Wanted: A Few Good Volunteers for Everywhere Else Tennessee

EETNHave you been watching all the coverage of the upcoming Everywhere Else Tennessee?

Then you’ve probably seen all the killer speakers, started hearing buzz about the parties, and–of course–gotten excited about the BBQ. Memphis is a special place, and Everywhere Else Tennessee is set to be a one-of-a-kind event.

I’d love for you to be a part of it!

The Everywhere Else team needs help with registration, taking care of our startups, setting up, breaking down, and so much more!

As a volunteer, you’ll get an all-access pass to the premier national conference focused entirely on startups outside Silicon Valley. You’ll also have entry to all 3 parties and plenty of time to do some networking of your own.

Wanna help? There are only 10 spots left, so don’t wait to let me know!

Give me a shout at monica@nibletz.com.

Everywhere Else TN Startup Avenue–Who’s Your Favorite?

countdownbar4

startupavenue

*Polling closed. Thanks so much for all your support! We’ll announce the Everywhere Else Fan Favorite soon!*

There are some great companies populating the Startup Avenue this year. They’re coming from all over the country, from awesome startup cities like Boulder and Dallas and Charlotte. (And across Tennessee, of course!)

They also span all kinds of industries, healthcare to publishing to video games.

During Everywhere Else Tennessee, these 10 startups will show off their products to attendees and investors. They will be competing for a chance to pitch onstage in front founders and investors–as well as an angel & VC-stocked judging panel. The winner will be crowned the Heavyweight Champion of Everywhere Else.

But first…

They’re competing to win YOUR vote.

Check out the companies below, then let us know your favorite. The winner of the Fan Favorite Poll will get one of the spots in the live pitch contest.

So, let us know, who’s your favorite?

  • Bourbon and Boots–We are a great, new resource for finding stylish and unique handmade gifts to make you just a little bit cooler than all your friends. You won’t find any commercialized, big box store products on our site — we only offer the best, high-quality “small batch” creations from small business owners and artisans.
  • Brandfolder–Brandfolder is your convenient source to visually organize, quickly find and easily share all your final brand assets.
  • Cariloop–Cariloop helps people answer the questions they didn’t know to ask and connects them with the best senior care and service providers for their loved ones.
  • Kindful–Kindful’s simplistic yet powerful nature isn’t typical.  Kindful has taken the pressure off of the nonprofit and allowed that effort to flow through to their relationships.  We’ve made donor management fun again, and we have created the tools that allow you to engage your donors and further your cause.
  • MentorMe–MentorMe has taken the process of online dating and applied it to mentoring. We’re the only available technology solution that not only helps mentoring programs better manage day-to-day operations, but also helps them to better engage mentors and mentees.
  • OverDog–OverDog is a mobile app that enables athletes to challenge their fans to play video games on Xbox and Playstation. Launched in August 2013, OverDog has signed on hundreds of athletes across all of the major sports – football, baseball, soccer, even a few Olympians! – and has helped forge thousands of dream connections between its roster of athletes and OverDog fans. Looking ahead in 2014, the company is excited to launch the next version of its app with an expanded vision that connects gamers of all profiles and personas based on their shared passion for sports.
  • Screwpulp–Screwpulp is an eBook market that helps you discover new books you’ll love according to your tastes. Our mission is to make it easy for authors and readers to find each other in meaningful way. We promote a community of sharing and honest feedback between readers and authors.
  • The SoGood–The SoGood helps you discover the best local businesses through recommendations from friends and SoGood tastemakers. We’ve found that word-of-mouth recommendations drive local discovery, but access to these trusted recommendations is fairly limited. Our new iPhone app allows you to easily see which fitness studio a friend loves or which floral designer a top event planner recommends.
  • Wannado–From concerts to causes to cultural events, every day is packed with opportunities. Wannado® lets you find the events you want, and tune out the ones you don’t.
  • WeddingWorthyWeddingWorthy.com is a group shopping platform that lets brides and their bridesmaids shop together from anywhere.  We’ve partnered with top wedding photographers to create a curated catalog of beautiful wedding photos that are merchandised with products from top wedding designers. On WeddingWorthy.com, brides can finally tap into wedding inspiration that is shoppable. No more endless searches through dead-end photo sites.

