StartupSchwag came my way by viewing the Subscription Stream of Streamy founder Jonathan Gray(I will get around to blogging about the inspiration for a lot of these blogs Streamy at a later date). The concept is simple, its a shirt of the month club for Web 2.0 Startups. Every since they started in September 2007, StartupSchwag has been delivering a package each month to subscribers of the service for $14.95 + S&H. In the package is a t-shirt as well as a bunch of other things based on what people send them to distribute(buttons, magnets, etc, in addition to the shirt). Jeffro2pt0 has created a YouTube video of the first package shipment, which I have included with this post. The first t-shirt they sent was a TechCrunch one and several piece of schwag from less well known companies.

Like Others Before

StartupSchwag is not the first company to offer a service like this for Silicon Valley enthusiasts(the hotbed of most Web 2.0 Startups). In fact, their starting up in their own words was to attempt to fill the void when another company RubyRed Labs abandoned their Valley Schwag program in April 2007(a program whereby they did the same thing StartupSchwag is doing).

Web 2.0 Culture

This is certaintly an interesting idea, many Web 2.0 people are very passionate about the latest startups and consumer loyalty to brands will likely follow from this, I mean who doesn’t want a TechCrunch t-shift? You’ll be the envy of all the neighborhood kids. But it does bring up an interesting question. If there is such a market for something like this that its sustainable as a business, why was the Valley Schwag program abandoned by RubyRed Labs? ValleySchwag had this to say, “and we wish we could keep bringing you all the schwag your hearts desire, but alas, we’ve found that acquiring THAT MUCH SCHWAG is really really hard.” So did they give up because they couldn’t get the Schwag? If thats the case, then is StartupSchwag doomed to the same fate? Its possible that the amount of buzz surrounding Web 2.0 has dramatically increased since April, but such a scenario seems unlikely. It is, however, likely that ValleySchwag instead was abandoned because it was hard to do, for little profit, and so other business avenues were explored instead, a far more likely reason. If that is the case, then it would stand to reason that if StartupSchwag is a labour of love, then it will succeed(although not make its founders a ton of money probably), but if it is a product intended to be a huge Web 2.0 business, it probably has a ton of work to do. That is not to say it can’t make a ton of money, but that the market for Web 2.0 t-shirts would have to be enormous for the company to see huge profits.

A Great Idea!

That all being said, StartupSchwag is a great idea! Like I said before, many Web 2.0 junkies would love to have t-shirts for their favourite Web 2.0 companies and products. The price tag of 14.95 + S&H is a bit steep, but as long as they keep the schwag bag full of goodies, and not just a t-shirt, they should be able to not have to worry about the price barrier. With the holiday season approaching, this service could be the perfect gift for that Web 2.0 geek in your life, hint hint. I can’t wait to see what offering they come up with next.

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