7. Recent Chicago LSC Talks
• May: Mike Sands - BrightTag & Orbitz
• April - Marketing in the Lean Startup
• March - Ira Weiss - Hyde Park Angels
• February - George Deeb of iExplore
• January - Incubator Alumni
• December - Customer Acquisition and Retention
• November - Carl Ledbetter - Pelion Ventures
• November - Brant Cooper & Patrick Vlaskovits
• October - Troy Henikoff - Excelerate Labs & SurePayroll
• September - Mike Evans - GrubHub
8. The Five Minute
Lean Startup
An Introduction
Bernhard Kappe
Founder/CEO
Pathfinder Software
9. LSC Members
MigrationBox. Our co-organizer Eduardo Fernandez and his company took part
in TechStars New York, and will have some big announcements soon.
FutureSimple. Uzi Shmilovici and Gary Gebenlian. Closed a $1.1 million round in
February and are ramping up their office here in Chicago.
GrubWithUs. Eddy Lu and Daishin Sagano's social dining startup participated in
YCombinator Winter 2011 and just closed a $1.6 million first round from
Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital and others.
MidVentures - Geoff Domoracki and Jonathan Pasky's consulting firm pivoted
into creating and running conferences, helped by the fact that they're really good at
it. Techweek this July looks to be the biggest tech conference Chicago has ever
seen, and an exciting model to be taken to other places.
A Space Apart - Jason Goodrich's company, a location based social media
platform, was accepted in this summer's Excelerate Labs. We'll also be piloting the
17. You have to create that network,
not wait for it to happen.
Density and quality is what’s
important.
18.
19. Building Community
• Don’t Go it Alone
• Use Meetup
• Consistency - Meet Every Month
• Programming
• Reach Out and Help Out
• Market
20. Good Luck!
Now Get Out of the Building!
(Let me know if you need help)
bkappe@pathf.com
@bernhardkappe
linkedin.com/in/bernhardkappe
Notas do Editor
Bernhard Kappe, Pathfinder Software out of Chicago. Help Companies Build and Launch Software Products\n\n\n\n
So you guys have heard lot's of inspiring things from some very smart people here. \nBut it doesn't mean anything unless you actually go and do something about it. Most of you won't.\n\n\n
The problem is that it's hard. \nYou’re learning, by doing. When you start learning, you’re not that good at it. \nIt takes discipline. It’s easy to get discouraged.\n
Like minded folks. learning together. sharing lessons learned. \nBut also - make connections. Find customers, exposed to ideas, etc.\nHelp other people and get help. Folks to collaborate with. \nGet more visibility.\nYou’re network helps make you strong. \n
So we’re doing that in Chicago - The lean startup circle has over 1000 members\n
We meet regularly every month, usually get about 150 people at the meetup \nto hear from entrepreneurs, funders, and lean startup experts. and to network and share. \n
We get lots of new people, so I usually do a five minute lean startup intro at the beginning.\n
As a result: A lot more folks have gotten introduced to the ideas\nMore folks are applying this, and going out and talking to customers\nPeople are helping each other out, holding each other accountable. \nmore connections being made, more startups.\nCompanies have gotten paying clients, Into incubators, nice funding rounds, gotten significant traction. \nI think we’ve had something to do with that.\n
So that’s easy for you to say, it’s easier in a big city like Chicago.\nActually it’s not. \n3 years ago, the Chicago Startup scene was pretty moribund. \n\n\n
There was no support network. But that started to change a couple of years ago. Mainly because a lot of people (including me) got sick of whining about it\n and started doing something about it.\nThe ITA started acting less like a dry, dues collecting membership organization and more like a catalyst to connect people and provide resources to people looking to do something.\nMeetup made it a lot easier to organize and promote groups, and to see what's going on, even in other places … and to connect to people\nGroups like Chicago Ruby, Lean Startup, Bootstrappers Breakfast, Health 2.0. We all collaborate.\nStartup Digest put a spotlight on relevant events for Entrepreneurs, and folks like Technori and Flyover Geeks started reporting on the Chicago Startup Scene (unlike the local newspapers)\nMore recently, groups like Built in Chicago, a ning based social networking site - has gotten 3000 + people signed up. \nNetwork is getting denser, picking up momentum, getting more important to Chicago.\n\n
