...More on the DC Web Start-up Situation

Back in mid-August (August 14) I wrote a blog entry about uniting the DC, MD and VA Technology Community, Entrepreneurs and Investors. It was called The Wheels are Turning Watch Out. Wrong title, since thus far, there’s been nothing to watch out for…granted, I’ve been a little busy with moving things along with Why Go Solo.

I immediately talked about the idea with quite a few people: Two of which, have blogged about is since then, and have said much of the exact same thing: Nick O’Neil on Webentrepreneur: Bringing the Valley to DC on September 8th, and Will Kern on 15 Meanings: Irons in the Fire on September 12, 2007.

I’m an action person. Talk is cheap, blogging works, but you have to take active steps. Personally I now think, we can't say that it’s because the press isn’t involved or it’s because the VCs and investors don’t participate in the community that DC is the way it is. It’s more along the lines that the entrepreneurs aren't quite yet, really aggressively seeking each other out, getting to know one another and joining to help/support each other. Who are all the DC, VA and MD web start-up entrepreneurs?!!?

I know I need to become more active with the related meetup.com events, so I can find who my counterparts are…

One person who has taken some action forward is Justin Thorp by establishing DCTechnology.ning.com as a place for everyone to become and stay informed. Ross Karchner has been very good at keeping a list of all the DC Tech events on his blog and the RSS feed is included on the Ning community. And Ralph Sklarew has been a big evangelist for the same thing. I started the DC Entrepreneur (Web 2.0) group on Ning to hopefully really get things moving in the right direction.

I want to thank Rebecca Carpenter at Razoo for leaving a comment on my previous blog post and I look forward to meeting her and the team at their Brewing Good Happy Hour event on the Sept. 27^th and I’m sure many other folks would love to come out. This is part of supporting, encouraging and learning from each other. I have a passion for entrepreneurship, web 2.0 and making a difference in the world...shouldn’t be that hard to share and fulfill those passions!?!?

Still Out of the Local DC Web 2.0 Loop

How does this happen…I am invited to participate in helping out to test a private Alpha start-up in London, but I don’t know about Razoo until last night, and Mixx until this morning, when both are in the DC/VA area!?!?

The kicker is—I didn’t find out about either one of them through my networking in the DC and VA area. To make matters worst, in Razoo’s case, someone I know actually took part of developing the Facebook application for them, but never mentioned the site/organization.

This is frustrating. I’m obviously not networking enough in the area and not in the “know”, just yet. Or is the web 2.0 community in the DMV (DC, VA and MD) simply working in stealth mode, and not in a... "let’s really support each other mode"?

I came across Razoo from Vince who posted about Razoo on his blog Try Change.

Razoo is the Platform for Social Good. Razoo is a community united around making a positive difference in the world. Where passion leads to action, and a whole lot of collective good comes from individual contributions.

Razoo is definitely a community developed around creating and doing good. It’s a wonderful community for people who want to have a positive impact in the world, and for all the amazing people, who work and dedicate themselves to good causes.

The site is very well done, has an excellent purpose and I’m impressed with the back end development. I have more thoughts on that….but, will keep them for another post.

The news of Mixx came from…yep, Techcrunch. From Techcrunch’s post:

Mixx is a new social news site. To put it into context, it’s a sort of cross between Digg, LinkedIn and MyYahoo. In a nutshell, its a social network that lets you find and share news based on your interests and location.

One aspect of the service - each user has a customized Digg-like experience, effectively creating smaller niche versions of the popular social news site. That means niche publishers get to play, too. Today they are largely shut out of Digg. But popular stories from more obscure topics can get traffic traction through Mixx. Stories, video and photos can all be bookmarked.

Ironically, I read the post from Streamy, which is where I aggregate a lot of my RSS feeds now…and since I’m not on Mixx I can’t truly compare the two, but they sound similar. I submitted my email to take part of the Mixx private beta.

May be it’s just me…but you would think they (Mixx team, lead by Chris McGill, formerly the General Manager of Yahoo News and more recently the VP Strategy at USA Today) would reach to the DC Tech Community to test their private beta and get feedback. Or may be they did and I missed it, or they are planning on it, and I’m inserting foot in mouth right now.

Last night I went to Refresh DC’s monthly meeting where ClearSpring presented on Widgets. I didn’t attend the after party because I had (without thinking) scheduled a development team meeting at the same time. Perhaps, I missed the exciting passing of information because I wasn’t there.

Like I said…I shall pick up my networking around the area and find out what’s happening and figure out how to perhaps bring the community together a little more. No point in being so quiet and tight lip about our Web 2.0 companies within our own local community. It makes sense to support each other.

It’s obvious that there is, and starting to be, more and more Web 2.0 start-up activities going on around the area.

If I were a DC VC...

I would have cool VC envy…seriously. I’m not jus trying to rhythm—I mean it!!I figure I would go ahead and blog today about my thoughts on this subject as well, since it’s related to starting the Club in my previous post.

I’m an avid follower of Fred Wilson’s blog AVC and Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson’s blog Ask the VC and of course every entrepreneur basically knows of/about Guy Kawasaki. There are other VCs who also get good attention…but none that I’ve come across who are in the DC, MD and VA areas (DMV). The key thing all the cool VCs have in common...is their willingness and high level of interaction with entrepreneurs, budding entrepreneurs, other investors and the general public.

