by jbreazeale on February 24, 2009
Image via CrunchBase
Last week I attended the first Boulder Denver New Tech Meetup in Denver. I was so excited that I could actually attend Boulder Open Coffee Club in the morning and the BDNT that evening (since I don’t live in Boulder, I can’t make both of these events when they’re in Boulder on the same day. Too much driving.) I’d been to a couple of the meetups in Boulder and they were always loud, crazy, energetic and fun (kinda like Boulder), so I was hoping that the Denver meetup would be able to recreate some of this magic, even if it was tempered by age, experience, and a handful of suits (kinda like Denver). I’d say we’re off to a good start with the Denver event, but I’m doubtful that we’ll see a meaningful connection between the Denver and Boulder groups without significant, ongoing efforts to make it happen.
Some quick (and totally unscientific) observations on the two groups…
New Tech Meetup – Boulder
- 50-75% have laptops out and working during the event; if you’re not using your laptop it’s because you’re probably on your iPhone.
- The Twitter backchannel is fast and furious, with a fair amount of heckling, but plenty of helpful questions and comments as well.
- The energy level buzzes throughout the event, from early drinks, through the presentations, to after-event meetups and tweet-ups.
- The content presented ranges from “we have a great idea and cool technology” to “we have a great idea, cool technology and an iPhone app.”
- Presenters are 98% male and young.
- Companies are tiny, almost always <10 people. Mostly <5.
New Tech Meetup – Denver
- Out of ~300 people, I saw three laptops out and working. I’m sure there were mobile devices out and about, but I mostly saw Blackberries, Palms, and only a handful of iPhones (and those were often from the Boulder folks.)
- There was a Twitter backchannel; mostly non-heckling; good questions and feedback, but not as integrated with the event as it is in Boulder. Of course, that could also be due to the room configuration – it was really hard to read the feed on the screen.
- The energy level was modest at the beginning, lulled to near-death in the middle, but finished pretty well. Lots of hallway conversations after the event bodes well.
- The content presented ranged from “we have a great idea and cool technology” to “we’re a funded, profitable company targeting specific enterprise level customers.”
- Presenters are 100% male (okay, there’s only been one meetup, so I’m sure at some point we’ll have a woman up there!) and a little bit older (i.e. >25).
- Companies are small to medium-sized.
Connecting the dots
We have a thriving startup hub in Boulder. We have a healthy support system (bankers, lawyers, workers) in Denver to help companies grow. How can we bring the two together?
I hope the size and popularity of the BDNT will at least help to get the ball rolling, but we’re going to need more.
More from the grassroots – the communities of designers, developers, and other tech-heads who work together on and across projects and companies and thereby expand and improve the quality of available talent.
More from the infrastructure – the schools, universities, professors, students, and alumni whose intellectual resources and discoveries could provide limitless business opportunities with the right partnership with skilled entrepreneurs.
And, more from the business community – the VCs, angels, bankers, and lawyers who hold the purse strings and therefore can use a combination of both carrot and stick to encourage “cross-cultural” activities that strengthen their companies.
Without enough of these efforts – in quantity and/or intensity – we’ll miss out on our opportunity to become a hyperconnected powerhouse of new business energy and will instead continue to spike and spark and sputter.
by jbreazeale on February 15, 2009
I’m going to ramble off the techie path for a sec and into a broader issue of creativity, brainstorming, focus, and goal-setting. (Still awake out there?)
Being the geek friend of many non-geek people, I have a pretty good idea on when someone’s interested in hearing more about my latest technology crush or not, but what happens when it comes down to business?
When you’re working with an organization who is happily living in their 1998-like technology existence, even though their customers and employees have moved past these frameworks.
When, for example, your client continues to create fill-in forms using Excel, saving them on their network drive (plus their home drive and local drive “just in case”), emailing them around for everyone to filling out and spending way too much time trying to devise naming conventions so they can keep their version one separate from their co-worker’s first revisions to version 1, etc…
*sigh*
So many problems, so many solutions. It can be overwhelming. But, just remember, almost any small improvement can snowball into larger improvements down the road. It’s all about the baby steps. Instead of tackling a systematic overhaul of a major system, start with something smaller. And then, even smaller than that. Go on, how small can you make it?
by jbreazeale on February 4, 2009
Image by Steve Crane via Flickr
Although the US economy continues its downward spiral, every now and then I’m starting to see a few glimmers of hope. Discussions about sustainable growth and possibilities for a new economy are starting to bubble to the surface. Take Umair Haque’s ”Smart Growth Manifesto“, for example, which describes four pillars of smart growth:
- Outcomes, not income
- Connections, not transactions
- People, not product
- Creativity, not productivity
These pillars are driving themes in the current “Web 2.0″ environment and are largely responsible for the durability of companies that successfully make connections (even if they aren’t making money.) Chris Brogan’s articles on “cafe-shaped businesses” also focus on businesses who can (and do) connect with people and the positive results.
Ok, so what does this have to do with my “super-center” vs market analogy? And, what does this have to do with technology (because, no, I am not changing this to an economics blog?)
The local market is dead. Long live the local market.
Before the massive infrastructure and technology advances we made in the mid to late 20th century, you either grew your food or bought it from your neighborhood grocer. Then came the supermarkets (and later, the supercenters) with their endless variety of products at continually lower prices, all available at any time of day or night. This bigger and better mania seemed to bring benefits to consumers – with food prices lower, you could spend money on other products; with pre-packaged foods, you had more free time to spend relaxing with your family; since stores were open for longer hours, you could just stop in and grab what you wanted at any time. Convenience, abundance, don’t worry about it, it will all be fine… Until it’s not. Until you end up broke, fat, and stressed from the blessings of convenience.
Mass production and globalization have not brought wealth and happiness to the masses; they muddle everything together, making products that are okay, but not exceptional. Beige and gray instead of magenta and lime. But, occasionally, individuals have opted out of this monolithic view of industry. It may be a grocer who stocks their shelves with bread from the baker down the street, milk from the local dairy, and vegetables from the farmer’s co-op just up the road. It may be a craft shop that sources sustainably produced fibers and recycles vintage findings. It may be an entrepreneur who decides to keep and grow their business in town, hiring local talent, and connecting with other local resources.
Your technology resources should be sustainable, too.
Time will tell if the technology giants will face the same fate as other large companies are right now, and since they’re still relatively young (well, compared to banks they’re young), they might be able to adapt. But, aren’t many of these giants pushing the same story as the supermarkets – “Get it here, anytime, as much as you want, and it’s all free.” Will we ever learn our lesson?
How about finding and rewarding those companies that do their job well, and do it in a meaningful way? Instead of making a product decision based solely on price and features, how about adding in the factors of: transparency, responsiveness, community involvement, employee relations, etc… I can practically guarantee that those secondary factors will be the ones that will affect your daily dealings with that company.
