To all the people who whined that Twiistup’s startup competition was unfair, here’s my answer:

You’re right. All startup competitions are biased. Now stop whining and learn to win.

I was a judge at this past Twiistup, so I got to see the process from the inside. I’ll teach you what I learned so you can use it to win other startup competitions.

The benefits of participation:

It’s easy to say there’s a little unfairness in these competitions and opt out, but if you do, you’ll miss out on a ton of publicity, traffic, and potential funding. Twiistup founder Mike Macaadan and his crew worked for months to get attention for the startups that competed at Twiistup.

It’s worth spending a few minutes to learn the biases of these competitions so you can do well.

Bias #1: Awareness

As a judge, even though I strove to give every startup equal consideration, I have to admit that it was easier for me to vote for companies that I knew well. Sites like Causecast.org whose people spent months showing me their product, had an advantage.

The solution is to keep showing your site to influential people in the startup community. Brian Solis, for example, is at every one of these events. If he’s not a judge, whoever’s judging is likely to get his input. If you have a startup, next time you see Brian at an event, show him what you’re working on. Do the same for these guys, and for this guy, and for anyone else who think has influence.

Bias #2: Simplicity

I really did spend a lot of time trying to understand every startup I voted on. But the ones that were to understand to get were harder for me to vote for.

The solution is to have a video tour on your site–preferably on your homepage. I couldn’t understand what RoboDynamics was when I first saw. I was going to cross it off my list and move on, until I saw these videos. Once I saw their robot in motion, I understood the product. And I voted for it.

Bias #3: Self-interest

I’ve heard several people complain that TotSpot won the people’s choice award at Twiistup because they gave tequila to guests, while other companies showed their sites. I hate to break it to the other startups, but even though it’s a startup competition, there’s one thing guests care about more than the startups: themselves. TotSpot got people’s vote because they paid attention to what people wanted.

The solution is to figure out what guests want and give it to them. That doesn’t necessarily mean alcohol. Guests at sartup events often have their own sartups and are looking for funding. Consider having your investors work the crowd with you. Or maybe they’re hungry and you could order in food to make them care about listening to you. I’m NOT saying you shouldn’t have someone on hand to talk about your company–guests always want someone knowledgeable around. I’m just saying your site’s not the most important thing for guests.

Bias #4: Application

Judging Twiistup let me see the full list of startups that applied to compete. I can’t believe how many companies were left off the list. If you didn’t apply, don’t be upset with the companies that were selected. If your startup is better than the ones that got to compete, no wonder you’re upset–but understand who’s really at fault.

The solution is to apply next time. Come on. You can’t believe the promotion that organizers of Twiistup and related events will do on your behalf if you apply and are selected to compete at their events. It’s the kind of free publicity that a young startup can really use. I hope you take advantage of it.