Creating Community
Credit: Malone & Co. - Featuring Malone & Co. Crew at Big Omaha 2011
I’ve found myself spending quite a bit of time over the last few months taking a deeper look at some of the key components of building a community and harnessing the power of a coordinated effort towards growing an ecosystem.
There’s nothing like the comforting sight of one’s own home after a long, difficult day.
(Dwell)
Life is too short to be a boring company.
Everything’s impossible until somebody does it.
- Bruce Wayne
Even superheroes need lap-time, but he was still thankful for the cover of ferns.
(Photo: Alexi Hobbs; Dwell)
When in doubt, just ship.
via Marc
Who Inspires You?
A simple question, and I’ve received some really insightful answers thus far. I asked because one of the things that inspires me is the human spirit and energy to keep innovating and pushing the envelope. I wanted to share a few of the response thus far, and encourage you to leave a comment around who inspires YOU…
Big Omaha, the trailer.
Path: Millions of Shared Moments
Big news coming from Dave Morin & the team at Path:
At Path, we’re focused on helping close friends and family deepen their relationships with each other. At the root of happiness in relationships is shared experience.
It was our hope in the beginning that our experiments around more private sharing and more personal network models would enable…
Midwest Predicted To Be Fastest Growing Venture Market In 2011
One surprise investment story of 2010 has been the rebound in Midwest venture. Some expect 2011 to be better.
Many regions of the country still struggle to top weakened 2009 investment totals, Silicon Valley included. But Midwest venture, known for its health care focus and now its fledgling commitment to cleantech, passed the mark with its third quarter numbers.
As of September, the region’s GPs placed $818 million with emerging companies, comfortably above the $778 million of 2009. With a steady fourth quarter, the year could near the 2008 total of $1.27 billion.
Silicon Valley may have no such luck. Through the first three quarters of the year, valley VCs put $6.37 billion into startups. They will need a gargantuan fourth quarter to reach the $10.9 billion of 2008.
Given this backdrop, local leaders are encouraged. Ray Leach, the chief executive of JumpStart Inc., a Cleveland based organization investing in and nurturing startups, sees the region as the nation’s quickest growing market next year.
“With portions of the Great Lakes region seeing investment dollars doubling or even tripling this year over last, the Midwest will emerge in 2011 as the fastest-growing US market for VC due to the capital efficiency of the companies, the transformative biomedical and cleantech technologies, and the thriving pipeline of early-stage companies that are ready for growth capital,” he (pictured) predicted in an e-mail.
Signs suggest he could be correct. Ohio, for instance, saw significant momentum build through 2010, with second quarter investing up and the third quarter total spiking higher to $73 million. Michigan also was relatively resilient, despite a third quarter dip, according to data from the National Venture Capital Association, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Thomson Reuters, the publisher of this blog.
Part of the explanation may be the scarcity of capital. Venture investor Koleman Karleski, a managing director at Chrysalis Ventures, sees it this way:
“In 2011, I believe the Midwest and South will continue to be excellent regions for entrepreneurs to build scalable, profitable businesses. This geography is under-ventured, but its ecosystems spawn and support the kinds of assets you need to build successful businesses, including a large, tenacious entrepreneurial talent pool, exceptional colleges and universities, and a host of established large companies whose challenges become opportunities for the next generation of venture backed companies.”
As 2010 becomes 2011, the Midwest will be a place to watch. But like elsewhere, it will require a steady improvement in the nation’s economy, building consumer confidence and a constructive relationship between opposing camps in Washington.