The DMV has it’s share of Venture Capitalist firms—here is a list of just those in Fairfax County, VA. And it’s worth noting that a few were listed in the Entrepreneur Magazine's 7^th Annual Top Venture Capital Firms for Entrepreneurs:

• Maryland Technology Development Corporation
• Maryland DBED
• Boulder Ventures ltd.
• The Carlyle Group
• Novak Biddle Venture Partner LP
• Amplifier Venture Partners LP

Of course I’d be reminisce if I didn't note that the majority of the firms in the top 100 list were in Palto, CA, Menlo Park CA, and Waltham MA.

But back to being cool…if I were a VC (first off, my life would probably be drastically different) I would aim to be one of the cool VCs who is approachable, full of good scoop, and abreast of what’s happening. Frankly, I think that’s why so many people read Fred’s blog. He knows what’s going on, he’s a cool guy who is in “the know” and loves to interact. I would be his alter ego…the cool chick VC. Yes, when I grow up I want to be Fred!!

The VCs in the DMV need to come out and play a little more…meet the entrepreneurs and the people who partake in the technology community.

I just recently received this comment (two months after the event) from Hannah Clifford of Intersouth Partners on my post about the Grubstake Breakfast

Thanks for the mention in your blog. Please say hi next time you're at an event; not all VCs bite.

The key to your success will be perseverance, self-awareness and surrounding yourself with a great team. There will be many bumps in the road; embrace the challenges and learn from them.

Good Luck!

Hannah

We all need more events in order to be able to network and say “Hi” to each other. Am I going to pitch a VC every time I see one…must definitely not. We (investors and entrepreneurs in the DMV) all need to network, keep each other abreast of what’s happening and support one another.

I’m sure many VCs in the DMV wouldn’t mind hitting the same types of homeruns Fred has habit of being involved in…if you don’t know what they are, look them up and you might want to use Del.ici.ous or Feedburner to help you (hint, hint).

The next big thing might very well be lurking in the DMV (shameless plug for Why Go Solo).

I plan on knocking on the doors of VC firms to get them involved once our Club (we'll need a name soon) is up, running, active and productive. I certainly hope they will get involved, provide feedback and education…as well as, have some fun and be a little cooler!!

The Wheels are Turning...Watch out!!

Since before BarCamp DC I decided to get involved in the technology community of DC, which is frankly, what ultimately lead me to BarCamp DC. What I’ve realized in the process is that there isn’t much actively going-on and therefore not much of a gathered community around Technology and Web x.x in our Nation’s Capital.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, BarCamp DC has gotten me all fired up and now the wheels have been turning. Anyone who is a serial entrepreneur knows what that normally means—that’s right, I’m going to start something!!

Not a business…but rather a club and community. But first let me share what I have found so far:

The Northern Virginia Open Coffee Club (OCC) which meets every two weeks but rides the OpenCoffee Club concept developed by Saul Klein. I’m talking with Will, the organizer of OCC, about this idea. I first thought may be expanding OCC would work, but having our own DMV (DC, MD and VA) Club might be best.

We also have Refresh DC…I haven’t been to any of their meetings yet.

Our goal is simple: bring together the best and brightest new media developers in the DC metro area so that we may learn from one another. Our industry is too rich for any one person to "know it all." That's where we come in.

Newly started is the DC Web 2.0 & Video 2.0 Meetup group…They are having a meeting tomorrow and I plan on attending. According to Paul, the organizer of this group, the group has reached two dozens members in less then a month. So it’s obvious the interest is there.

I have heard of TECH Cocktail and apparently there was a TECH Cocktail event way back in May, in DC, and although, it sounds like is was a hit and splendid event…it’s not a regular thing.

And also upcoming is Start-up Weekend DC (I’m signed-up but on the waiting list)

I know there are probably quite a few groups I’m missing which are completely programming/engineering related.

Alright, so here is what I have in mind:

We start a group in the DMV which upholds a creed that is the basis, backbone, and mission of the Club. The creed basically entails a group dedication to support, encourage and grow all web x.x type companies, technology companies and spread the growth of all related matters. The Club is open the web entrepreneurs, technology driven individuals, programmers, engineers, and technology focused investors and everyone else who have a genuine interest in supporting the creed/mission.

Thought leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators in the DMV would lead the efforts and combine knowledge into a blog. The blog would be about the Club events, the members, entrepreneurial ways and the latest happening/technology...as well as, what's hot in the DMV as it relates to technology and business development.

The Club would host 2-3 events/gathering a month. Once a month the meeting would be for Entrepreneurs to vent their ideas and get feedback from the community or practice their pitch prior to seeking funding. The members would provide honest feedback, recommendations and support to assist each other. Once a month, we would also have have an educational session presented by the members covering a new technology or an entrepreneur skill/know-how. Finally, once a month we would try to host a guest speaker (successful entrepreneur, VC, PR...etc.)

The point of all this is to truly establish a way to support, grow and promote the Technology industry in our own backyard. It will take the involvement of all sides to make this happen (the entrepreneurs, techies, developers, investors and social media gurus).

I imagine a day when a web x.x or technology company is launch in the DMV and there is a buzz, commotion, and excitement around it. There is an Army of local bloggers promoting and supporting the launch, there’s a killer launch party with lots of media, and there is a sense of accomplishment…we might not be Silicon Valley, Seattle or NYC, but at least we aren’t the quiet mouse we used to be either!!