We were notified that Kynetx will not be one of the TechCrunch 50. Ah well... The rejection notice said this:

We are sorry to let you know that your company was not selected as a finalist for the TechCrunch50 conference. As you know, we are only able to select a very, very small percentage of the more than 1,000 outstanding applications we receive.

Your company was among a select set of candidates that we considered, and it was a difficult decision driven purely by the limited number of presentation slots. Since we regarded your business so highly, we want to make sure you still get the opportunity to participate in the conference in our DemoPit.

As a DemoPit company, you will have the opportunity to be nominated for the People's Choice award and win the 50th spot on the TechCrunch50 main stage. As the 50th company to present, the People's Choice award winner will be able to compete for the $50,000 TechCrunch50 award. Act fast, as spaces are very limited and first come, first served.

Additionally, all DemoPit companies will benefit from the exposure generated by media attending the event. We do anticipate having approximately 300 members of the international press in attendance.

Participating in the DemoPit costs $3000, a not insignificant sum for our early stage start up. My question is "is it worth it?" Any wisdom out there?