TechCrunch 50 began today.  It is the brainchild of Jason Calacanis and Mike Arrington of the TechCrunch blog and is by far the world’s most influential startup conference, effectively eclipsing “Demo” in terms of buzz and influence.    Judges include some amazing folks like Marissa Mayer of Google, Mark Cuban, and many more luminaries of the startup world.   Unlike Demo where you pay about 18,000 to strut your startup stuff, TechCrunch 50 is free to those startups chosen to participate and offers other “Web 2.0” sensibilities I really like.   52 startups will debut at the conference and in a KUDO MOVE they are live streaming the entire conferece here:   TC 50 live stream

Arrington and Calacanis are really exceptional BuzzMeisters.    One of the startups they are showcasing was allowed to announce it beforehand, unlike those of the unknowns.    Blah Girls, by Ashton Kutcher and his hollywood production partner, promises to be … ?

Note:  I can claim the prestige – or lack thereof – as a TechCrunch 50 loser as our Retirement project failed to make the final 50 out of over 1000 applicants for spots at the conference.   We could have gone into their demo pit – a discounted version of normal conference attendance where you still get access to the key players and get to show your stuff – but we opted out of that.  Retire USA won’t officially launch for several months as we’ve slowed our project development but we still promise a great website, blog, and resource for retirement lifestyle planning at any age.