 

Don’t Miss Your Chance to Start Where You Are–The Clock’s Ticking

annoucementad3

memphissky1

Sshh.

Do you hear that?

The clock is ticking down!

TODAY is the last day to grab tickets at the early bird price of $150.

incontent3If you’re reading this, you’re probably an entrepreneur outside Silicon Valley. “Everywhere else.”

  • Feeling a little lonely?
  • Like you can’t find quality education?
  • Like there’s never enough capital?
  • And no one understands you?

Imagine being able to solve these issues in just 3 days.

How?

Silicon Valley-level mentorship…

You don’t have to go to a tech hub to find startup experts. They’re coming to Everywhere Else Tennessee!
Jim McKelvey cofounded Square and changed the way we do payments.
Josh Miller sold Branch to Facebook in January. At age 22.
Paul Singh has mentored hundreds (thousands?) of founders through 500 Startups and Disruption Corporation.
Nicole Glaros is part of building Techstars, arguably the best accelerator outside Silicon Valley.

And they’re all coming to Memphis in 30 days! (Btw, so. are. these folks.)

…No pretension allowed

Sure, listen to the kick ass speakers.
But you can also track them down in the halls or at the after parties. Attendance is capped at 400 people, so you’ll be able to find them easily.
EETN speakers and presenters are there for YOU, to help YOUR company grow.

Hunt down capital

Have your elevator pitch ready.
Investors are coming in from around the country. And they’re looking for great companies like yours.

Find your tribe

Looking for a cofounder? A mentor? Maybe just a friend to walk the road with?
EETN is THE place to meet founders and entrepreneurs just like you.
Talk startup shop during the day. Then see their true colors at 3 memorable parties after hours.

It’s all happening in Memphis April 30-May 2.

And, today, you can still do it for only $150.

[iframe name=”eventframe” id=”eventframe” src=”http://www.doitinperson.com/TicketInformation?event=Everywhere-Else-Tennessee” frameborder=”0″ marginwidth=”5″ marginheight=”5″ vspace=”0″ hspace=”0″ width=”100%” height=”400″ allowtransparency=”true” scrolling=”auto” style=”width: 100%;”]

a16z Deputy Chief of Staff, Techstars, & YEC Join the #EETN Lineup

We’re coming down to the wire with the Everywhere Else Tennessee Conference. We have some great new panelists to announce tonight, including members of the Techstars Patriot Boot Camp and the Young Entrepreneur Council.

Tickets are going fast. Make sure to get yours by Monday, March 31 to guarantee the early adopter price of $150.

Now, for a few announcements we’re super excited about:

Andreessen Horowitz Deputy Chief of Staff Chris Lyons will be joining us in Memphis this year. Naithan Jones will be interviewed by Chris, discussing the decision to move from the Midwest to Silicon Valley. During the discussion Nait will talk about the decision to make such a big move, the challenges he faced, and what benefits he’s seen from the move. Nait will also talk about lesssons he learned building an online marketplace.

taylor-mclemore

Taylor McLemore is the Founder and Director of Techstars Patriot Boot Camp, a 3 day program designed to help veterans get mentoring and coaching in starting a company. Previously, he was the CEO & Founder of Prediculous, which was acquired by Sporting News. Taylor will lead a panel of veterans-turned-entrepreneurs as they discuss what it’s like to be in the military and start up. He’ll be joined by

tameeshaTameesha Desangles is a Memphis entrepreneur and the founder of WeddingWorthy.com. She has a background in ecommerce marketing, but is passionate about entrepreneurship. She was chosen as 1 of 20 women to represent female military entrepreneurs at the 2013 Inc5000 conference. She’s currently completing the Risingstars program while building WeddingWorthy.com.

mark-morrisMark Morris is a veteran dedicated to continuing to serve our country through web and mobile technology. Currently, he’s the founder of MyGigline, which aims to solve the problem of communicating available resources for the military community.

 

 

scott-gerber

The Young Entrepreneur Council is an invite-only organization that helps entrepreneurs succeed. Founder Scott Gerber will lead a panel discussing the “Everyday Entrepreneur.” Panelists include

sumi-krishnanSumi Krishnan is the Founder & CEO of K4 Solutions, which she started while still in school at Virginia Tech. Now the company has 220 employees and works with customers like the USDA and the US Army.

