From a fantastic talk with Rich Barton and Bill Gurley to a former Amazon exec comparing shopping to sex, the 2013 GeekWire Summit was one to remember.
Thanks to the more than 700 of you who came out to Thursday’s day-long event, where we enjoyed excellent conversations with industry leaders, great networking and tasty food.
Great aspects of @GeekWire #GWSummit: no PowerPoint, intelligent & active moderators, candid speakers. If canned, it stayed in the can.
— Frank Catalano (@FrankCatalano) September 12, 2013
Had so much fun at the @geekwire #GWsummit + afterparty yesterday. Thanks to everyone at GW for the awesome conference!
— Natasha Jarmick (@NatashaJarmick) September 13, 2013
Such a great time at the #gwsummit yesterday. Thanks to the @geekwire crew for yet another perfect Seattle event! pic.twitter.com/oH3cKnJwMU
— started.in Seattle (@startedinSEA) September 13, 2013
https://twitter.com/WickedGloves/status/378413902997880832
Agree: RT @Buzzmodo: A 10 on a 10 pt scale, Congrats @toddbishop, @johnhcook & the @geekwire team who put on a fantastic event! #gwsummit
— Liz Pearce (@lizprc) September 13, 2013
Couldn't be more impressed with the #gwsummit. Innovation, diversity, future of tech. Shows the real power Seattle brings. Thanks @geekwire!
— Emily Rapp (@emilyfrapp) September 12, 2013
In case you couldn’t make it out to downtown Seattle yesterday, we’ve got you covered. We’ll also have more detailed coverage from each speaker coming soon, so stay tuned for that. Big thanks to Kevin Lisota and Eugene Hsu for taking these awesome photos.
With words, pictures and tweets — videos of each panel are coming soon — let’s take a few minutes and relive the GeekWire Summit 2013.
9:30 A.M. — Q&A with HBO CTO Otto Berkes
The day opened with a Q&A featuring HBO’s Chief Technology Officer Otto Berkes on the future of media, movies, television and tablets. Lots of people wanted to know about accessing HBO content for those who have a streaming device but do not pay to watch HBO via their cable network.
It appears, however, that HBO won’t be making changes like that anytime soon.
“We have an extremely powerful and effective business model,” Berkes said. “It would not make sense to disrupt that unless the upside were significantly higher than any potential downside.”
"60% HBO Go usage is mobile" – @OttoBerkes CTO HBO Go #gwsummit
— Rich Barton (@Rich_Barton) September 12, 2013
Hearing Otto discuss technology from an entertainment perspective is absolutely fascinating. #gwsummit
— Armory Pacific (@ArmoryPacific) September 12, 2013
Otto Berkes: #Seattle office and its engineering team has become a cornerstone of HBOs forward strategy. #gwsummit
— Rachel Pepple (@GeekRaconteur) September 12, 2013
10 A.M. — Future of Shopping and E-commerce
This was a star-studded e-commerce panel with Bloomberg Businessweek senior writer Brad Stone interviewing Michael Smith, CEO of Full Circle Farms, Nadia Shouraboura, CEO of Hointer, Jane Park, CEO of Julep, and Mike Fridgen, GM of seller insights at eBay and former CEO of Decide.com.
Shouraboura drew tons of laughter and applause after explaining why she started a robot-powered apparel shop and then compared shopping to sex to show why physical retailers will still remain in existence.
I found my #gwsummit crush for the day and it's Nadia Shouraboura.
— Simone de Rochefort (@doomquasar) September 12, 2013
I have no idea what Nadia is talking about but I am peeing my pants. #gwsummit
— Erin Wigger (@ewiggles) September 12, 2013
Can you imagine what a company meeting at @hointer is like with Nadia Shouraboura leading it? That's a meeting I'd like. #gwsummit
— Stan Sorensen (@scsorensen) September 12, 2013
https://twitter.com/MarieSchambeck/status/378203796469342208
Food is one of last Industries to get disrupted by technology says Michael Smith of full circle farms #gwsummit
— Daniela Ferdico (@DanielaFerdico) September 12, 2013
11:05 A.M. — Rich Barton and Bill Gurley Unplugged
You knew this was going to be a fun talk when Rich Barton started referring to bong water not two minutes into the conversation.
“First of all, this couch is from my senior year of college,” Barton said in response to a completely unrelated question. “I think I can smell the old bong water here.”
On a more serious note, Barton and Gurley shared a ton of great stories and advice about their experiences in the startup world, from Barton’s time as a co-founder of Zillow to Gurley’s thoughts on the Seattle startup scene and his praise for Jeff Bezos.
“He’s become iconic,” Gurley said of Bezos. “He’s clearly the most respected CEO [by] Silicon Valley, without question. If you’re running an e-tailing company, you should be afraid.”
