December 2011

Can Boston Do Consumer and Does It Matter?

Last week, I wrote about what I felt was Boston's startup identity. The goal was to help us crystallize who we are, what we're best at and what we have to offer to potential entrepreneurs looking to move to or otherwise join our ecosystem.  As important was the goal to expose what we're not.  The single biggest thing Boston is not is a good place for pure consumer internet plays.

Before you jump out of your seat, follow me for a moment...

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Greenhorn Weekly Countdown Dec 18 - Dec 25

It's finally here--the last week before the holidays. We hope you enjoy working hard this last week and then enjoying the next with friends and family. This week is quiet, with 14 scheduled events.


Before you head out to the holidays, we have 2 annoucements:

Boston's Startup Identity: Embracing Who We Are

Boston has an identity crisis. Like a bad startup, we're trying to be everything to everyone. But we're not and we perform a great disservice to ourselves by being in denial of who we really are. We must not only embrace our strengths and weaknesses, but proudly display them. Just like a good startup looking to recruit a good culture fit, you attract the best when you can clearly show them why they should join you. It's time we did this for Boston.

After spending the last 2.5 years in our ecosystem and visiting NYC and Silicon Valley's ecosystems, I'm going to take a stab at defining Boston's identity. (Special thanks to Bill Warner and others at the Nantucket Conference who discussed this months ago, but didn't quite complete crystallizing.)

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Greenhorn Weekly Countdown Dec 11 - Dec 17

Just because the holidays are around the corner doesn't mean you start ignoring your networking skills. There's still high quality events going on in Boston that you need should attend. The Boston startup scene has 31 events planned out this week. As always the can't-miss events of the week are below.

The Social Glue: Community Builders that Bind Us

This is a new series on Greenhorn Connect that will highlight the builders of the vibrant communities all around us. In this column we will talk with leaders from across business, non-profits, education, politics and more. Through a series of interviews, we will gain an inside look at how different communities were started, who helped to create them and their mindset and the motivations for doing so. In the end, we will glean best practices for building and expanding our own communities.

 

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Observations from Silicon Valley

If you've been following my Twitter stream @Evanish you know I'm visiting the Valley this week. As I wrote months ago, I think a startup in our interconnected world has to be TriCoastal. I've made a number of trips to New York City in the last year, but it was finally time to make a pilgrimage to Silicon Valley. I came to learn how much of the rumors that reach Boston are true and get a feel for what the real differences are between the two coasts.

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Greenhorn Weekly Countdown Dec 4 - Dec 10

Last week was probably as warm as it will get until next spring. Hopefully everyone took some time to enjoy the sun one last time before winter. Stay warm this week with the36 networking events and office hours happening this week. As usual, the can't miss events are below.