligent. It recently recommended Wubud as a high-growth potential startup. Yet I, nor the team, ever published what it is in any detail. Certainly not enough detail to make such a recommendation. It has been covered in a bunch of nationals and blogs, but it’s all based on speculation.

Come on guys, get out there and network with the entrepreneurs and don’t just go by what investors tell you. It’s not all about companies who have secured funding. Some don’t need it at this stage, yet demonstrate great potential. I’m in the thick of it, so don’t have the time to list companies I think should have made the list. Feel free to do it in the comments on my behalf

So, back to my question, what is a startup in your opinion?

Robert Loch and I are hosting a fireside chat with Sarah Lacy on November 7th. Rob and Paul Carr will conduct the interview, so it’s likely to be very entertaining to say the least. We’re also hosting an after party. More about the event here.

Leave a comment here and explain why you should get a ticket and we’ll give a free pass to each of the 3 replies we deem most deserving - I’ve no idea what ‘most deserving’ means right now, so feel free to suggest something. We’ll announce the winners on October 26 30th.

Good luck

In true walshie-style, I’ve made a last minute decition to hit San Francisco with my (free) pass for the TechCrunch50 in hand. I’ll be there from September 7th to September 13th.

I’m not even going to try to name all of the people I’m likely to hook up with.

There’s a great post on TechCrunch that will benefit even the most seasoned entrepreneurs who demo products regularly. Keep it simple and get to the point by showing your product within 60 seconds is my favourite tip.

Speaking of which, I was driving behind a car tonight which displayed some kind of advertisement. I couldn’t even read the ‘big’ text when I was almost bumper to bumper. They should have made one point to grab my attention and a phone number.

Mike Butcher from TechCrunch has started a campaign for a central hub for startups in London called TecHub.

Rather than reiterate what Mike has in mind, here’s what he has to say, in part:

So I am hereby serving notice that TechCrunch UK is going to start campaigning for a Digital Hub for the UK.

The working title for this concept is “The TechHub”.

Unfortunately this is going to sound boringly London-centric. But I think it ought to be in London. Why? Simple really. Money, access and the networks inside London. Startups can make use of the amazing access to the wealth of mentoring, venture capital and talent here. I know there is an argument for creating other centres around the UK. But the classic clustering effect created by Silicon Valley would be replicated by concentrating efforts on one geographical area.

Read his full post.

I read from the update he posted that a guy called Ian Forrester disagrees and thinks it’s a waste of time. I have to say, for someone who runs and attends a lot of events, I have never once seen Ian. I’ve heard he runs good events himself but it’s time to support others and the ecosystem. His opinion is typical of the BBC; try to build innovation in-house.

I’m up for supporting this initiative, even if it doesn’t happen. Why? Well because it’ll get a lot more people connected and potentially introduce more budding entrepreneurs to the scene.

I’m delighted to see Mike take it by the horns and state London as the location of choice. It makes perfect sense to try to cluster people where the numbers make sense and they’re supported by the business, telephony and transportation infrastructure. I’ve been saying we need to cluster for a while, so it would be nice to see something more solid happen.