You may remember a few weeks ago, when I wrote that media may be the new startup bubble. Well the Mecca of new Web startups, the TechCrunch 50, is continuing the trend.
TechCrunch 50 is a startup contest where hundreds of companies apply to present in front of judges for the chance to win $50,000 and over a million dollars in advertising.
The consensus from event reports seems to be that Silicon Valley is tiring of Web 2.0 -- CNET reported one judge lamenting "I'm a little bit bored with social media" – and instead is focusing on the profitable and the practical, and the winner’s circle shows it.
This year’s winner was Redbeacon, a service that allows users to request a local service (like landscaping or repairs) and then matches the request with a local provider. The service doesn’t have the appeal that, say, Twitter does but it is a no-frills practical way to service a local community.
The third place winner at TC50, Citysourced also takes the hyperlocal approach. The service crowdsources municipal services through an iPhone application that can send photos of potholes, litter and other nuisances to local governments.
Both startups received a significant amount of attention at the conference and both have goals that fall in line with a typical online community news organization.
Both Citysourced and RedBeacon are profit driven methods of servicing a community, and both ideas could have been revenue generators for a local news outlet.
The success of local at TechCrunch 50 might be attributed to Web 2.0 fatigue, but it really is a tribute to the cost and availability of location-based tools on the market. GPS-enabled smartphones are becoming the norm, thus increasing the potential market for location-based mobile applications and web sites.
Local community news sites would be wise to jump on the bandwagon before scrappy Internet startups eat their lunch.
Again.
