TechCrunch20

The format is simple: Twenty of the hottest new startups from around the world will announce and demo their products over a two day period at TechCrunch20. And they don’t pay a cent to do this. They will be selected to participate based on merit alone.

We are also assembling an amazing group of twenty experts to assist us with the conference. These experts will help recommend the final startups to present at TechCrunch20. And they will also participate at the conference - they’ll watch company presentations and discuss the merits of each with robust audience participation.

Confirmed industry experts include Marc Andreessen (Co-founder, Ning), Chris Anderson (Editor-In-Chief, Wired Magazine), Roelof Botha (Partner, Sequoia Capital), Mark Cuban (Founder, HDNet), Om Malik (Founder, GigaOm), Robert Scoble (Scobleizer), and Dave Winer (Scripting News).

If your product will be ready to launch or publicly demo by September 17, we want to hear from you. The finalists will be selected based entirely on merit by our panel of experts. We will showcase a wide variety of new product launches, ranging from early-stage student work to public-company Internet businesses, to open source collaboration projects. Expect to see mobile products, desktop products and new web services. There might even be a new gadget or two unveiled.

The specific agenda will unfold over the coming weeks - keep an eye on the TechCrunch20 Blog for the most recent information about the event.

Register to attend TechCrunch20 here. Ticket sales will be limited to facilitate a high level of collaboration between the audience, presenting companies and sponsors. Early-bird prices are valid through June 30, 2007.

Your participation will help make the conference a success. We look forward to seeing you there.

Jason Calacanis & Michael Arrington