Graeme Thickins on Tech

Reflections & analysis about innovation, technology, startups, investing, healthcare, and more .... with a focus on Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes. Blogging continuously since 2005.

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‘MinneDemo 2’ Was One Hot Ticket!

December 13, 2006 / / 1 Comment

Hot, as in…could you find a parking place? Then could you get in the door? And could you believe the freaking great weather outside? For those of you not in Minnesota, we’ve been basking in 45-50 degree temps of late, haven’t seen a snowfall yet (and it’s mid-December!), and we actually had a light rain/mist goin’ on outside Monday evening for this second MinneDemo event. I had to pinch myself to believe I wasn’t in San Francisco! And the scene, a high-energy gathering of Internet entrepreneurs and developers, made it even more reminiscent of the City by the Bay, back in days of….well, you know.

Minnedemologo200w

But, hell no, this is no bubble! Web 2.0 is different, folks. And this group is great evidence of that. It proves that smart developers can live and work anywhere they want….even in now-subtropical Minnesota [if this is global warming, bring it on, baby!]. And the new, open tools and platforms of the Web 2.0 era let them build their stuff quickly while they stay right where they prefer to live. It’s hard convincing Minnesota folks to leave. Something about quality of life, snow (hah!), lakes, fishing, hunting, the local music scene, the culture, and, doggone it…“Minnesota Nice” in general.

What’s interesting, too, about this new breed of startups is that they don’t need much to bootstrap and get their businesses going and up on the Web. Rapid development platforms like Ruby On Rails help a lot in that regard [and I’m hearing we have an excellent community of those developers here]. The hope of these entrepreneurs, of course, is that word will spread “virally” about their new sites…kind of the comeback of the age-old ‘build-a-better-mousetrap’ concept. But they’re smart enough to realize they don’t need to be hunting down big VC dollars for these businesses — they wouldn’t know what to do with such money, anyway. They understand, however, that angel funding is a good fit for their needs. [And, yes, there were definitely some angels present! Of course, not a single VC showed, but my radar is picking up that this will change soon.] Think of our local Web 2.0 phenomenon as a kind of giant caldron of experimentation: build ’em fast and get ’em up on the Web! Then, hey, if people like ’em, they just might catch on and turn into real businesses….

Minnedemo1

[Note: The event, by the way, was held at at the Arcadia Cafe at Franklin and Nicollet. Photos shown are courtesy of Minneapolis’ own Jamie Thingelstad, VP/CTO of Dow Jones Online. He and his crew run all the awesome sites of this global leader from right here! Yes, 110 people downtown, in the original MarketWatch offices. Jamie is also affiliated with one of the sponsors, Road Sign Math. The photos, in order, are of the bar, organizer-extraordinaire Dan Grigsby, the demo room, and Mike O’Connor getting ready to pitch.]

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Net-net: anybody who’s anybody in the local developer community was at this schmoozefest, either to demo their wares (there were six companies/projects pitching), watch their peers demo, or just catch up with their fellow developer friends, advisors, potential employees/employers, look for contract talent, angel connections, etc, etc…. I saw and heard all that and more. I was in awe being around so many smart people. We have one really, really great developer community here, folks! Some of my best friends are developers, and I’m very happy to say that. Get to know ’em. This is where this state’s next generation of company-building and wealth generation will come from!

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So, who’s behind organizing this MinneDemo thing? It rose up out of a grass-roots, open-source movement called BarCamp, which is actually (and fittingly) a global phenomenon. Three local developers named Dan Grigsby, Luke Franci, and Ben Edwards decided about a year ago that our local community could be a great “chapter” if someone would just get it started. Well, they seized the moment! …and actually have put in a ton of work into throwing the three events so far. [BarCamp MN and then two MinneDemos.] We salute you guys! And they had no problem finding sponsors — in fact, I hear their list is almost over-subscribed already. For this event, the sponsors were ipHouse, Mosquito Mole Multiworks, Kinetic Data, Road Sign Math, and New Counsel. [Thanks, guys! Smart marketing dollars invested.]

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This second MinneDemo easily drew 180 people, which was double the first one! [That was held at a smaller venue in Uptown in September.] Not only was this one a happening, fun networking event, there was a lot of stimulating discussion going on Monday night — I can attest. As well as seeing a lot of old friends, developers and others alike — Tom Kieffer, Rob Metcalf, Jeff Pester, Mike O’Connor, John Roberts, Derek Peterson, Tom VonKuster, and several more — I met some really interesting new friends, including [the ones I got cards from, at least]: Ben Moore of Curbly (great tagline this social network has: “Love Where You Live”)….Dan Carroll of imp (that stands for “Intelligent Media Platform” and, interestingly, it’s a company that sort of grew out of the Utne Reader)….John Sandberg of Kinetic Data (one of the sponsors linked above)….and Katharine Grayson, the new technology beat reporter for our local weekly The Business Journal. She was nice enough to bring along a photographer, after I alerted their managing editor, Mark Reilly, to the event. [Note: Buy next week’s issue — lots more about our local tech community there.]

