Startup Bootcamp - Kresge Auditorium, MIT
Decided to attend the “Startup Bootcamp” which took place on Monday, October 12th, 2009 (Columbus Day Weekend) nearly a month in advance; I had become aware of the event by reading on HackerNews, the Y Combinator message board , which i found out about through Tech Crunch or some other such source. The conference turned out to be fantastic, rivaling a memorable entrepreneurship conference keynote I saw several years back given by Monster.com founder Jeff Taylor .
If you check the speaker list you will see that it is as well balanced in the range and caliber of the presenters as it is relevant for a broad audience of Cambridge entrepreneurs and beyond (though there’s no arguing the IT in MIT at this”Startup Bootcamp” 
Here’s an excerpt from startupbootcamp.mit.edu :
“Have an idea? Starting a company is easier than you think.
Startup Bootcamp is a free one-day event featuring talks by entrepreneurs and venture capitalists on how to start a company . Hear from founders themselves about the journey of turning an idea into a product. Get the inside scoop on raising money, term sheets, and how to deal with VCs or angel investors. What should you look for when choosing a co-founder, and when should you incorporate or file patents? What can go wrong in a startup, and how does an acquisition work? Have your questions answered by the founders of Reddit, VisiCalc, Zipcar, Dropbox, and more.”
And display of talent it was, with memorable moments from:
- Alexis Ohanian
Co-Founder, Reddit
Founder, Xobni
Creator of VisiCalc
And every single speaker really !! They helped me to realize much of what I already assumed about being a succesful entrepreneur, but also left their impact as inspired people with brilliant ideas. They spoke on what has led them to moments of “serendipity”, the combination of taking the right steps (inventing a good product) and “luck” as well as tools to help along the way. Blogging is one obvious tool which came up across the board . I’ve had the idea for this blog in the works for some time, and it’s title comes from the phrase I would use to describe my most current interest: the convergence of mobile web 2.0 and sustainability.
The whole event was taped and can be accessed on Justin.tv (one of whom’s cofounders also spoke at the event).
http://www.justin.tv/startupbootcamp/archive
