TechCrunch 50 Collaboration Session: Tingz, Mixtt, Imindi, Popego

Tingz: cross platform widget system. Nice UI. I cannot get over the name Tingz - he keeps saying "you can share your Tingz with friends." Quite confusing.

Don Dodge: getting adoption will be very difficult as it is a crowded market. Kevin Rose: "invite system via email is done. People are over it." Kevin is the first judge during the conference to be really frank and harsh.

Both judges have questioned teh monetizability of the widgets.

Roelaf: you are trying to do too much. Difficult to start off being a platform. Companies become platforms over time - not on day one.

Mixtt: Seems like a social network for dating (they mentioned Match.com and Facebook quite a lot)

Kevin Rose: why not build it as a Facebook App? Don: I like it because online dating is HUGE. Big market. Your challenge is, "why is this not a widget?" Building a stand alone social site looks easy but getting adoption is incredibly difficult. Hyper local identification is incredibly difficult.

I'd add that hyper local content is difficult because it slices your community too thin and requires huge audiences. For Kijiji and Craigslist, go to Nashville and select a category - the depth of inventory is very limited. This will be worse for a new local social network and dating community.

Mark Cuban: how do you prevent the 'creep' factor? I agree - major challenge.

Imindi: "The world's first thought engine." I just heard a whisper: this will either be really cool or really disastrous.

First question: "what's the business model?"

Response: "Great question. It's an advertising centered model taking lessons from Google but going one step further."

Mark Cuban: "That sounds like the biggest pile of bullshit ever."

Don: "this is rocket science applied to the wrong problem."

Kevin Rose: "I consider myself fairly geeky and this is *way* out there."

Roelaf: "to be candid, I don't understand what problem you are trying to solve."

Popego: "bringing you a more meaningful web." Not sure if this is a product that belongs in TechCrunch50's Collaboration track or Meme track... seems like a mix of yesterday's Angstro and FriendFeed.

Kevin Rose: Streams and feeds are crowded - tough to stand out and it's an unproven space. Facebook has featured their feed front and center - tough to compete there.

Roelaf: Design and interface are very well done. Attractive site. "I worry about distribution." Business model is second "critical question."

Mark: Joining the "network management tools" space and the ones who won over time were the ones with a "sexy look". You need something to stand out. Figure out whats exclusive to you.