Thoughts from MIT Enterprise Forum’s “Accelerating Startup Growth” Event

First off, thanks to Simeon Simeonov from FastIgnite and General Catalyst for hooking

The Crowd at the Event

me up with the free tickets that allowed me to be in attendance. The event turned out well. (DartBoston recorded the event if you want to check it out.)

The event featured a panel consisting of Dave McClure (Founder’s Fund) , David Cohen (TechStars), Hemant Taneja (General Catalyst), and Sim Simeonov.

Much of the discussion touched on many topics that have been talked about for a while: how Boston has no Angel Investor presence, how its cheap now to start a web company, how the venture capital industry is shrinking, the trend towards smaller funds, etc.

The Panel

The most interesting aspect of the panel came from the West Coast presence of Dave McClure. He was in stark contrast to his more conservative Boston counterparts. Dave was in a t-shirt and cussing up a storm. I think this stark contrast between panelists was representative of the philosophical and cultural differences between Boston and the Bay, and entrepreneurial environments are very cultural. Although I wished Dave would’ve let some of the other panelists finish what they were saying sometimes, he kept the discussion lively.

(One of my problems with discussion panels is that the discussion gets stifled by panelists having to be polite. I’d prefer each of the panelists to talk and take questions individually. It’s a better use of their time.)

The best question for the panelists came from Jason Evanish (@evanish) of GreenHornConnect, “for younger entrepreneurs coming out of college, where do they go?”

In Boston, there are startups that college students can go work for. But, if you’re trying to start your own business, it’s difficult figuring out how to get tapped in, where to turn, and figure out a way to get started. Jason, DartBoston, and myself are working on this problem. There needs to be better avenues for this important segment of the community.

I’ve been through this tough process of taking those first steps, so I have a feeling that I’ll have more to say on it soon.

-Kevin
3.11.2010

Marsh Sutherland

Kevin, in your last two paragraphs you mention it's hard for students to figure out how to get tapped in for starting your own business. Jason Evanish (@evanish) of GreenHornConnect and Cort Johnson (@darboston) of DART Boston have done an excellent job of creating a community and awareness of young entrepreneurs.

But I also want to make you and all your fellow young entrepreneurs aware of 2 Microsoft programs. For students they should check out the Microsoft DreamSpark program (www.dreamspark.com) and non-students should check out the Microsoft BizSpark Startup program (http://microsoft.com/bizspark). These are tremendous programs that give you free software and cloud hosting as well as marketing support and exposure to all the people you want to connect with.

I also want to offer up myself as a resource and connector as well. I run the Boston BizSpark Meetup group (http://bit.ly/BOSSpark) and we have an active email list for questions and answers. We meet once a month. And I'm available for anyone who has questions, needs a referral, or whatever.

It's kind of scary when you have a great startup idea, but don't really know what to do next other than write up your idea, design it, can create a prototype. Let myself and the rest of the Microsoft BizSpark and DreamSpark team help you out and give guidance.

Marsh Sutherland
President | Co-Founder
SocialGrow.com
@marshsutherland | @socialgrow

Kevin Vogelsang

Marsh, thanks for the comment. I wasn't previously aware of these programs. These are great examples of providing tangible help with actually doing a startup.

And thanks for offering your own help. This is very important. Look forward to meeting you in the near future.

Life of F Bi

interesting twitter thred ...

@ariossw - Great article about the startup world (and its differences) in Silicon Valley, Boston, and NYC http://bit.ly/b9ABI1
@lifeoffbi - @ariossw interesting read. have been following the Valley vs NYC vs Boston debate closely of late. for someone whose bi-coastal, thoughts?
@ariossw - @lifeoffbi Differences I've noticed so far: SV has much more confidence, which helps it. Boston has more variety in types of startups.
@ariossw - @lifeoffbi I also get the sense that Boston startups are more OK with slow, organic growth
@lifeoffbi - @ariossw hmm, v interesting. seems agreeable with what i've been hearing/reading. your sweet spot? i'm planning a move sept this year
@ariossw - @lifeoffb Def go to San Francisco or Palo Alto. I'd recommend PA. You will learn a massive amount after you spent time in Boston

so question guys, why the loyalty to Boston, and if you could start a company today, where would it be based?

