New European Startups At Silicon Valley Open Doors (SVOD)

The non-profit Silicon Valley Open Doors 08 Technology and Investment Conference starts today.  Esther Dyson and Guy Kawasaki are two of the keynote speakers and there are some 30 additional speakers who'll take the stage over the coming two days to share and exchange ideas. 

But the real excitement is the two dozen or so European startups who will present their companies to the crowd of European and Silicon Valley venture capital firms.

SVOD is designed as a small conference that allows for a more intimate setting that facilitates conversations, guidance, and explorations. Many of the presenting startups are in very early stages; some are in public beta.

I'll be there Thursday on a judges panel to evaluate select companies on their customer-centricity, uniqueness of value proposition, business strategy, and product design.

Companies I'll be looking at include: TuneStory, TabUp, Winton's AuthorWeb, GentleWizard, Omnisen, and Imajet.