Fiona credits the amazing support of the Boulder startup community with giving her the experience and confidence to start Fidatto. She left her corporate life and spent about a year working with and attending events in the startup community (SnapImpact, Boulder Open Coffee Club, Girls in Tech, Boulder Denver New Tech, Ignite, Boco, Silicon Flatirons, and many more) and it felt like an entrepreneurial internship.  She learned so much that she and her business partners decided to tackle what  they saw as a significant  opportunity to improve the word of mouth experience for Facebook users.  The best part is that she is having more fun than expected.

Fidatto  went live in June 2010 and is growing slowly as planned. This is a bootstrap effort and Fiona is the only full-time partner today.  They want the tool to evolve in a manageable way and plan to introduce new features and functions as demand grows and the business becomes more mature.  The long term goal is for Fidatto to be a part of your profile, like your education or current city, so that Facebook can enrich communities by promoting local service providers.

Immediately, in many of our preliminary conversations to suss out the viability of our business, a few names who have been pivotal to creating the startup community I’m writing about came up which include Brad Feld, Andrew Hyde, and David Cohen to name just a few.  Through these contacts, we were quickly welcomed and assimilated into the diverse community of experienced entrepreneurs who approach business in a “pay it forward” sort of attitude. Each of the contacts we met with felt the need to help others as they had been helped early in their growing careers.  These sort of interactions happened multiple times a day and has resulted in success at a pace that would have otherwise taken many more months if not years to arrive at had the community not lent the support to Napkin Labs as it has.

For the support received to date, thanks goes out to all!  I look forward to the day that I too can pay it forward.

So what does all that mean.  If you are considering taking the entrepreneurial plunge or have just done so never hesitate to reach out.  Schedule as many meetings as you can to learn from those around you.  Don’t be afraid to reach out to those you’ve never met.  You will quickly find a welcome committee in response to your requests.

No longer should it be difficult to get time with VCs or advisors; remember it is you the entrepreneur that offers upside potential.  It’s VCs like Brad Feld who get this and know that with some advising they can help.  Thus programs like http://winterinthebunker.com/ where world class advising is offered for free and Entrepreneurs Unplugged where slice of life interviews are open to the public are popping up more and more across the entrepreneurial centers spread throughout the states.

The approach to entrepreneurism has been redefined and the barriers that have once prevented it have now dissolved due to the support of startups.  How do you support startups?

More about the author:  Warren Ng is the co-founder of Napkin Labs, a product innovation consultancy that utilizes a crowdsourced approach to innovation to enable breakthrough ideas to bubble up at the intersection of diverse thinking as consumers and experts in all fields.  For more information about the author or Napkin Labs visit www.napkinlabs.com or follow on Twitter: @warrenng or @napkinlabs.

For more info, follow @startupdrinksCO on Twitter and read the Startup Drinks Boulder blog.

See you Tuesday!

Almost a year ago, I attended a session at BarCamp Vancouver ’08 called something like, “How does BarCamp apply to the real world?”

It’s a great question.  In my experience, the talking we do at an event like BarCamp is merely a part of — maybe even the start of — ongoing conversations that bounce around town, generate excitement, and spark new important/awesome/hilarious endeavors.

For example: At BarCamp Boulder 3 last year, Andrew Hyde held a little brainstorming session about how to get CU involved in the local startup scene.  He was having all sorts of trouble finding the right person or group to talk with.  We all offered ideas, and I bet most of us recalled that conversation now and again over the winter.

Some of us, it would seem, kept thinking about it and working on it.  Here we are on the eve of BarCamp Boulder 4, not even a year later, and CU is just finishing up its  first-ever CU Entrepreneurship Week.  Governor Bill Ritter is scheduled to speak this afternoon on campus about the “Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.”

As everyone reading this blog knows, Boulder has received national attention of late as an example of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.  BarCamp is one of the great watering holes of that ecosystem: Smart, engaging people come out, have a drink together, let their ideas mingle, and leave with new energy and plans.

It’s worth pointing out that BarCamp isn’t just about starting businesses or writing code: It’s about us.  It’s about living here in Boulder (or Northern Colorado, or the Rocky Mountains, or whatever).  It’s about things that we care about and work on, and connecting with others who care about or work on them too.  So if you have a topic that needs some attention, or an idea that needs some scrutiny, or a magic act that needs some volunteers, bring it.

BarCamp Boulder 4 kicks off tonight at 6 p.m. with beers (provided by Techstars), conversation, and maybe — by the looks of things — some snowy adventures.  Tomorrow morning we’ll have bagels and coffee (provided by Hop Studios) and start the sessions at 10 a.m.  Everything happens at 1375 Walnut, lower level.  Admission is free.  Sign up here so we know how many bagels to buy.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

(Not sure what a BarCamp is?  Wikipedia knows.)

Feld-Weiser One-on-One: Feld on The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
@ Wittemeyer Courtroom, Wolf Law Building
April 15, 2009, 5:00pm
Register @: http://www.silicon-flatirons.org/events.php?id=611

April Entrepreneurs Unplugged: With Glenn Jones, Founder and Former CEO of Jones Intercable, Inc., and Chairman and Chancellor of Jones International University
@ Wittemeyer Courtroom, Wolf Law Building
April 15, 2009, 6:00pm
Register @: http://www.silicon-flatirons.org/events.php?id=480

Over the past year I’ve been increasingly involved in Boulder’s startup goodness. From CU organizations like the ELC and the Deming Center to the mandatory monthly meet-ups and presentations. The ability and interest of the community makes an incredible resource for turning a project into a business – but that’s possible because of the great social aspect of it.