So, you get the point by now: the Minnesota Internet startup and business community is a-hummin’!! I know you’ll be hearing more from many people in this group. And I’ll continue bringing as much of it to you as I can…

Nothin’ “mini” about Minne-sota!

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It’s Pah-ty Time!

December 7, 2006 / / 0 Comments

That’s not only my favorite line from my favorite cut of Big Audio Dynamite, but it’s my favorite call to action at this time of year! And here, friends, are three of the coolest places to be in Minneapolis in the next week. The first, unfortunately, is by invitation only…a customer-appreciation kinda gig for the great design/UI firm, FactorUE, tomorrow night, Friday, December 8. But maybe you know someone who can get you in….or just show up at the Foundation Nightclub downtown about the time it’s wrapping up at 9:00, when things will continue raging, I’m sure. The cool thing is that two of FactorUE’s designers are DJs, too!

Factorueevite

The second local event I’ll be catching, on Monday the 11th, is the holiday gathering of our great local community of developers and entrepreneurs, playfully called MinneDemo. [It’s the local chapter of a loosely affiliated global network called Bar Camp.] Go onto that MinneDemo link (it’s a wiki page) and sign up if you’d like to attend — unless the list has already gone beyond the capacity of the larger club where it’s being held this time. Dan Grigsby and friends have done a great job organizing and planning these gigs, which are catching on like wildfire. Actually, this one is half-serious, too — a separate room is devoted to a program of five or so brief demos by aspiring entrepreneurs or new startups.

Minnedemoholiday

The third event on my agenda is next Wednesday the 13th — the annual holiday bash of the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association, which has a reputation for being a really fun party. This year, it’s at the brand-new locale of the Guthrie Theater, so I thought I’d check it out, and catch up with some old friends. It’s free for members or $20 for non-members, and you can read more about it and register right here.

Mimaparty

Okay, I must be getting to sound more and more like the Michael Arrington of Minnesota here 🙂 …. [except I don’t throw parties at my own house]. But, if you’re a player in our local IT/Internet/Web 2.0 community, you should be showing up at one of these events, at least! I’m looking forward to all of ’em. See ya there….

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More Good News re: Minnesota Startups

December 5, 2006 / / 0 Comments

Another of our local startups has announced a $5-million early-stage funding. The Mpls/St. Paul Business Journal published this article online on December 1 (may require subscription to their print edition–booo!), about Swarmcast receiving an initial round of funding from Japanese VC firms. Why Japan, you might ask? Well, because there’s even higher interest in the company’s technology for downloading HD-quality video in that country than in the U.S., which is behind Japan in broadband technology and adoption.

I’d actually known about this funding for close to a year — which would make it the worst-kept secret in the Minnesota startup community. But I chose way back not to break any news about it, deferring to my friends at the company, who had some reason for delaying the announcement. Perhaps their thinking was they were way out in front of the market, anyway, so why not let it catch up a bit? Or maybe they picked up on the fact that BitTorrent was announcing its own financing on the same day — this one for $20 million — and decided they should synch up with that, for better PR value or something. [Note: regarding BitTorrent, the Business Journal article states that the swarming technology developed by SwarmCast’s predecessor company, Onion Networks, “has since been modified and used by popular peer-to-peer file-sharing company BitTorrent,” but that “the product Swarmcast now plans to launch is based on entirely new technology.”]

Swarmcastsiteclip

Whatever, this is more great news for Minnesota’s startup community! It proves again that money finds us, and that such fundings don’t always mean startups have to move to either coast to get their growth-fueling booty. [You know I’ve been chronicling the determination of another startup, Flyspy, to also disprove this commonly held theory.]

SwarmCast’s funding comes on top of two other $5-million+ Series A rounds for MN companies, which were announced almost back-to-back in the early summer: Jumpnode and HotGigs. I blogged about both companies here. Which makes me think…let’s see, that means at least three pretty big deals were brewing as much as a year ago (such financings typically are in the works for months before they’re announced). And — with the vibrancy of the tech sector having picked up markedly all year — just what all else may now be going on behind the scenes here locally as far as renewed venture financing interest in Minnesota’s Internet and IT startups?

