Yesterday, I spent another long day at the dentist in between meetings for my newest brainchild. (Notice that it was not the other way around.) That is why I am a day late getting this info out, but it is important enough that it is worth the late share.
It is also part of my latest epiphany: community Jason Mendolson, a Michigan native, spoke at Xconomy Detroit yesterday. He is part of the billion dollar venture firm The Foundry Group located in Boulder, Colorado. He urged us to come together as a startup community not only in Detroit but also with Ann Arbor to create a symbiotic force to be reckoned with. While in front of the group, he said that he had identified four main points to starting and maintaining a strong startup culture.
- Entrepreneurs must run the community: A startup economy will not continue to grow if it is run by traditional big business.
- 2o Year Horizon: He also noted that no one should expect immediate results. He said there should be a twenty year horizon for any new startup community.
- Anyone who wants to participate should be able to participate: We all got in this because we couldn’t work for someone else so why should we tell someone else that they have to be able to “work” with us. We were all outliers at some point.
- Regular engagements: Regular meetings like Startup Grind (shameless plug!) help to build a strong community. We are not just getting together to give/receive awards. We are getting together to really connect and get to know each other and become a sort of family.
We all have good ideas, we all need each other. We shouldn’t exclude just because an app doesn’t save lives like the biotech venture can or a retail outlet isn’t inventing the newest sexy technology. We are all interdependent. Let’s do this! Let’s build a new community and I’m happy to let each and every one of you shine in your own way…just as long as you drink my coffee :) Actually, just come be a part of Startup Grind. Show up, you never know who you might meet.
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