There was no support network. But that started to change a couple of years ago. Mainly because a lot of people (including me) got sick of whining about it\n and started doing something about it.\nThe ITA started acting less like a dry, dues collecting membership organization and more like a catalyst to connect people and provide resources to people looking to do something.\nMeetup made it a lot easier to organize and promote groups, and to see what's going on, even in other places … and to connect to people\nGroups like Chicago Ruby, Lean Startup, Bootstrappers Breakfast, Health 2.0. We all collaborate.\nStartup Digest put a spotlight on relevant events for Entrepreneurs, and folks like Technori and Flyover Geeks started reporting on the Chicago Startup Scene (unlike the local newspapers)\nMore recently, groups like Built in Chicago, a ning based social networking site - has gotten 3000 + people signed up. \nNetwork is getting denser, picking up momentum, getting more important to Chicago.\n\n
There was no support network. But that started to change a couple of years ago. Mainly because a lot of people (including me) got sick of whining about it\n and started doing something about it.\nThe ITA started acting less like a dry, dues collecting membership organization and more like a catalyst to connect people and provide resources to people looking to do something.\nMeetup made it a lot easier to organize and promote groups, and to see what's going on, even in other places … and to connect to people\nGroups like Chicago Ruby, Lean Startup, Bootstrappers Breakfast, Health 2.0. We all collaborate.\nStartup Digest put a spotlight on relevant events for Entrepreneurs, and folks like Technori and Flyover Geeks started reporting on the Chicago Startup Scene (unlike the local newspapers)\nMore recently, groups like Built in Chicago, a ning based social networking site - has gotten 3000 + people signed up. \nNetwork is getting denser, picking up momentum, getting more important to Chicago.\n\n
There was no support network. But that started to change a couple of years ago. Mainly because a lot of people (including me) got sick of whining about it\n and started doing something about it.\nThe ITA started acting less like a dry, dues collecting membership organization and more like a catalyst to connect people and provide resources to people looking to do something.\nMeetup made it a lot easier to organize and promote groups, and to see what's going on, even in other places … and to connect to people\nGroups like Chicago Ruby, Lean Startup, Bootstrappers Breakfast, Health 2.0. We all collaborate.\nStartup Digest put a spotlight on relevant events for Entrepreneurs, and folks like Technori and Flyover Geeks started reporting on the Chicago Startup Scene (unlike the local newspapers)\nMore recently, groups like Built in Chicago, a ning based social networking site - has gotten 3000 + people signed up. \nNetwork is getting denser, picking up momentum, getting more important to Chicago.\n\n
There was no support network. But that started to change a couple of years ago. Mainly because a lot of people (including me) got sick of whining about it\n and started doing something about it.\nThe ITA started acting less like a dry, dues collecting membership organization and more like a catalyst to connect people and provide resources to people looking to do something.\nMeetup made it a lot easier to organize and promote groups, and to see what's going on, even in other places … and to connect to people\nGroups like Chicago Ruby, Lean Startup, Bootstrappers Breakfast, Health 2.0. We all collaborate.\nStartup Digest put a spotlight on relevant events for Entrepreneurs, and folks like Technori and Flyover Geeks started reporting on the Chicago Startup Scene (unlike the local newspapers)\nMore recently, groups like Built in Chicago, a ning based social networking site - has gotten 3000 + people signed up. \nNetwork is getting denser, picking up momentum, getting more important to Chicago.\n\n
There was no support network. But that started to change a couple of years ago. Mainly because a lot of people (including me) got sick of whining about it\n and started doing something about it.\nThe ITA started acting less like a dry, dues collecting membership organization and more like a catalyst to connect people and provide resources to people looking to do something.\nMeetup made it a lot easier to organize and promote groups, and to see what's going on, even in other places … and to connect to people\nGroups like Chicago Ruby, Lean Startup, Bootstrappers Breakfast, Health 2.0. We all collaborate.\nStartup Digest put a spotlight on relevant events for Entrepreneurs, and folks like Technori and Flyover Geeks started reporting on the Chicago Startup Scene (unlike the local newspapers)\nMore recently, groups like Built in Chicago, a ning based social networking site - has gotten 3000 + people signed up. \nNetwork is getting denser, picking up momentum, getting more important to Chicago.\n\n