Kevin Vogelsang

That's a good question to ask. Generally, the best philosophy is to go wherever is best.

First of all, I'm close to Boston for personal reasons. It's easier to visit my family. My brother plays for Wake Forest in the ACC. I have a lot of friends here. I went to MIT, etc. These are great reasons.
I see myself spending a lot of time here whether I have a presence in other areas later on or not.

But there's another important reason. There's a lot happening in the Boston entrepreneurial community, and I see a lot of growth happening in the near future. I'm compelled to be a part of that. There's others that I'd say feel the same way, like Jason and the DartBoston guys.

That said. There's huge opportunity here right now. There is a lot of untapped talent here that I see myself being able to make use of when the time comes.

Will I spend some time on the West Coast? Definitely.

Where you decide to start your business is important. And understanding the implications of the region is key. Best think through them.

Jason Evanish

Kevin,

Nice recap; it was definitely a great event last night.

As for my question, I'm worried about the entire spectrum of opportunities for young entrepreneurs. Everyone talks about wanting to inspire a new generation and tap into the city's pool of talented young people, but I'm very concerned that there's a lack of infrastructure. I don't see a lot of mentorship going on right now (sans the lucky few that get into TechStars) and investment is dry for everyone, regardless of age. I actually don't even believe it's easy even for young people to get jobs at startups.

There is hope:
1) MassChallenge, if they can deliver on promises, should redefine the level of access to mentorship in the community. It's sorely needed and they may just be the rallying point/kick in the pants we all needed to step up.
2) Career Combine: I hope with the Career Combine we can help facilitate more young people getting involved in startups, but that means companies need to take chances on more young people in their business.
3) DartBoston, Greenhorn Connect, BostInnovation: The best way to solve a problem is to do it yourself. We can't do everything, but we're trying to solve what we can through creating more community in the ecosystem both online and in person.

If we keep pushing, I think progress can be made. Time will tell if more solutions will emerge.

Thanks,
Jason

Kevin Vogelsang

I agree with most all of us.

Right now, I think it's wishful thinking that young entrepreneurs are going to get a lot of real, meaningful mentorship, at least not until their company is up and running at a certain level. I just don't think there are enough mentors around that know what they're doing (ie successful entrepreneurs) that have the time to build a relationship that is capable of being meaningful. In a startup, you're busy and you need to get things done. Not a lot of time to track someone down that's out on their yacht.

I do think if you have a specific issue you want to discuss, you can find someone to help you with it, if you're resourceful and keep a healthy network. A mentor can be anyone that you decide has experience that can help you.

A lot of the early need is personal support while the entrepreneur is beginning to understand the emotional nature of being an entrepreneur. It's hard. You're going against the grain. The world does not like you or your idea. In fact the world actively resists. But eventually you'll win.
Learning this is the nature of things and that this is the shared experience is key.

But nonetheless, the young entrepreneurs are here and forming up.

Fuck it. We'll do it ourselves, and if we're able to get some help, all the better.

Jason Evanish

Right on, Kevin.

I think the biggest thing is how we define a mentor. I think you can be a mentor for someone your age, younger or older. I'm more concerned with the concept of support and assistance than who it comes from. And frankly, if you're a young entrepreneur scraping by just like me...chances are you have a lot more perspective on what it's like right now and what challenges I'm dealing with.

The best thing we can do is help each other. If we can find some "gray hairs" to help from time to time too...that's fantastic, but we shouldn't expect it all from them.

The sooner everyone, young, old and inbetween start looking within for solutions, the better off we'll all be. We all need to chip in.

Thoughts from MIT Enterprise Forum’s “Accelerating Startup Growth” Event

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