WebProNews

The 2009 TechCrunch 50 conference was held this week, and 50 start-ups each had a chance to make a presentation, and then the judges picked one grand-prize winner at the end of the whole thing to win $50,000.

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).