One of the signs of a healthy growing region is having a variety of ways to engage. Our Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill/Cary/Morrisville and Calvander micro areas are no exception to what is happening locally and the “Startup Mania” phenomenon. The good news is that a Startup Weekend in coming again this weekend and I find these one of the best vehicles to try on your new startup sneakers.
You see, there are so many doors into the startup room that each of you get to choose the door that is right for you. The Dave & Chris accelerator program – TSF – is one way. CED, Groundworks Labs, College Entrepreneurship programs, co-working spaces including the HUB (HQ) and American Underground, and local themed meetups around social media marketing, software development, server hosting, and beer socials are all places to see where one might fit in.
Some of you are working full time at a large tech company and have an idea on the side.
Some of you are students at one of our very cool local universities and are eager to engage in something less academic.
Some of you are currently in a startup where the genesis of the idea came out of a startup weekend. And you just can not not spend 56 hours exercising those startup muscles again.
This version of the Triangle Startup Weekend begins Friday night at the very cool new space on Main Street in Durham. People gather around 5-6pm and things get started for real around 7pm. Check out the web site if you are interested and register ASAP.
See you there!
Yes! I am a big believer in the vision of the Triangle (writ large, and definitely including Carrboro) as being a hub. I feel strongly that the Triangle area should be the third area people think of as being an innovative tech/entrepreneurship hub, after the Bay area and the Boston area (which have their own mini divisions), and somewhat ahead of the NYC area, if we can swing it. 🙂
I think the key is the density and quality of connections we can make between people. A smaller area can outshine a larger one if it is better connected. That is the vision of the somewhat new Triangle Health 2.0 group (http://bit.ly/health20NCTri), for those with an interest in Health IT.
Thanks for the post, Chris. I’ll see you soon the Triangle Startup Weekend!
~Brian
Like Brian, I too look forward to being part of this event this weekend. And certainly the Triangle has the academic resources to make a go at leadership, following the Bay and Boston areas, in tech entrepreneurship, though the visibility with people and organizations who provide funding to entrepreneurs in this area is more challenging. However, other factors like the livability of this area over areas like NYC and DC, even than Atlanta, may tilt the competitive edge to the Triangle. Certainly events like this Triangle Startup Weekend are an important part of building an entrepreneurial culture, and I applaud you Chris for making this happen.
Just to be clear, this event is all Mital Patel and crew. I am going to talk for a few minutes to kick things off and am supporting through building awareness on this blog, etc.
And that is the great part about what is happening – there are others picking up various vehicles that help push this forward. This area will prosper to the levels we vision only if they are “ground up” from entrepreneurs, all inclusive and reasonably regular.
Hats off to The Triangle Startup Weekend crew for continuing the good fight. So, who else is going to create & drive something forward? Needs ideas – come see us. Got an idea but need some logistical help and some promotion – come see us.
Awesome comments and feedback, I echo, echo, echo!!!