That, my friends, is where a large part of my focus will continue to be. In fact, I’m already onto one such story you will find very interesting — another positive sign that the climate is indeed getting better. [Okay, I’m not talking about our weather! 🙂 …]

In the meantime, congratulations to my friend (and former client) Justin Chapweske, founder of locally grown SwarmCast, for making Minnesota proud. Justin, SwarmCast rocks!

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Travel 2.0 Conference – The Producer Speaks

December 3, 2006 / / 0 Comments

As a followup to my blog coverage of the “Travel 2.0” conference, held a couple of weeks ago in Hollywood, I conducted a brief email interview with the host and primary moderator of the event, Philip Wolf. He’s the president and CEO of PhoCusWright Inc., the producers of this major annual event for executives in the travel industry, now in its thirteen year. PhoCusWright is an independent travel, tourism, and hospitality research firm specializing in consumer, business, and competitive intelligence. It conducts and publishes primary work focused on strategic assessment and segment forecasting, and it offers a range of custom research and strategic consulting services, in addition to producing its annual series of high-profile executive conferences. PhoCusWright has clients on six continents.

TECH~SURF~BLOG: Phil, what was your overall assessment of this year’s executive conference?

WOLF: I’m sure this year’s event was the best ever. We had record attendance and have received overwhelmingly positive feedback. The buzz was definitely palpable in Hollywood. The theme, “Travel 2.0 Confronts the Establishment,” was incredibly important to those in attendance, and the timing was perfect to discuss this subject. This is the most exciting time since the online travel wave hit — it is really the next wave, though not as big. The dialog on stage was very strategic. PhoCusWright’s moderators asked great questions, and didn’t let go without real answers. The caliber of our audience was incredible — senior level executives. Off-stage, the seeds were planted for millions of dollars of deals.

TECH~SURF~BLOG: What was the most surprising development?

WOLF: The conference was a prototype of 2.0 at work — not just about 2.0. It was wonderful to see how successful it was with attendees distributed throughout the conference area. The headsets worked incredibly well, and it was great to see how “tuned in” everyone was with them — whether they were in the cafĂ© area, the exhibitor area, or outside on the terrace, they were as involved as those sitting in the theater.

TECH~SURF~BLOG: Generally speaking, how is the industry reacting to the whole “Travel 2.0” concept, based on your feedback so far from attendees? Do they get it? Do they buy it?

WOLF: Most people attending The Executive Conference got it; some hate it. I’m pretty sure it’s going to stick.

TECH~SURF~BLOG: What moves can we expect to see from some of the Travel 1.0 players in the next year? How about the Travel 1.5 metasearch players — how will Travel 2.0 affect them? Any predictions based on what you heard or observed at the conference?

WOLF: Prediction: This time next year, those expressions won’t be in play. Most of the five tenets I mentioned in the opening monologue will be “the norm” in the business world. For example, mapping was a special thing a couple of years ago; today, everyone’s got it. [Ed.: The tenets that define Travel 2.0 according to Wolf are these: transparency, collaboration, better basics, speed, and predictability. You can read his opening speech here.]

TECH~SURF~BLOG: What about the subject of content in the whole Web 2.0 travel mix, and the role of professional vs. user-generated content? How important is content, what kind of impact will it have, and which firms do you think best undertand what’s going on here, or how best to handle content on their sites?

WOLF: There’s going to be a blending of different types of content — user-generated, vertical, professional, etc. The blending will be across search, shopping, and sharing, and their aspects will start to blur. Whether content is labeled “user-generated” or “professional” won’t matter over time. What matters is what was most helpful to the customer.

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Thanks, Phil. I thought it was a very worthwhile event, and enjoyed blogging it. From the boost I saw in my blog traffic, and the many people I heard from commenting favorably on my coverage, I agree this is a very hot topic. And I look forward to following Travel 2.0 going forward.

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My 15 Minutes of Fame?

November 29, 2006 / / 2 Comments

Imagine my surprise the other day when a friend sent me this link and asked if he could have my autograph. All because of a comment I’d left on a blog, it turned out.

Mediashiftme

I’ve never actually met Mark Glaser, but he’s a guy I really respect — one of the very best out there today writing about New Media. To be featured on his new PBS blog is a real honor. In the past, I read and very much enjoyed Mark’s weekly column for the USC Annenberg School of Communication’s Online Journalism Review, and he still writes an “intelligence report” newsletter for the Online Publishers Association. But I wasn’t yet aware of his new gig, MediaShift. [Great name, by the way, Mark!]

I remember Mark’s byline from the halcyon, pre-crash days of The Industry Standard — which had an amazing editorial staff. I got to know several of those folks from attending their great conferences and reporting on those events. [I did that by email newsletter, since those were pre-blogging days.]

Mark is now doing some very important work chronicling and analyzing the impact of new media on our culture and society. Keep up the great work, Mark!

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