The density of colleges and universities, coupled with the health of the education and technology sectors creates a sort-of perfect storm for LearnLaunchX. There is an incredibly rich talent pipeline, and people are flocking to join in the knowledge-based Boston economy.
Branding is much wider than a logo and color scheme. It is the entire ecosystem of touch-points a business has with the outside world. It is important to note that you - as a company - can only control one side of the branding equation. You control what you send out into the world, but you can not control how it makes people feel. Perhaps the best quote from Everywhere Else Cincinnati on branding came from Derek Flanzraich: "Don't Suck!"
What makes The Brandery successful is the fact that they drink their own Kool-Aid. It is one thing to talk about how great a city is or how great an industry is; it is another to roll up your sleeves and get to work. If an accelerator has a real focus on community - which The Brandery clearly does, as it boasts a more than 60% retention rate for all of its portfolio companies - it can enact a sort-of socially responsible investment strategy.
Pockets across the country are slowly, but surely, turning into technology hotspots. While traditional Venture Capital funds tend to be focused in Silicon Valley and New York City, there is a slow migration underway. This migration is happening throughout the country: the flyover states of the Midwest, the Southeast, New England, and "Everywhere Else." The only thing that everywhere else is truly lacking, is ready access to capital. True, there are VCs and firms everywhere, but not nearly in the same density or with the same level of funds as those in the Valley and NYC. Monday, however, a new fund was launched. A fund of the likes of those in the Valley, but specifically for the rest of the country. This will go down as a watershed moment for everywhere else.
The significance of this conference goes way beyond the actual substance of the event. The quality and turnout of the event speaks volumes, and in some was affirms, everything that we and others have been saying for some time: the Southeast is becoming a hotbed of innovation and technology.
"When people have these conferences, they tend to become most interested in founding stories," Bell began, "And then they talk about the end, 'how did you exit?' But they usually skip over the middle." The middle, Bell went on to argue, is a series of doublings.
The CED Tech Venture Conference held an illuminating CEO panel. It was a very insightful look at some of the less glamorous aspects of being a CEO, and some things that go under the radar. Among the many topics were: When did you realize you had a company? How did you raise funds? How do you hire the right people? How did you learn to be a CEO?
"Often times the company is worth no more to us with $10M in revenue than it was with $5M, or even $50M for that matter, because the way we're thinking about it is the impact that they can make on our business. That is not going to be necessarily driven by their existing mode of generating revenue."
The North Carolina Council for Entrepreneurial Development, or CED, is kicking off their Tech Venture Conference tomorrow. This conference is set to focus on uniting technology entrepreneurs, businesses, and capital. The CED has been wildly influential to the growth of the STEM companies within the Research Triangle region of North Carolina.
Yesterday, the Kaplan EdTech Accelerator, powered by TechStars, held their inaugural demo day. Demo day, the culmination of the three-month intensive mentoring process, was by all accounts a great success. As a whole, the entire first batch shows great potential, but a few startups really stand out.
