4 ms·

Three words: network, network, network. You'll never find anyone with a printed ad or by posting flyers (I know, I've tried that too). I'm gradually turning my

Three words: network, network, network. You'll never find anyone with a printed ad or by posting flyers (I know, I've tried that too). I'm gradually turning my small town into a startup hub, and it's great. So far my efforts have helped launch a co-working space and have helped a bunch of creative and technical people meet each-other. There are some money people in my area too, and they should be getting interested pretty soon. Even if those meeting suck, go to them. Get to know anybody worth knowing. Suggest creating a new group or club (make sure it has a specific purpose and some direction). Go to chamber of commerce mixers religiously -- even if the first four send you home empty-handed, the fifth might get you a curious entrepreneur. Pay close attention to the items in the local newspaper. Start keeping a list of who the "movers and shakers" are in your area. I wasn't real fond of the YC process, or of living in the Bay Area, and I already had some things going here. So ... why not keep pushing things here and create the environment I wanted?

silvia77 17y ago
Amen to that. Great stuff. Just curious, in what part of the country is this small-town startup-hub?
- thaumaturgy 17y ago
  Grass Valley, California. Lots of trees, animals, great mountain biking, starting point for this year's Amgen, and host to a number of technology companies (including 2Wire, Spectrum Sensors & Controls, Grass Valley Group (known for producing very high quality video control boards), and a number of others, and formerly one of the original homes to Atari.)
mattblalock 17y ago
I don't want to sound like a whiney sissy, but here it is: I've seriously tried. Chamber meetings are packed with super professional looking, suit and tie, type folks. I'm no suit and tie guy. I have a couple shirts with buttons, but... I just looked into the meetings earlier tonight, before reading your reply (sorry, I'm 6 days late) - the partnership fell apart and the meetings have stopped. Guess nobody went. I've put ads on Craigslist, posted flyers in coffee shops, hung out in said coffee shops. Hung around Wake Forest, pestered business professors, went to several meetup.com events (completely irrelevant events, but events nonetheless)... Thank you for the motivation, I'm going out there! :D

silvia77 17y ago

Amen to that. Great stuff. Just curious, in what part of the country is this small-town startup-hub?

thaumaturgy 17y ago
Grass Valley, California. Lots of trees, animals, great mountain biking, starting point for this year's Amgen, and host to a number of technology companies (including 2Wire, Spectrum Sensors & Controls, Grass Valley Group (known for producing very high quality video control boards), and a number of others, and formerly one of the original homes to Atari.)

mattblalock 17y ago

I don't want to sound like a whiney sissy, but here it is: I've seriously tried. Chamber meetings are packed with super professional looking, suit and tie, type folks. I'm no suit and tie guy. I have a couple shirts with buttons, but... I just looked into the meetings earlier tonight, before reading your reply (sorry, I'm 6 days late) - the partnership fell apart and the meetings have stopped. Guess nobody went. I've put ads on Craigslist, posted flyers in coffee shops, hung out in said coffee shops. Hung around Wake Forest, pestered business professors, went to several meetup.com events (completely irrelevant events, but events nonetheless)... Thank you for the motivation, I'm going out there! :D