I am really excited about Bootstrap Maryland. When Jared Goralnick first asked me to be a part of it I hadn’t even realized he had been working on such an interesting and important event. I’ve always thought an event that brought together similar entrepreneurs who have experience building businesses outside of the most common routes, (ie. raise friend and family money, raise angel investment, raise VC, etc) would be extremely valuable to the next generation of entrepreneurs. Our region is ripe with talent, ideas, and products that are already in “the lab” and just waiting to officially “launch.”
I look forward to sharing my story and advice around building businesses with little to no funding at all. It certainly isn’t easy, but it can be done with, as Jared states “drive, brains and little creativity.” Details on the event are below, or you can click here. If you are thinking of starting a company, or already are out of the gate and are looking for some additional inspiration. Hope to see you there on May 2nd.
Bootstrap Maryland brings together young entrepreneurs and the necessary tools for running a lean and successful technology business.
At the Bootstrap Maryland Conference on May 2, 2009 you will learn how to turn your web or technology idea into a business. The presentations will cover topics such as:
* What you need (and don’t need) to get your business off the ground.
* Most products fail due to lack of marketing, not failed technology. How to get the word out inexpensively with social media, events, and creative PR
* The most relevant technologies people are using today, and ways to get the technology right the first time
* Stories, lessons learned, and discussions from young people who have built successful businesses
Blue Sky Factory Blog
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Thanks for writing about this, Greg! I can't wait to work together with you on it! I really hope that all of this does the help the community : ). Also, thanks for the interview this past week, your show rocked!
I think it super important to expose the next generation of entrepreneurs to the concept of bootstrapping and building a business without a lot of resources (ie CASH!). I think this is going to be GREAT for the community. Thanks again for organizing it!
Good luck with Bootstrap Maryland! You might find it interesting that BusinessWeek recently named Columbia the best city in Maryland to start a business:
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/03/0327_smal…
They use ZoomProspector data to determine this list– here is the Columbia profile page on ZoomProspector:
http://www.zoomprospector.com/CommunityDetail.asp…
Dang I just missed this! Looks super interesting – I am looking for networking groups in the area.
@ZoomProspector – awesome links, thanks!
Wow, sounds like this was a great opportunity/event. Wish I had come across it sooner.