Posts filed under 'Minneapolis'
April 10th, 2012
We are trying an experiment at the Minneapolis Bootstrapper Breakfast with a mobile app to facilitate introductions and view profiles of the attendees sitting around the table. The app has been developed by http://www.linkedin.com/pub/richard-perry/9/62/87b Richard Perry of http://iconnexus.com/ iConnexUS, a regular attendee at the breakfast. Kevin Spreng, the moderator for the Minneapolis breakfasts was interested in supporting an evaluation.
You can download the app at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bootstrappers-breakfast/id507768994?mt=8 if you would like to take part in the experiment between now and the July breakfast. We welcome any feedback on whether it improved the experience and/or the quality of the conversation.
Check it out at our next Minneapolis breakfast on Thursday, April 26. Signup at http://www.meetup.com/Bootstrappers-Breakfast-Minneapolis/
December 19th, 2011
The Office for Technology Commercialization invites you to learn more about emerging software technologies and startup opportunities from the University of Minnesota. Don’t miss a presentation from special guest, University of Minnesota Computer Science Professor, John Riedl, entitled “Motivating Active Participation in Social Media Networks.”
The showcase will feature technologies including:
Transportation
- Driver Assistive System: a portfolio of technologies that provide vehicle navigation assistance in low visibility conditions.
- High Precision Vehicle Navigation: a navigation system utilizing inexpensive inertial and image sensors for precise position and orientation in GPS-denied scenarios, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Autonomous Vehicles.
- Evacuation Route Planning Software: identifies and highlights the most efficient set of routes to minimize the transit time for emergency evacuations and large event traffic dispersions.
Medical Education & Simulation
- Novel curricula and simulation models to drive healthcare education from surgery to patient education.
- A system and method for virtual prototyping, design, verification, and manufacture of medical devices.
Technology in Education
- Two computer-based assessment technologies that provide educators with screening, progress monitoring and skills analysis tools for elementary education.
Thursday, January 19, 2012 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
University Enterprise Laboratories
Dorsey Ewald Conference Center, Atrium
1000 Westgate Drive, St. Paul, MN 55114
Register by January 12, seating is limited to 100 attendees.
RSVP here or call 612.624.0550
August 22nd, 2011
Justin Kaufenberg, CEO and Co-Founder of TST Media, will be joining us this Thursday (August 25th, 2011) to tell us about his entrepreneurial journey. TST just closed a round of financing with El Dorado Ventures but, as Justin said, “that was preceded by a couple of pretty gritty bootstrapping years.”
Link to news: http://tech.mn/news/2011/08/22/tst-media-el-dorado-ventures/
Venue: Wilde Roast Cafe – 65 Main St SE Minneapolis, MN
Time: 7.30 am – 9:00 am
Date: Thursday, August 25th,2011
July 24th, 2011
Matt Dornquast, Co-founder and CEO of Code 42 Software, will join us Thursday July 28th to share his experience building Code 42. From About Code 42
Starting out as a software development company in 2001, Code 42 Software is the creator of CrashPlan and CrashPlan PRO, the award-winning onsite, offsite and cloud backup solution for consumers and businesses.
Today we continue to deliver high-performance, easy-to-use hardware and software solutions that protect the world’s data.
This will be a great meeting.
Date: July 28th, 2011
Time: 7:30 -9 am
Venue: Wilde Roast Cafe 65 Main St SE, Minneapolis, MN
Hope to see you Thursday.
June 20th, 2011
Patrick Riley, co-founder and CEO of Modern Survey, will share his experiences on bootstrapping Modern Survey into one of fastest growing companies in the Twin Cities. Patrick has nearly twenty years of experience in enterprise technology space and is an expert in emerging web technology trends. His industry expertise has been tapped in the past by organization such as National Public Radio’s “Marketplace,” the Star Tribune and Talent Management Magazine.
Patrick’s leadership and vision have been on display for years in his many contributions to the arts and to his community. Patrick is an accomplished filmmaker and musician. He has played in rock & roll bands, worked as a writer and producer in the film and television industry in Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles and at the Sundance Filmmaker’s Lab, and has volunteered his time and energy to the Interact Center and Center for Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment. Patrick earned his BS degree in communication arts from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Date: Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 7:30 AM to 9AM
Location: Wilde Roast Cafe – 65 Main St SE Minneapolis, MN
Register: http://www.meetup.com/Bootstrappers-Breakfast-Minneapolis
April 25th, 2011
Join us for breakfast on April 28th at 7:30 am. Darren Cox will share his story of building CasTT . Darren bootstrapped CasTT until recently when he raised a small amount of angel funding. Darren’s brief presentation will be followed by our regular round table discussion.
December 7th, 2010
Matt Bauer, Founder of Pedal Brain LLC, will give a brief presentation regarding his experiences in financing and building Pedal Brain at the Thu-Dec-16 breakfast in Minneapolis.
Pedal Brain is an iPod and iPhone ANT+ accessory that manages your training log and acts as a coaching platform. Second, it’s a complete training log. Third, it’s a coaching platform. Every time you ride your performance data is uploaded in realtime to the web where coaches, teammates and friends can see it–if you allow them to. You don’t have to do a post workout data upload or print out your workouts before heading out–they are always available on your iPhone or iPod.
