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On Monday, dealmakers, entrepreneurs and the like will congregate in San Francisco for two days of company launches and networking at the inaugural TechCrunch40 event. A week later a similar, if not the same, crowd of dealmakers will journey to San Diego for three days of company launches and networking at the 25th DEMO event.

For venture firms, bankers and lawyers who flock to these sorts of buzz-worthy conferences, seeing more than 100 companies in a compressed time makes the conferences an excellent use of time. For entrepreneurs attending TechCrunch and DEMO, their temporal proximity and strict rules about keeping products secret before the event make it a hard call for the those lucky enough to get into both events.

While none would go on the record for fear of offending their hosts, some entrepreneurs expressed frustration at the choice before them. TechCrunch is new but doesn't charge entrepreneurs $18,500 to attend. DEMO has a storied history and proven success but is really pricey for a strapped company attempting a launch.

TechCrunch40, which is hosted by TechCrunch blog founder Mike Arrington and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, filtered through more than 700 company applications before deciding on forty attendees. One hundred more have the option of buying a half-priced ticket and showing off their wares in an additional conference room. Calacanis says the conference has sold out and that a third of the entrepreneurs launching products at TechCrunch40  turned down DEMO to come to TechCrunch.

"If you look at a show like DEMO, it is inherently biased against the true startups because true startups can't afford it. A good number of our 40 don't have funding yet ... so, these are the real startups in  my mind," says Calacanis via e-mail. "Not the folks with $8M in VC who are buying their way on stage at DEMO."

So startups sans cash may not be able to attend DEMO, but Chris Shipley, the confab's executive producer, says there are entrepreneurs who chose DEMO over a likely launch at TechCrunch40 (because of the timing of notification, most startups knew they made the cut at DEMO before knowing their status at TechCrunch). "We understand that the charge is a hurdle for some companies, and startups are a large number of our constituents, but we're looking for companies that will become companies," she says.
 
Shipley says charging companies helps weed out those that might not have a viable team or market. She also points out that DEMO is about all kinds of product launches related to technology and for all kinds of companies, not just only Web 2.0 startups. Despite the hefty chunk of change required to attend, DEMO received more than 300 applications and chose 71 to present.

For entrepreneurs who face this dilemma in the future, or those without the money to attend both events, expect more unfunded startups at TechCrunch, with a focus on Internet companies. At DEMO more companies will likely have money but will also cover a broader range of technology. - Stacey Higginbotham

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