Seattle Startup Scene

Yesterday I got to meet with three different local startups as well as attend Ignite Seattle. The meetings were either with folks I knew from working together in the past or were setup through a mutual friend. They were all informational in nature – basically: hey, what are you doing/here’s what I’m doing. What I found in each case was really nice folks who were eager to share their plans, eager to listen to mine, and contemplating ways we could help each other.

Ignite was kind of a geek night out with a heavy emphasis on folks from the Seattle startup community (though there were many people employed by the local biggies as well). The focus here was fun ways for people to learn about what each other is doing or share common interests. Again everyone was very nice, and super positive.

I think two things are going on here. The first is a general movement among the subculture of people who love the internet, technology, and what it can do for people. These are people who are idealistic, creative, technical, and in many cases business-oriented (or maybe a better way to say it is “accomplishment-oriented”). The combination is slightly counter-intuitive but interesting and mostly down-to-earth. And I can only describe that there was an energy in the room that was unlike anything I’ve felt in awhile. Almost an air of possibility. The second thing I noticed is that I suspect that while there are pockets of folks like this in most places on the planet, Seattle has a seemingly unique mix. Silicon Valley has way more folks who fit into this mentality than Seattle does, but Seattle bests mosts other cities in the country I bet. So there’s a critical mass and vitality about the tech culture in Seattle, but there’s an intimacy as well because it’s not so large as to be overwhelming. I bet Austin, New York, and maybe Boston are like this too.

All in all it was a nice feeling knowing there are so many local folks who think alike, are positive about making contributions, and are friendly and open. For an example here’s the Darfur Wall. Important cause. Good realization. I hope it makes a difference.

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