Up next Tuesday is Jason Mendleson giving a talk on Venture Capital, followed by Startup Drinks and BioBeers.

I shouldn’t mention that it’s been about 45 degrees outside everyday, which is practically shorts weather.  So for those of you sitting at home, in the dark, lonely, sad… blame yourself tubster!

Now, I’m truly not complaining.  I spent the entire Meetup laughing at the jokes and the wit (Denver smells like Fritos!).  I came pretty close to wetting my pants when HeyRich had his beer delivered that he ordered from the screen.  I know I got a dozen or so follows out of it, an enjoyable side effect of attempting wit publicly but failing miserably.  But I barely remember the presenters.  And what is the BDNT if not for the presenters?

So remind me, if/when I ever have the courage to get up there,  make sure the live feed is off.  (insert the booo hisss here).  Wait, I mean on.  Okay, okay, off.

ActionFeed.org is putting together an free iPhone app called iVolunteer that will show you volunteer and community involvement opportunities in your area.  It’s about mobilizing people to get their #$#@#$ off the couch and helping out, especially in a year when we’ll see many valuable non-profits go under from the rapid decline of donations.

So if you find yourself watching more than 30 minutes of TV on Tuesday nights, consider doing something more constructive and help us out.    No excuses!  (we thought of using that for the tag line, but seem to remember some t-shirt slogan somewhere…)

So the logical question here is, what’s phase 2?

I loved that episode of South Park, mostly because of all the startups I’ve talked with, most of them get a clueless look on their face when you bring up their go-to-market strategy.  What do you mean? they ask.  I’m going to do some Adwords Campaigns, maybe I’ll hire a sales guy when I can afford it. Prepare for a really hard and fast landing if that’s your strategy.  You need to think about vertical markets, horizontal markets, how to get your lists, what kind of marketing you’ll do (print, online, phone, direct, whatever) – its exhaustive.  While I don’t mean to scare you, I do wish more entrepreneurs would start thinking about it before launching companies.

So, to help you start thinking about it, CU’s Silicon Flatirons program is running a free seminar tonight and on the 27th to help give some insights on how to market your product and company.  Start thinking about Phase 2 BEFORE you execute Phase 1!  And of course its a good place to come network.

But the real question is who else is missing their underpants?  Ummm….no comment.

As I was sitting there watching Andrew Hyde mispell “startup” on his preso (procrastinator!), it got me thinking.  He’s a shy guy that gets out of his skin to put himself out there and be heard.  Next up was Eric Marcoullier of Gnip.  Ditto for him; a tad on the shy side, but gets out there and talks about what he’s doing.  Later, I got a tweet from a ‘follower’ I don’t know well saying he saw me there but didn’t want to interrupt a conversation I was having.

I’m the worst about this too, I’m not shy at ALL but am incredibly tongue tied when it comes to asking for things like an opinion, a job, a favor, some help, or even interrupting a conversation.  The great thing about this Meetup and Boulder in general is that people, for the most part, are welcoming, kind, and forgiving.  Most of the top tech leaders I know in Boulder will take a meeting if asked nicely.  So I write this more for my own head-pounding-against-the-wall reminder than for yours – but get out there!  Come introduce yourself.  Stand up in a room full of people and say what’s on your mind!  Whether it be needing a job, wanting feedback on your startup idea, or just to start networking and making new friends.  You’ll never get to where you want to be by just wishing things would happen around you.

So check out the events calendar, register for the next New Tech Meetup or Ignite Boulder, whatever it takes.  I promise we don’t bite (hard)  – (insert maniacal cackle).