The winner this year, was a company called Redbeacon, which just happens to have been founded by three ex-Googlers – Ethan Anderson, Yaron Binur, and Aaron Lee, who were product managers and engineers with the Internet giant.

Redbeacon is a site where users can compare prices and book appointments for local services. You can find things as diverse as painters, personal trainers, and gardeners that are close to you, and read reviews and user comments before deciding which one you want to go with.

The site cites the following five reasons users use Redbeacon:

1. Providers compete for you job so you get a better price

2. Only qualified providers see your job

3. Providers work on your schedule

4. Schedule the appointment online – no calls or hassle

5. It’s free to use

According to TechCrunch, using the site will be easy for anyone who has used a local review service like Yelp. Actually, Redbeacon even imports star reviews <i>from</i> Yelp.

TechCrunch says, "RedBeacon also employees natural language processing so it can figure out exactly what you’re looking for (for example, “Cupcake maker” would search for any bakers in the area)."

Runners up for the TechCrunch 50 prize were Threadsy (a communication tool), AnyClip (a search engine for movie clips), and CitySourced (a provider of smartphone apps that let you file an issue to your city from your phone).

The winner of the contest will receive $50,000 in cash, $50,000 in Amazon Web Services (AWS) credits, mentoring sessions, and premium gold support for one year. The winner may also receive an investment from Amazon.

All finalists will receive $5,000 in AWS credits and all qualified participants will receive $25 in AWS credits.

Adam Selipsky

Contestants will be judged on originality, potential and how their business uses the pay-as-you-go platform offered by AWS. The challenge is open to people in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Israel.

"In the three and a half years we’ve been operating these services, we’ve been blown away by the innovation we’ve seen from hundreds of thousands of customers in a wide range of industries. One of the things we look forward to all year is the creativity that comes from the contestants in this challenge," said Adam Selipsky, Vice President of Product Management and Developer Relations for Amazon Web Services.

"By opening up the contest to start-ups and entrepreneurs in other parts of the world where AWS is being rapidly adopted, we expect to see the most exciting competition to date."

Participants in the challenge are required to submit an online application form by August 26, 2009. Finalists will be announced in early October. Each finalist will be profiled in an online video on the AWS website where registered customers can vote for who they think is the best contestant.

In late October, the finalists will be flown to Silicon Valley to present their business ideas to a panel of AWS executives and participate in an event with an audience of start-ups. The winner will be announced that evening.

Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis, formerly in charge of Netscape, former owner of Weblogs, Inc. who sold to AOL for a reported $25 million, has the answer for startups worried about getting through economic hard times: lots and lots of money.

He’s a Fordham alum, so you know where to send your contributions.

Not known for his silver tongue, the Brooklyn-native reportedly replied to a small, perhaps slightly inebriated group of SES New York karaoke goers’ concerns about the economic disaster the US is headed for with some sage-like advice.

Nate Westheimer contributes:
 

“Are we f**ked?” I asked Jason, in reference to this tailspin economy’s impact on Internet startups.

His reply:

“I’m not. I raised enough to last me for years. You should too. Now. If you can.”
 

Ah yes, advice reminiscent of the author of Ecclesiastes when he wrote "money answers everything." That same author was a bit down on life in general, much like perhaps the entrepreneurs out there who see money as though staring at a baseball in a gutter just beyond reach. But thanks for the tip. 

Nate’s probably a bit fairer about it, noting that if one can raise some venture capital, even if it means giving up some control, it might be a good idea. But I can’t help being reminded of Calacanis poopooing on SEO in a room full of SEOers, or telling the Digital Slob’s insanely hot Russian model wife and podcaster, Olga Timakova (yes, this Olga) that nobody wanted to hear her talk.

Sigh. And people give him money. Maybe Hillary’s right; well-spoken just isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.

While you’re chewing on that solution to save your business, rolling pennies for gas, clipping coupons, and getting the oil changed in your, well, let’s call it "respectable" automobile, note also that luxury car sales are way up, so somebody’s making money, right?

Gap? What gap?

Note also that the HuffingtonPost seems to have surpassed the Drudge Report in terms of traffic, perhaps indicating that record numbers, like your humble author, are joining that ever-expanding "Used to be Republican" party.