• Watch: The Daily Gets The Lowdown On What It's Like To Be A Startup At Disrupt NYC

    Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

    Rip Empson is a writer and rabble-rouser at TechCrunch. He covers startups, music, social, mobile, health, and education. You can reach him at rip[at]techcrunch[dot]com → Learn More

    There were a lot of stellar startups at TechCrunch Disrupt NYC last week, and unfortunately, there could only be one set of finalists and one winner. Of course, that doesn’t mean that those companies that didn’t make the final heat aren’t worthy of some love.

    The Daily followed the entrepreneurs behind three Disrupt NYC battlefield competitors, SpotOn, Spenz, and Madbrook Publishing through their unique experiences at Disrupt. They came by plane, train, and automobile, fought some nerves, endured some ups and downs, but in the end were exposed to a host of eyeballs and launched successfully.

    While judges were tough on some of the companies, the entrepreneurs gained some valuable feedback, and will no doubt use that advice to achieve future fame and glory. From butt art on the iPad to location discovery and spending tracking, these three companies proved that you don’t have to take home the Disrupt Cup just to be noticed.

    Check out TechCrunch’s coverage of the three startups live from Disrupt NYC below:

    How Do You Get Kids To Learn? Have Them Draw Butts On The iPad

    Spenz Wants To Help You Track Spending Habits And Stick To A Budget

    SpotOn Shows What You Should Do And Who You Should Do It With

    Company: The Daily
    Website: thedaily.com
    Launch Date: 2011

    The Daily launched on January 17, 2011 with the mission to provide the best news experience by combining world-class storytelling with the unique interactive capabilities of the iPad. Led by Editor-in-Chief Jesse Angelo and Publisher Greg Clayman, The Daily is a category first: a tablet-native national news brand built from the ground up to publish original content exclusively for the iPad. The Daily is incisive, optimistic, and independent. It’s not just an app—it’s a new voice. The Daily is offered exclusively...

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    Company: Fondu
    Website: fondu.com
    Launch Date: February 2010
    Funding: $575k

    Fondu (formerly SpotOn) is a community for sharing bite-sized reviews about places to eat and drink. Users write a short review of a place they’ve visited and give it a rating of 1-4 “petals” that gets pushed to their followers in the community. With the combination of reviews and ratings, users have a flexible, yet descriptive system to talk about places with other people. When a review receives enough “cheers” and comments from other users, it becomes a popular review...

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    Company: Spenz
    Website: spenz.com
    Launch Date: November 2010

    The “Where did your money go” app. Spenz is a free mobile and web application that helps users quickly track their money, compare spending to their demographic and provides incentives so they stay on track.

    Learn more
    Company: Madbrook
    Launch Date: October 2010

    Madbrook, a 2011 NYC Disrupt Battlefield company, is building an immersive art, education, and entertainment platform that launched with their first brand, Everything Butt Art. Everything Butt Art uses a silly and immediately engaging approach to encourage creativity. The printed books, “Everything Butt Art at the ZOO” and “Everything Butt Art on the FARM” are available nationwide. “Everything Butt Art in the CITY” and “Everything Butt Art under the SEA” will be released April 1, 2012. Everything Butt Art’s first iPad app...

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