I understand why they want Zuck to speak (it helps raise the profile of the event) but I'm not particularly excited. His talks are notoriously stodgy and unfocused, especially his Startup School appearances.
I'm much more excited about Max Levchin and Drew Houston. From past talks I've seen them do, I feel their message will be better focused and higher yield for the startup audience. The best talks last year were from entrepreneurs who had tasted a mix of failure and success - Dalton Caldwell and Brian Chesky.
His interview last year was anything but stodgy as well, with the movie "The Social Network" out and so much growth happening at Facebook. It will be interesting to see what he talks about this year - perhaps privacy issue in Europe?
The other repeats I see (Ron Conway and, of course, the person I'm replying to) will have no problem coming up with things to talk about, given their position in the startup ecosystem. In fact, I felt that the combination of subject matter and the speaker's experience with it outweighed some rough edges in delivery for all the speakers last year.
I'm much more excited about Max Levchin and Drew Houston. From past talks I've seen them do, I feel their message will be better focused and higher yield for the startup audience. The best talks last year were from entrepreneurs who had tasted a mix of failure and success - Dalton Caldwell and Brian Chesky.