Venture capitalist Brad Feld on how startup communities work
In the video, Feld says that there are four pillars to his "Boulder thesis" about how vibrant startup communities are built:
1. Startup communities are led by entrepreneurs
2. Entrepreneurs have to take a long-term view (20+ years)
3. Be inclusive of anyone who's interested in being part of the startup ecosystem
4. Organize activities and events that are substantive (moreso than cocktail parties or award dinners)
I think one crucial element of point #3, and an area where Boston can do much better, is recruiting people from larger companies into the startup ecosystem -- not necessarily as employees, but as advisors and mentors and board members. There are scads of people at former startups (companies like TripAdvisor and Zipcar and Akamai) with great experience in hiring, marketing, business development, and other areas, who can be extremely helpful to startups that are trying to scale. We should be doing more in Boston to find those kinds of experts and weave them into our startup community.
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about the blogger
About Scott Kirsner Scott Kirsner was part of the team that launched Boston.com in 1995, and has been writing a column for the Globe since 2000. His work has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, and Variety. Scott is also the author of the books "Fans, Friends & Followers" and "Inventing the Movies," was the editor of "The Convergence Guide: Life Sciences in New England," and was a contributor to "The Good City: Writers Explore 21st Century Boston." Scott also helps organize several local events on entrepreneurship, including the Nantucket Conference and Future Forward. Here's some background on how Scott decides what to cover, and how to pitch him a story idea.
Events
May 16 & 17: Convergence Forum on Life Sciences
Speakers from Bristol-Myers, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, and Biogen Idec talk about the next ten years of the biopharma business. Plus, journalist David Ewing Duncan on radical life extension. (I'm hosting.)
May 22: MIT Sloan CIO Symposium
Chief information officers from Guess, Haemonetics, Intel and other companies talk discuss "architecting the enterprise of the future."
June 25: TEDxBoston
The oldest and biggest of the locally-organized TED events is back, at the Seaport World Trade Center. Tickets are free, but tough to get. Also streams on the web and airs on WBUR.