Join us 7:30am Thursday December 16, 2010 at Maria’s Cafe on 1113 East Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55404 for what should prove a very interesting conversation.
November 17th, 2010
Often we ask attendees to tell us one thing they learned from this morning’s bootstrapper’s breakfast. Here’s a couple … and please add your own!
“I am always surprised by how much I learn in two hours. The quality and enthusiasm of people that show up and the things I find out that I never knew about and how time flies.” – Dorai
“I was impressed with this group. People really took time to brainstorm around the issues I face in developing and marketing my local search web application. It’s one thing when people advise you to ‘focus’ – but its entirely different when they say ‘focus like this’. Great actionable advice. Great networking too” – Tom
“This was my first time to participate in a Bootstrappers Breakfast meeting and I was impressed with the quality of advice that was provided to the entrepreneurs. The challengers facing an entrepreneur were discussed and some great ideas were exchanged. What a great community for entrepreneurs.” – Herman
Want to read more — check out:
One Thing I Learned 2010 & 2009
One Thing I Learned 2008
October 17th, 2010
Winning awards can bring visibility to your business and help you win and retain clients. So begin by looking for award programs that recognizing excellence in your field. Here is one source to sign up for to receive an e-mail notification when Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal launch the nomination process for their awards.
http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/nomination/6291
Couple ideas on how to encourage your customers to vote for you:
- VOTE NOW button on your web site
- Add a VOTE NOW link to your email signature
- enewsletter or email blast to your client and customers
October 16th, 2010
With a provocative title “Saving Innovation” (print version) author Dan Haugen (see also danhaugen.com) asks “Can a DIY culture of meet-ups, competitions, and unconferences spark more start-ups in Minnesota?” He profiles
Some excerpts:
At Minnebar’s “unconferences,” there are no attendees or speakers, only participants. An unconference is to a conference what Wikipedia is to an encyclopedia. Instead of flying in authors or executives, Minnebar taps the knowledge of the crowd. Anyone can volunteer his or her expertise, and everyone collaborates ahead of time on line and votes to decide what makes the agenda. Sessions flow like conversations rather than lectures.
Part of the reason that this works is small session size that allows for conversation. Once there are more than 35-40 people in the room it’s very difficult for the meeting not to become a lecture interspersed with questions. The economics of a traditional conference tend to push for sessions larger than this, hosted by “big names” to draw a large crowd. Peer to peer events have to take place in less expensive locations: their economics are fundamentally different.
The availability of social media and other online tools is an enabling factor, bringing the cost of organizing and promoting events down to almost nothing. But these groups and programs still take time and energy to pull together. Edwards says coordinating Minnebar is “like planning a big wedding every half year.”
Clay Shirky’s “Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations” talks about what happens when you can assume that everyone in your team, group, or network has access to a new medium (e.g. e-mail, twitter, LinkedIn). It changes the group forming characteristics and lowers the cost of coordination significantly. For example, if you look at the original Homebrew Computer Club signup they had to rely on postal mail, telephone, flyers, and a pre-existing network of relationships.
Whether it’s Minnebar letting the audience lead sessions or TechdotMN soliciting a blog post from a local entrepreneur, the ethic in many of these groups is based on participants learning from each other, often in an informal setting. You’re more likely to find these gatherings in a neighborhood pub than a hotel conference room.
I think entrepreneurs benefit greatly from joining self-improvement groups to compare notes and gain a perspective on their current challenges. It’s true for public speaking, weight loss, running, managing addiction, and managing chronic conditions like diabetes. All of these benefit from a community of practice approach.
Kevin Spreng, the key volunteer who brought the Bootstrapper Breakfast to Minneapolis, is also quoted:
Kevin Spreng, a corporate finance attorney at Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi, started a local chapter of the national group Bootstrappers Breakfast out of similar concerns about entrepreneurial vitality in the state. The monthly meetings are for entrepreneurs who are trying to forgo the traditional path of seeking angel and venture capital investors. That’s a skill Spreng passionately believes entrepreneurs need to learn.
“I personally believe, despite my desires, that the venture capital industry is declining,” he says, “which means that venture capital is going to be less available to early-stage companies, and as that happens, either we’re going to start losing new businesses, or we’re going to need to find another way to help people build them.”
And the Bootstrappers Breakfast is profiled on page 6 of the article.
Bootstrappers Breakfast
What It Is: Monthly meet-up for entrepreneurs seeking alternatives to angel and venture funding
Founded: 2010 [In Minneapolis]
Founder: Kevin Spreng, partner, Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi
Motivation: Spreng says, “My personal mission in this space is to help create a new ecosystem that supports and encourages the growth and financing of companies in a new way.”
How It’s Supporting Innovation: Entrepreneurs compare experiences, find partners, and help each other brainstorm and work through strategies for growing a company, often without the benefit of significant angel or venture capital. The discussions have typically attracted between 5 and 20 people, mostly Web and software entrepreneurs. “There’s a core group that shows up, and then every month we have three or four new people,” Spreng says. “I’m very happy with the participation.”
Web Site: meetup.com/bootstrappers-breakfast-minneapolis/
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