We also asked Gurley about Twitter — Benchmark invested in the social network — and when we might see an IPO from the company.
“I’ve not answered that question more than I’ve not answered any other question,” Gurley said.
Coincidentally, just hours later, Twitter filed for an IPO.
We’ll have more from this panel on GeekWire in the coming days, so stay tuned.
How to make your startup big: "A big dream, a clear vision, and a little bit of nuttiness," says @Rich_Barton at #gwsummit
— Space Angels (@SpaceAngels) September 12, 2013
The @rich_barton / @bgurley panel at #gwsummit is first class. Elevates @GeekWire to the @allthingsd level of tech conferences.
— David Geller (@davidgeller) September 12, 2013
Barton & Gurley- can we get a regular show out of these guys? Highlight of today this far! #gwsummit
— jenlocati (@jenlocati) September 12, 2013
Would love to play poker with @NShouraboura and @BGurley. #gwsummit
— benrow77 (@benrow77) September 12, 2013
"There is something in the water in #Seattle that allows companies to grow big, and strong, and long." – @bgurley #gwsummit
— started.in Seattle (@startedinSEA) September 12, 2013
Best panel I've seen in a while — take it on the road! @Rich_Barton and @bgurley at GeekWire Summit with @johnhcook #gwsummit
— Bill Cox (@billcox) September 12, 2013
12 p.m. — Lunch
Thanks to FILTER for sponsoring our great lunch.
1 p.m — Future of Video Games
This panel kicked off with the awesome “Adventures of the Startup Kid” video from the team at Killer Infographics and was a nice lead in to a great conversation with industry vets about the future of the video game world.
The panelists had interesting insights into the free-to-play business model that’s becoming more popular by the day.
Even Bonnie Ross, general manager of Microsoft’s 343 Industries, said that a free-to-play business model for the Halo franchise is not out of the question.
“I think you have to look at the free-to-play version,” she said. “But it is incredibly hard just to take a game and also make it free to play. You’ve seen a lot of people that have failed doing it … but you can’t close the door on free-to-play. You always need to look at where those options are.”
https://twitter.com/ksearsbooks/status/378255687794425856
#gwsummit Glenn Walcott takes a jab at universal healthcare in comparison to free to play. I say why not? Works in other countries
— Victorious (@voprescu) September 12, 2013
Common theme so far at #gwsummit is how mobile has completely changed the industry, from VC to gaming business models.
— Christopher Budd (@ChristopherBudd) September 12, 2013
"Gaming overall is going to be a big driver of technological innovation." Glenn Walcott #gwsummit @flipthemedia
— Donna Manders (@SpeciesSpeak) September 12, 2013
1:50 P.M. — Future of Creativity with Chase Jarvis
Acclaimed photographer and fine artist Chase Jarvis, co-founder of online education startup creativeLIVE, sat down for a fun interview with GeekWire columnist Monica Guzman to talk about the power of creativity and how that’s changed over the years.
“I believe very strongly that creativity is the literacy,” Jarvis said.
Jarvis also had some strong words about the education system in America.
“Learning isn’t broken,” he said. “Education is broken.”
The chat wrapped up with a fun photo critique session, during which Jarvis broke down aspects of user-submitted mobile photos.
I have NEVER been so fired up by a Q&A during a conference. Thanks @moniguzman and @chasejarvis for SUCH an awesome session!! #gwsummit
— Kelly Clay (@kellyhclay) September 12, 2013
Internet has brought about a democratization of creativity. –@chasejarvis #gwsummit
— Dawn Quinn (@yellowdresses) September 12, 2013
Be different, not better. Ideally you'll be both but the best way to stand out is to be different. – @chasejarvis #gwsummit
— Mark Briggs (@markbriggs) September 12, 2013
CreativeLive's @ChaseJarvis, "We have to create an educational system that values creativity," not "horseshit" testing #gwsummit #edtech
— Frank Catalano (@FrankCatalano) September 12, 2013
The iphone camera is most popular camera in the world – @chasejarvis #gwsummit
— ⚡️Kathy E Gill (@kegill) September 12, 2013
2:45 P.M. — Fireside chat with GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving
Our afternoon panels continued with an excellent discussion with GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving, who talked about the transformation of Internet services and online business, and the direction of the tech industry.
Irving, the former Yahoo and Microsoft executive, talked about GoDaddy relaunching its brand, changing up its marketing strategies, moving away from being a domain company and focusing more on helping small businesses.
“We’re on a geek transformation of the company — who we serve, how we serve them, how we position ourselves and how our employees feel about serving our customers is really different,” he said.
He also touched on the company’s plans for an IPO, saying that “it’s certainly a possibility for us.”
