TechCrunch pushes Start-ups to fail

If you want to announce your start-up on TechCrunch50 the only thing you need to do is to sell your soul to the Devil deny your prospective customers access to your web site. Here's the quote:

Rules of participation in TechCrunch50
Until its presentation on stage at the conference, a company will keep its site password protected with limited private access to alpha or beta users for testing purposes.

That means that you have to decrease your popularity, get less testing and less feedback, get less word of mouth, and ultimately get less revenue.

On the other hand, your participation in TechCrunch50 would be free.

Free is good, isn't it?