The Startup Nights Story and the Future of the Startup Nights Organization
Last Thursday night, December 2nd, was not your average Thursday night in LA. Not just because it was yet another sold-out Startup Nights, but because it was the 6th LA Startup Nights, and was attended by some of LA’s best in the tech space, as well as, marked a turning point for Startup Nights.
We were fortunate enough to have Efren Toscano of TechZulu in the house to take a few pictures, shoot some video and hang out for the evening. Efren asked if I’d be interested in doing a quick post and thought it would be a great opportunity to provide an overview of Startup Nights, along with some exciting announcements.
With nearly 400 “ambitious nocturnal” members of the Startup Nights LA meetup group, Startup Nights rolled out in Portland last Friday night, and also has Startup Nights Dallas coming up shortly. Last October at the Startup Summit in Kansas City, hosted by Kauffman Foundation, Startup Nights was included in the closing presentation, and introduced to Startup Weekend and Startup Digest organizers from around the world.
Brief background on Startup Nights – http://startupnights.org / Twitter @startupnights
Startup Nights was conceived on a warm, sunny Santa Monica afternoon, during the Startup Weekend LA of April 2010. Startup Nights came about as a “startup” idea during the weekend, and pitched as “a recurring event that would bring together those working on a startup or looking to join one, along with the incredible startup energy”, the goal being to create the right mix of people in one room, together, building businesses. After tossing the idea with Marc Nager, Director of Startup Weekend, Avesta and Cameron Rasouli, founders of Coloft – the idea was narrowed down and Startup Nights was born.
Startup Nights is a meetup group that hosts recurring monthly events to support early-stage (from idea) to funded, developing businesses. Startup Nights provides a startup support network for entrepreneurs and those looking to work on or join a startup. Evenings are focused on productivity where things get done. Startup Nights also aims to connect co-founders and key employees around the country, and provide a platform to follow and track SN companies, giving angel investors and VC’s insight into what’s going on in their own backyard.
Membership of the meetup group is moderated to only include budding and/or established entrepreneurs, developers, designers, and business and marketing folks. Events are offered on a first-come-first-serve basis to about 35 attendees and tickets generally sell out quite fast.
Events can be considered 1/3 networking, 1/3 co-working, and 1/3 product feedback and demos. Focus of the evening is placed on being a productive working session and not another networking event. Food and drinks are provided and guests are asked to introduce themselves to the group by mentioning what startup it is they’re working on, what they may need help with or are looking for (such as a co-founder or dev lead) and if there’s anything specific they can offer or help others with. A “demo room” is provided to give companies the opportunity to give 5 minute product demos, followed by Q&A sessions. Last Thursday’s demos included those from Deena Varshavskaya of Wanelo.com, Dan Gould of Namesake.com, along with a quick Ming.ly demo I presented.
Those participating in upcoming Startup Weekend events, or having just attended a Startup Weekend, are invited to join Startup Nights to work on their pitch, presentation or get other forms of help, such as: writing code, design, social media, marketing, SEO advice, or maybe just input on their pitch deck.
If you’re unfamiliar with Startup Weekend (http://startupweekend.org), SUW was founded in 2007, and runs events in close to 100 cities around the world. Over 15,000 entrepreneurs have participated and launched 100’s of businesses. Multiple winning SUW companies have been funded, and some acquired. SUW most recently received a grant from the Kauffman Foundation allowing the organization to better handle its rapid expansion and develop the necessary infrastructure. Organizers from around the world also attended the first Startup Summit (#SOSummit) in Kansas City to connect and map out the future of Startup Weekend and Startup Digest.
The Startup Weekend experience creates entrepreneurs and gives individuals the opportunity to taste the startup life over the course of 3 days without taking any risks … like quitting your job. Attendees work together building a business throughout the weekend, allowing them to step out of their comfort zone and try new things.
Startup Weekend LA’s next event is scheduled for February, 18-20th, at Coloft in Santa Monica – visit http://la.startupweekend.org to reserve your space. Space is limited and tickets do sell out.
Startup Nights is extremely thankful for its many supporters. It would not be a successful event without these people, its members and generous sponsors. Special thanks to Dan Wu at Fortis General Counsel, Originate Labs, Chase, Nerdy Shirts and Coloft.
Startup Nights directors and organizers include: Tyler Koblasa, Avesta Rasouli, Cameron Kashani, Chris Dumler and William Barnes. Blake Burris of Cohabitat and Ryan Roberts, aka @StartupLawyer, head Startup Nights Dallas, along with Portland Startup Nights being run by Startup Weekend organizer, Thubten Comerford.
Visit StartupNights.org and follow @startupnights for upcoming dates and locations.
