When you start a company, you are usually in one of two camps: a veteran who has worked at multiple startups and knows the monster challenge you're up against OR a first timer who has limited startup experience but an abundance of passion for the idea you want to solve. In both cases, there's always a lot to learn, but for the strength and vitality of an ecosystem, it's particularly important how we handle educating the first timers. 

I miss DartBoston.  Yes, there's a DartBoston still around today, but I miss Classic DartBoston. The group all about young and student entrepreneurs. I miss the energy of their Thursday night Pokin Holes events and the community it formed. I miss the one of a kind atmosphere that removed any fear from your first networking event and brought out a uber-high-caliber group of young entrepreneurs. Today's DartBoston is great with their flip cup and concerts, but it does not have the same effect of the Classic DartBoston days. That's why I miss DartBoston and if you care about student retention, you should too.

Our startup community is constantly evolving and we here at Greenhorn Connect work hard to stay in tune to those changes. When I started Greenhorn Connect, I was fresh out of Northeastern University and had the newcomer to the ecosystem in mind as we built the site. As the site and the ecosystem have since grown, my role in the community has changed significantly to serve much more than just the newcomer. At the same time, universities in town have changed the way they approach entrepreneurship as virtually every school has an incubator program, mentorship programs and vibrant student clubs.

Recognizing these changes at the universities and the need to build not only strong ties but understand the changing needs of students, I realized it was time to add some new student perspective to Greenhorn Connect. That’s why I’m pleased to announce the newest member of the Greenhorn Connect team: Paul Hlatky (pronounced “Lat-key”) as Director of Community and Student Relations.