This story is available exclusively to Business Insider
subscribers. Become an Insider
and start reading now.Have an account? .
Michael Seto, Business Insider
Hundreds of people attended Business Insider's Startup 2012 conference yesterday at New World Stages in New York City.
Speakers included Huffington Post president and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington, Gilt Groupe founder and CEO Kevin Ryan, Fab.com founder and CEO Kevin Goldberg and many more.
For everyone that couldn't make it, here's a look at what it was like — on the stage and behind-the-scenes — at Startup 2012.
Startup 2012 was held at the New World Stages in Manhattan.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
Attendees started filing in around 8:00 AM and headed to the desk for their nametags. Here's Business Insider editor-in-chief and CEO Henry Blodget heading in.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
The venue's all about creativity — just take a look at this wall covered in designs, words and scribbles.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
Attendees mingled in the main hall. Networking, of course.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
And breakfast is served before kicking things off.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
The panels were held on Avenue Q's stage, where they've been performing since 2009.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
Henry Blodget got things going with a presentation on the state of the startup scene. Are we in a tech bubble? "No," he said. Repeatedly.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
Next up was Jason Goldberg, CEO of Fab.com, who talked about how he's managing his company's insane growth. "That's not an e-commerce site — that's a movement," he said.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
Business Insider deputy editor Nicholas Carlson talked with TaskRabbit founder Leah Busque, Lot18 founder Philip James, Lifebooker COO Dana Reichman and chairman of Yext and Moat Michael Walrath about the Silicon Valley stereotype of "scale first, monetize later."
Michael Seto, Business Insider
Speakers had a room to hang out in while waiting for their turn on the big stage, and it was pretty swanky.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, chatted with Blodget up in the speakers room before their big keynote interview.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
The place was packed in anticipation. It was definitely the main event of the morning.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
Huffington didn't want her nametag — and she was probably right that she didn't need it.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
On stage, Huffington had some advice for the crowd, from Archimedes: "Give me a place to stand and a lever long enough and I will move the world."
Michael Seto, Business Insider
And there was a little plug for Starbucks too, since she had brought her coffee on stage with her. "I'm a very frugal Greek person," said Huffington. "I've been nursing this Starbucks since 7:30."
Michael Seto, Business Insider
Facebook engineering manager Alex Himel had to follow that act. He explained how to build apps for Facebook's Timeline.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
SAI editor Jay Yarow led a panel on fundraising with RRE Ventures' Stuart Ellman, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pitman's Ron Fleming, StarVest Partners' Laura Sachar and Artisicle founder and CEO Alexis Tryon.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
Then came the pitches. Six judges loomed on stage: NYU's Jeffrey Carr, NYC Seed managing director Owen Davis, TechStars mentor Pat Keane, VentureBeat editor-in-chief Matt Marshall, TastemakerX CEO Marc Ruxin and General Catalyst managing director Jon Teo.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
Four of the eight startups that pitched had female CEOs. Here's SoMoLend's Candace Klein, TigerTrade's Tanjila Islam, and entrepreneur Rita Lin.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
They made their pitches in front of the judges and the audience. You can bet that was a nerve-wracking experience for Leaf's Aron Schwarzkopf and the others.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
They used this clock right up front to keep track of time. Each presenter had five minutes.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
Lunch time! The speakers' room had this fancy little set-up which many indulged in.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
But fear not, the crowds also had plenty to chow down on.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
Meanwhile, NYSE Euronext EVP Scott Cutler and Start Up America Partnership CEO Scott Case spoke about how startups can get access to much-needed resources — like mentors, experts, networks and capital.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
SAI editor Alyson Shontell sat down with three entrepreneurs who scored major funding when they were still just kids — General Assemb.ly co-founder Brad Hargreaves, Gumroad founder Sahil Lavingia and Branch founder Josh Miller.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
Carlson made his way back on to the stage to speak with Dan Huttenlocher, the Dean of Cornell University's new NYC tech campus. It will be investing $150 million in NYC companies through VCs, said Huttenlocher.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
NYC chief digital officer Rachel Sterne was hanging out in the lounge for a bit before heading on stage.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
She talked about Mayor Bloomberg's plans for the city's digital future, and revealed that NYC is going to be the first city with a top-level domain when it gets .nyc in 2013.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
E[nstitute] co-founder Shaila Ittycheria and Rose Tech Ventures managing partner David Rose had a heated debate about whether entrepreneurs should skip college or not. Ittycheria said diploma's are just check-marks, and Rose said they're missing out if they don't round out their education.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
Fortune senior writer Jessi Hempel came in to host a panel with AdMeld CEO Michael Barrett, Bedrocket Media CEO Brian Bedol, Rho Ventures managing partner Habib Kairouz and Dashlane CEO Emmanuel Schalit.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
Dwolla CEO Ben Milne stole the show on the next panel which featured StarVest general partner Larry Bettino, Cookbook Create CEO Anna Curran and Microsoft BizSpark senior director Carlos McKinley. "As long as I keep asking questions, Google has this, like, amazing way to keep giving me answers," he said.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
They were followed up OfficeDrop marketing VP Healy Jones, who gave a presentation on how a "lean startup" can compete with the big boys.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
By mid-afternoon, the Startup charging station was getting plenty of usage.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
The second keynote interview was hosted by Gawker COO Gaby Darbyshire, who spoke with Gilt Groupe founder and CEO Kevin Ryan.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
Twenty-five minutes wasn't quite enough, so they continued the discussion backstage with Business Insider program director Arden Pennell.
Kim Bhasin, Business Insider
Time to pick a winner! Audience voting was updated live on the screen.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
SoMoLend, a localized web and mobile-based peer-to-peer lending technology, won and took home the $75,000 prize ($25,000 in cash). CEO Candace Klein was giddy when she got the oversized check.
Michael Seto, Business Insider
And finally, cocktail hour. Careers 2.0 provided these crazy glasses which don't stand up straight but are remarkably hard to knock over.