I spent a good portion of last summer in Pasadena [working and] competing in the ‘friend’ game where you earned a point every time you met a new person. As approachable as people are here it’s harder to rack up a high score because it’s so easy to get lost in conversation about all of the exciting projects going on.  Even scoring a few points at each meet-up will leave you networked to a pretty bright crowd quickly.

Last night after an inspiring talk by Josh Fraser [eventvue] at DIV, a friend brought up an idea for a new project that just made complete sense to me. Talking through it we knew exactly what resources to rely on and where to go for help to launch the project as our next business. All from or through the great folks we’ve networked with at Boulder’s events it seemed so straightforward.

This isn’t the first startup that either of us our planning to launch as CU students, but it is the first that we’ll have launched as the minority of networked CU students. This reminded me of why we launched CU’s web development club DIV in the first place: To network students into Boulder’s wonderful world of web development. With all of CU’s [non hallucinogenic inspired] great ideas there hasn’t been a clear bridge to launching a product on the web until recently. We’re going to keep bringing in inspiring speakers to our events along with hack sessions to give students the bridge they need into development and Boulder’s tech community. Stay tuned for more from CU.

Boulder, I’m Lookin’ and I’m Likin’

Anyone I’ve talked to lately knows I’ve been rather obsessed with the Boulder (Colorado) tech scene, even revamping my REI-chic/enviro-hipster garb for the occasion. I voraciously started subscribing to the blogs and Twitter feeds of various tech enthusiasts like Andrew Hyde, a driving force behind rad initiatives like Startup Weekend and Techstars.org, Robert Reich who founded OneRiot, Micah Baldwin who runs business development for Lijit Networks and has a sweet blog and of course there’s Brad Feld, who planted the seeds that started it all. I even watched their live broadcast of Ignite Boulder 3 this last week. Yeah, I really did.

What is it about the Boulder scene that makes me yearn so to be a part of it? My curiosity-turned-fascination-turned-safe-distance (I swear)-obsession was probably fueled by the fact that I can’t be part of it. My location prevents it and they just don’t seem interested in pursuing me as a remote member of their clan, though, granted, no overt outreach was established from my end. Following them on Twitter started out cool because I got a window into their mountainous world, but turned into a curse when they never seemed to want to reach (or follow) back. OK, no big deal. The initial pain of rejection led me to conduct an investigation on the essence of Boulder’s “cool”. Furthermore, I wanted to bring to light why we should all pay attention to Boulder now because – and even Sarah Lacy was astonished by this – Boulder won’t tell us why it’s so rad.

Let’s take a quick look at Boulder itself – not the tech scene – just Boulder.

- College town – Colorado University’s there.
- We know that there are a lot of bikes in Boulder
- There’s natural beauty like you wouldn’t believe
- Apparently the US Curling Olympic trials are there this year, being held this week, I’ve been told

Now let’s think Tech:

- Startup Town
- The afore-mentioned forward thinkers
- The sweet green tech innovations happening there
- In Boulder, you can be a geek AND athletic
- Most of their tech events are beer-centric vs. cocktails– SO cool
- They are geographically flanked by the Rockies on one side and the Mississippi on the other, trapped from the two traditional coastal sources of technological progress and yet they continue to generate technology and media innovation at an astounding and intriguing rate.

But Silicon Valley’s got plenty of mojo, right? Developers and entrepreneurs flock to the Bay Area because they have the next big thing that’s going to take “it” to the next level, going to change the world! So what differentiates Boulder? Here it is: COMMUNITY. There is an electric current that runs through Boulder that is powered by the intense support system that can only exist in a tight-knit community. That’s what TechStars.org IS. It’s for the mentoring and guiding (and funding) of sweet startups. I don’t know how you couldn’t succeed with that kind of backing.

Community must play a huge role in the success and acceleration of the startups and even the stewing of brilliant ideas among the mountains of Colorado. Looking through their blogs, seeing their Twitter activity, even being friends with just one of them on Facebook (and happening to peruse their profile with envy on a weekly basis), you understand the respect and friendship that is the lifeblood of the innovation, creativity and savvy that flows in that town. It’s really palpable if you watch some of the videos of their tech events– I mean, they have inside jokes! Yes, I may have spent an afternoon watching videos of Boulder tech meetups. Not a big deal.

Commradery, though, brings up another factor (and huge asset0 lending to their tight-knit environment: They’re still a small city. The Bay Area could never attain that level of intimacy. People come to The Bay Area to build great businesses that they can ultimately sell to go live in Boulder or, if it comes to it, run from Boulder (or somewhere of the like, you get it). People in Boulder love Boulder and never want to leave Boulder.

As a native Oregonian, my obsession with Boulder’s tech scene might be misplaced (sorry, Portland), but I can’t help feeling a little jealous of this embracing socio-professional (petty sure it’s a real term) environment. It’s not even the technology that really gets to me. It’s the people who make up this community – bloggers, entrepreneurs, copywriters, software engineers, consultants, and developers – that love what they do and want to see each other succeed.

Tell me where that community/clique/coven (?) is in the Bay Area and I’m there. Until then, I’m waiting on the edge of my seat for the next installment of “Where the Fun’s At“.

This is a community effort. Swing by and help us make it easy to make a difference.

Van Heyst Group
719 Walnut St., Boulder, CO  [map]