If our old-world media companies had a $50,000 incentive to perform well at conferences, we might see slightly more spectacular results.
That's the deal at TechCrunch40, where 40 of what we are assured are the world's most promising tech new technology companies are pitching their ideas to industry experts, investors and journalists.
Added to that, there's a demo pit of 100 more companies, one of which will be wild-carded to join the TechCrunch40.
And the best of those, after two days' hard pitching, wins that $50,000 prize. Not even a salary, but think of the glory...
I'm gearing up in the breakfast hall (low-fat granola, no less) where the atmosphere is very lively. Corporate America is always way more formal and dressed up than the UK, and so is the breakfast.
Co-organisers Mike Arrington and Jason Calacanis will be kicking things off at 9am (that's 5pm in London) and after that, we go straight into the first session where five companies working in search - Powerset, Cognitive Code, Cast.tv, Faroo and Viewdle - will present their products.
Casting their critical eye for this one will be Marissa Meyer from Google, Ryan Block from Engadget, Om Malik from Giga OM, Marc Andreessen from Ning and Chris Anderson from Wired magazine.
Full agenda for the day is here. Let's crunch some tech...