There was no support network. But that started to change a couple of years ago. Mainly because a lot of people (including me) got sick of whining about it\n and started doing something about it.\nThe ITA started acting less like a dry, dues collecting membership organization and more like a catalyst to connect people and provide resources to people looking to do something.\nMeetup made it a lot easier to organize and promote groups, and to see what's going on, even in other places … and to connect to people\nGroups like Chicago Ruby, Lean Startup, Bootstrappers Breakfast, Health 2.0. We all collaborate.\nStartup Digest put a spotlight on relevant events for Entrepreneurs, and folks like Technori and Flyover Geeks started reporting on the Chicago Startup Scene (unlike the local newspapers)\nMore recently, groups like Built in Chicago, a ning based social networking site - has gotten 3000 + people signed up. \nNetwork is getting denser, picking up momentum, getting more important to Chicago.\n\n
There was no support network. But that started to change a couple of years ago. Mainly because a lot of people (including me) got sick of whining about it\n and started doing something about it.\nThe ITA started acting less like a dry, dues collecting membership organization and more like a catalyst to connect people and provide resources to people looking to do something.\nMeetup made it a lot easier to organize and promote groups, and to see what's going on, even in other places … and to connect to people\nGroups like Chicago Ruby, Lean Startup, Bootstrappers Breakfast, Health 2.0. We all collaborate.\nStartup Digest put a spotlight on relevant events for Entrepreneurs, and folks like Technori and Flyover Geeks started reporting on the Chicago Startup Scene (unlike the local newspapers)\nMore recently, groups like Built in Chicago, a ning based social networking site - has gotten 3000 + people signed up. \nNetwork is getting denser, picking up momentum, getting more important to Chicago.\n\n
There was no support network. But that started to change a couple of years ago. Mainly because a lot of people (including me) got sick of whining about it\n and started doing something about it.\nThe ITA started acting less like a dry, dues collecting membership organization and more like a catalyst to connect people and provide resources to people looking to do something.\nMeetup made it a lot easier to organize and promote groups, and to see what's going on, even in other places … and to connect to people\nGroups like Chicago Ruby, Lean Startup, Bootstrappers Breakfast, Health 2.0. We all collaborate.\nStartup Digest put a spotlight on relevant events for Entrepreneurs, and folks like Technori and Flyover Geeks started reporting on the Chicago Startup Scene (unlike the local newspapers)\nMore recently, groups like Built in Chicago, a ning based social networking site - has gotten 3000 + people signed up. \nNetwork is getting denser, picking up momentum, getting more important to Chicago.\n\n
There was no support network. But that started to change a couple of years ago. Mainly because a lot of people (including me) got sick of whining about it\n and started doing something about it.\nThe ITA started acting less like a dry, dues collecting membership organization and more like a catalyst to connect people and provide resources to people looking to do something.\nMeetup made it a lot easier to organize and promote groups, and to see what's going on, even in other places … and to connect to people\nGroups like Chicago Ruby, Lean Startup, Bootstrappers Breakfast, Health 2.0. We all collaborate.\nStartup Digest put a spotlight on relevant events for Entrepreneurs, and folks like Technori and Flyover Geeks started reporting on the Chicago Startup Scene (unlike the local newspapers)\nMore recently, groups like Built in Chicago, a ning based social networking site - has gotten 3000 + people signed up. \nNetwork is getting denser, picking up momentum, getting more important to Chicago.\n\n
There was no support network. But that started to change a couple of years ago. Mainly because a lot of people (including me) got sick of whining about it\n and started doing something about it.\nThe ITA started acting less like a dry, dues collecting membership organization and more like a catalyst to connect people and provide resources to people looking to do something.\nMeetup made it a lot easier to organize and promote groups, and to see what's going on, even in other places … and to connect to people\nGroups like Chicago Ruby, Lean Startup, Bootstrappers Breakfast, Health 2.0. We all collaborate.\nStartup Digest put a spotlight on relevant events for Entrepreneurs, and folks like Technori and Flyover Geeks started reporting on the Chicago Startup Scene (unlike the local newspapers)\nMore recently, groups like Built in Chicago, a ning based social networking site - has gotten 3000 + people signed up. \nNetwork is getting denser, picking up momentum, getting more important to Chicago.\n\n
The point of this is: You're only as strong as your network. You have to create that network, not wait for it to happen.\nIt matters less how big the network is, more how dense it is. \n
So a couple that make a lot of sense are the Lean Startup Circle and Bootstrappers Breakfast. A local version of Startup Digest\n\n\n
As with anything - you need to make this ...\n
Once you’ve started up, and you want some advice - I’m happy to help.\n
