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Though you say it's easy enough to pack up and move, there are numerous issues that come to mind. First, being in University for a few years and then living on

Though you say it's easy enough to pack up and move, there are numerous issues that come to mind. First, being in University for a few years and then living on the opposite side of North America for the purpose of playing rugby has not give me enough time to pad my resume - I know I can pretty much do anything I want, but I would have a difficult time actually proving that to someone with concrete evidence to back it up. Faced with the problem of finding a job with my weak resume, so that I can support myself in a new area on my own, leads me to believe it is much easier said than done. However, you may be right in saying that by staying here I am limiting myself to something I CAN do opposed to what I want to do. But what I am asking, or even suggesting, is it not possible to stay here AND do what I want? There happens to be tons of industry in the area as far as farming, forestry and trucking go, there is just no apparent 'tech-sector' in my area. It's not that I am entirely opposed to moving, it's just that it would take one awesome opportunity to force me to move, something I couldn't turn down. [offers accepted.] So to better revise my question; I am more or less asking how I can find people like me who already exist in my area, without relocating.

donaldc 17y ago
6K people is a rather small set from which to try and find like-minded people to do tech startups. Especially since most of these people presumably are either children or are adults having a fairly established life-pattern. Furthermore, there's a selection effect working against you. Those people in your area most ambitious and talented with tech have likely already moved somewhere else more condusive to their ambitions.
barnaby 17y ago
1) Go to networking events. Even small cities have a bunch of groups who meet to talk about "social media" or "local business growth" or other B.S. 2) Cold call CEO's and business owners in your area. They're great connectors. Pitch them a project you're working on and at least 1 out of every 5 you call will hook you up with somebody. Some of them may even become a great contact in and of themselves. Do at least 2 cold calls like this a day. 3) EVERYBODY's RESUME SUCKS EQUALLY, just some people can present theirs better than others. So the only difference between yours and everybody elses is whether you tell people it's "awesome" or sucky. so... tell people it's awesome and that you have amazing skills that are already proven through whatever project or school work you did. 4) If you like living rurally, for God's sake don't work rurally. You can find a job where you can work remotely, "telecommute" or whatever. HTH Barnaby
RobGR 17y ago
I have helped run a linux users group for years, and been involved in other various groups. Here's the sort of approach I would take: First, start with a regular, weekly or monthly meeting. You can call it a technologists group or linux group or whatever, but given the size of your community you don't want to limit it to a single topic. I advise calling it a "Futurist Society" or "Optimist Club" or something along those lines. Remember that the kind of people you want are less likely to think in terms of the words "startup" or "entrepreneur" or "hacker" or such in a rural area. They will describe themselves as "inventors" or "tinkerers" or say "try lots of small business schemes" or not recognize themselves as a group deserving a special label at all. The meeting has to be scheduled and held at the same place very regularly, and that place has to be free. At first people will come infrequently and on the spur of the moment, and people will not join a mailing list to get announcements on the next meeting, so it has to be something like "Thursdays 7pm back room at Joe's". If appropriate, you can use your own house for a while, but that will eventually get old. It's good to have pre-scheduled presentations and topics, but you don't have to, and you should allow walk-in topics of any sort. Start by giving tutorials on things you know, such as installing linux or programming or whatever it is. Solicit short show-and-tell presentations from whomever you can. One idea I would like to try, but I would need to write some scripts to dig the patent database and find them, is to find people in your area who have been awarded any sort of patent, and call them up and ask them to give a talk on the device, or the process of getting a patent. Another good idea is to find someone who has had something manufactured via e-machineshop.com or mfgquote.com or something similar, and ask them to talk about the experience. Keep a web page or blog and update it with a few notes about each meeting. Once this has gone on for a while, and you have developed enough connections with good people locally, try having a barcamp style event on a particular technology or just starting businesses in general.

donaldc 17y ago

6K people is a rather small set from which to try and find like-minded people to do tech startups. Especially since most of these people presumably are either children or are adults having a fairly established life-pattern. Furthermore, there's a selection effect working against you. Those people in your area most ambitious and talented with tech have likely already moved somewhere else more condusive to their ambitions.

barnaby 17y ago

1) Go to networking events. Even small cities have a bunch of groups who meet to talk about "social media" or "local business growth" or other B.S. 2) Cold call CEO's and business owners in your area. They're great connectors. Pitch them a project you're working on and at least 1 out of every 5 you call will hook you up with somebody. Some of them may even become a great contact in and of themselves. Do at least 2 cold calls like this a day. 3) EVERYBODY's RESUME SUCKS EQUALLY, just some people can present theirs better than others. So the only difference between yours and everybody elses is whether you tell people it's "awesome" or sucky. so... tell people it's awesome and that you have amazing skills that are already proven through whatever project or school work you did. 4) If you like living rurally, for God's sake don't work rurally. You can find a job where you can work remotely, "telecommute" or whatever. HTH Barnaby

RobGR 17y ago

I have helped run a linux users group for years, and been involved in other various groups. Here's the sort of approach I would take: First, start with a regular, weekly or monthly meeting. You can call it a technologists group or linux group or whatever, but given the size of your community you don't want to limit it to a single topic. I advise calling it a "Futurist Society" or "Optimist Club" or something along those lines. Remember that the kind of people you want are less likely to think in terms of the words "startup" or "entrepreneur" or "hacker" or such in a rural area. They will describe themselves as "inventors" or "tinkerers" or say "try lots of small business schemes" or not recognize themselves as a group deserving a special label at all. The meeting has to be scheduled and held at the same place very regularly, and that place has to be free. At first people will come infrequently and on the spur of the moment, and people will not join a mailing list to get announcements on the next meeting, so it has to be something like "Thursdays 7pm back room at Joe's". If appropriate, you can use your own house for a while, but that will eventually get old. It's good to have pre-scheduled presentations and topics, but you don't have to, and you should allow walk-in topics of any sort. Start by giving tutorials on things you know, such as installing linux or programming or whatever it is. Solicit short show-and-tell presentations from whomever you can. One idea I would like to try, but I would need to write some scripts to dig the patent database and find them, is to find people in your area who have been awarded any sort of patent, and call them up and ask them to give a talk on the device, or the process of getting a patent. Another good idea is to find someone who has had something manufactured via e-machineshop.com or mfgquote.com or something similar, and ask them to talk about the experience. Keep a web page or blog and update it with a few notes about each meeting. Once this has gone on for a while, and you have developed enough connections with good people locally, try having a barcamp style event on a particular technology or just starting businesses in general.