And so it goes. The rest of the speakers were just as upbeat as they offered advice to struggling startups. Deborah Schulz discussed the "grand gesture," saying companies need to follow new trends in communication as well as going out and meeting their community. 37Signals founder Jason Fried stressed the need to streamline, comparing a web business to a well-kept museum. "You have to say 'no' to more things than you say 'yes'," he said, noting the need to cut down on unnecessary features that can "bloat" a site. Maria Thomas, CEO of the Brooklyn-based social network Etsy.com, where users can promote, sell and request handmade goods, said that a business should have both clarity of purpose and a sense of social responsibility. 

The winner of the most animated and lively speech of the day was from vlogger and wine connoisseur Gary Vaynerchuk. His Big Idea: do what you love or quit.

"You can lose just as much money being happy as hell," he said. "If you love Alf, do an Alf blog. If you collect Smurfs, Smurf it up. Whatever you need to do, do it."

Like the others, he has found success in keeping close personal contact with his fans through social networks and email whenever he's online. Which is often, but shouldn't be all the time, he says.

"The only thing I fear in the world is internet on planes," he said.

By Chris Snyder for Wired.com