It’s an exciting time in the Austin startup community. A lot of companies are deservedly getting buzz and/or funding, including Smooth-Stone, Riptano, and, ahem, Infochimps. A lot of these teams include folks who have been active in the Austin startup community for a while. There are also a number of new faces: transplants such as Susan Strausberg, and some who have repatriated such as Noah Kagan. I am excited to see what some experienced CEOs do next, such as Ed Roman and Gary Cowsert. Jason Cohen recently “grabbed his balls” and launched WP Engine. Carla Thompson and her Sharp Skirt meet ups prove that balls are not necessary.
Many new startups are coming out of UT through Rob Adam’s class in the MBA program, such as Ordoro, and 3 day startup, such as FamiGo. Some of the increased startup activity is probably a product of UT’s marketing spend on encouraging entrepreneurship. UT has some great resources available to entreprenuers such as Gary Hoover, the school’s first EIR, and Texas Venture Labs.
Meanwhile, downtown, Damon Clinkscales has picked up what Bryan Jones and I started a few years ago, OpenCoffee Club. There is no shortage of startup events. There are some rumblings that there might even be too many. I don’t share that sentiment. Choice is good. Attend what you want.
As far as the “ditch the valley for the hills” thing goes, I was bummed when CheapTweet left for the bay area, but I’m happy for them. You’re kidding yourself if you think the opportunities in Austin are equivalent to those in the bay area. *Especially if you’re raising early stage institutional financing. That being said, it’s not Austin’s fault you can’t raise capital. Do you really have a venture backable business and team? It’s OK if you don’t. That’s what revenues are for.
I am proud of the community that I’ve now been a part of for the better part of 5 years, and challenge my colleagues to dream big and make Austin even better. Yes, we need some more exits, but it’s no small feat that we’ve had a handful of companies go public here recently. IPOs are great for Austin, even if they aren’t huge wins for their founders or investors. They create more jobs and more startups. Your startup probably isn’t next (unless you’re Bazaarvoice or Homeaway) but if you stop blaming Austin and start working harder, you might make it happen some day. I’m rooting for you.