"58% of small businesses are women owned" according to @blakei of Go Daddy #gwsummit
— Daniela Ferdico (@DanielaFerdico) September 12, 2013
Refreshing to see a CEO not talk like a robotron. Good chat w @Blakei at #gwsummit about polarizing mktg pic.twitter.com/H0NayV6KKZ
— Samantha Steinwinder (@SamSteinwinder) September 12, 2013
GoDaddy CEO @Blakei: "The talent up here's fantastic; it's just hard to find it" because so many are "locked up" at $MSFT & $AMZN. #gwsummit
— Sol Villarreal (@solv17) September 12, 2013
3:15 P.M. — Hadi Partovi of Code.org
Entrepreneur and investor Hadi Partovi of Code.org spent some time speaking about the biggest challenge facing the computer science field, and how we can solve it.
@hidip just said that in the next 10yrs there will be a million more #computerscience jobs than there will be people to fill them #gwsummit
— Danielle Fague (@SEATTLECITYGIRL) September 12, 2013
Computer science is most gender differentiated field of study in US@hadip from @codeorg#gwsummit #Education
— ⚡️Kathy E Gill (@kegill) September 12, 2013
#gwsummit really appreciate http://t.co/5TLQVCc6IZ's efforts to make coding accessible for women and people of color :D good stuff!
— Simone de Rochefort (@doomquasar) September 12, 2013
So inspired by @hadip and @codeorg. Check it out! http://t.co/FRGMkmkpzT. #gwsummit
— adam tratt (@adamtr) September 12, 2013
3:30 P.M. — The Next Gen: Presentations from StudentRND
Next up was a special presentation by two top teams from the StudentRND technology incubator: Helpful Machines and SeaPerch Bellevue.
Helpful Machines is creating a graphing calculator for the modern world that features advanced math functionality, 3D graphing and a high-res touch display. SeaPerch, meanwhile, is a group of three Bellevue high school students hoping to inspire younger kids to engage in STEM-related studies with small, low-cost underwater ROVs.
Impressive stuff from the whiz kids.
Blown away by the teens presenting StudentRND programs at #gwsummit
— Linda Breneman (@lydiastorm) September 12, 2013
Noah and Blaise are seriously nailing their Calculatr presentation. So stoked for the next gen of tech! @StudentRND #gwsummit
— Emily Rapp (@emilyfrapp) September 12, 2013
@geekwire @lydiastorm Wait…how old are these guys?! #gwsummit
— Natasha Jarmick (@NatashaJarmick) September 12, 2013
#gwsummit thanks, GeekWire, for giving presentation time to StudentRND. Inspiring!
— Linda Breneman (@lydiastorm) September 12, 2013
@StudentRND are you also teaching presentation skills? The folks on stage were composed, clear, articulate. #gwsummit
— Stan Sorensen (@scsorensen) September 12, 2013
3:45 P.M. — What’s Next: The Future of Innovation
Our final panel, appropriately, was all about the future. We brought together four longtime executives and technologists to share their insights into the trends to watch over the next 10 years.
Vern Fotheringham, Eric Anderson, Jeremy Jaech and Peter Lee discussed everything from patents to Google Glass to what they think is the next big innovation in tech.
“I think in 2015 there will be a good chance that there will be a discovery in the quantum computing area that will win the Nobel Prize at some point,” Lee said.
Listening to @ec_anderson on panel at #gwsummit the same day Voyager 1 announced to have left this solar system. Awesome.
— Remote Insight (@RemoteInsight) September 12, 2013
Jeremy Jaech says patent system is a good idea, poorly executed. (PS: His co name is awesome…#SNUPI ) #gwsummit
— Erika Goodmanson (@ErikaGoody) September 12, 2013
Innovation panel =mind blown #gwsummit
— Jamala Henderson (@jamnhen) September 12, 2013
#gwsummit Vern Fotheringham, Kymeta CEO, says "we will have many layers of network access that surround us"
— Troy Niehaus (@tfwn93) September 12, 2013
Meta materials, knowledge processing, 3D industrial mfg, quantum computing. Future interests of the #gwsummit panel
— Margue Hunt (@Marguehf) September 12, 2013
6 P.M. — After Party
After a long but fulfilling day of panels, we enjoyed hosting everyone at the GeekWire Summit After Party. A big thanks to Avalara for hosting this party with us on the Rainier Square rooftop deck.
Thanks to all of you for attending, and a huge thanks to all of our GeekWire Summit sponsors for helping to make this event happen.
Gold Sponsors: Cobalt, Filter, Wave Business Solutions, and Fresh Consulting
Silver Sponsors: First Tech Credit Union, Knoll, Appature, Mailch
Supporting Sponsors: Madrona Venture Group, Bullitt Center, Bootstrapper Studios, and PSAV Presentation Services.