 

Jake-StutzmanJake Stutzman is the Owner and Chief Creative Officer at Elevate LLC, a digital design agency in Omaha, NE. (Check out eetennessee.com for a sample of the awesome work he does.) Jake has been doing brand design for 14 years, working with both startups and established, global brands. Last year, Jake won the Silicon Prairie News Designer of the Year award.

 

john-hallJohn Hall is the CEO of Influence & Co, which helps companies position their key figures as thought leaders in the industry. Influence & Co was recently named to Forbes Most Promising Companies of 2014. John loves speaking and writing, sharing his experiences with other entrepreneurs.

 

derek-weberDerek Weber is the President of goBRANDgo! Based in St. Louis, they are a strategic branding and marketing firm for $2M-$50M companies. They specifically combine the quality of an expensive agency with the convenience and price of contractors, perfect for growth-stage companies.

 

 

How I Got Started in Tech: 8 Successful Founders Tell All

annoucementad3

Start Starting Line Americorps Cinema Service Night Wilcox Park May 20, 20118

Have you ever wondered how some of the most successful entrepreneurs got their start? We all know Mark Zuckerburg’s story, of course, but what about other founders?

We asked some of our conference speakers how they got started, and the answers are as full of personality as they are. From following a boy into startups to literally being promoted from the mail room of Sprint, these entrepreneurs have some great stories.

paul-singh-circlePaul Singh-@paulsingh

If it wasn’t for an entry-level job at AOL ~15 years ago, I wouldn’t have realized that building companies on the Internet was possible for me.

Jim-McKelvey-circleJim McKelvey-@2000F

I got my start by writing a programming textbook when I was a freshman at Washington University.  The book got published and they asked me to write a second book, which became a bestseller.  By the time I was a sophomore, I had an undeservedly good reputation in the Engineering school, so I added a computer science degree to my studies.  Upon graduation, I worked briefly for IBM and then started a software company, Mira.

nicole-glaros-circleNicole Glaros-@nglaros

I come from a long line of entrepreneurs, so I had the bug when I was a kid!  Started my first ‘REAL’ company when I was in college with my dad.

Gabriella-Draney-circleGabriella Draney-@gabdraney

I got my start in tech purely by accident. I was working as an executive assistant when I was 18 and figured out that I enjoyed going to lunch with the programmers rather than the other office girls. They talked about more interesting things and usually took a longer lunch (I never got in trouble because no one wants to make the IT team mad). When my boss, the VP of Operations, announced he was leaving the company to run an upstart competitor, the lead developer, who I had started dating, said he wanted to start a company that would build the scheduling software for him. So at 19, I quit and jumped on the roller coaster ride. I was in school at the time and switched majors because we didn’t need another technical person (originally wanted to study astrophysics), so I moved to finance.

Funny how these things happen.

naithan-jones-circleNaithan Jones

I got started in tech pretty serendipitously. In my early 20’s I was working in the mailroom at Sprints world headquarters in the late nineties, and this was right before they sold all of their legacy fiber business and became wireless only.

Delivering mail I got to know some of the sales managers for the enterprise 500 group. They liked me and offered me a chance to sell large data pipes to global company CIO’s. I did well selling over the phone and the rest was history.

This led to stints at small SEO companies, small App Sec firms as a business guy, then finally at Gartner and then the Kauffman Foundation in more senior roles.

I left my manager role at Kauffman to start AgLocal

Ryan-Hoover-circleRyan Hoover

Since childhood, I’ve created things and built businesses (in the loosest definition of the word).  I managed gum ball machines, sold handmade video game cheat books for 50 cents a piece, created a joke website, and resold merchandise on eBay.  My motivation came from a desire to create something from nothing, largely influenced by my entrepreneurial father.

Ultimately, those experiences and my passion for tech and startups, led me to an internship at a video game company during my senior year in college.  My unpaid marketing role transitioned to a full-time paid position and soon I moved into product management.  Serendipitously, I landed in San Francisco, surrounded by startups and amazing talent, to join an early stage startup that grew from 10 to over 100 before I left to pursue something new.

As my friend Nathan Bashaw says, “When you look back at yourself six months from today and don’t feel embarrassed by your naiveté, there’s a problem. That means you’re not learning, growing.”  I’ve learned a ton and have infinite room to grow.  Passion to create and learn, and guidance from many generous mentors/friends, is what got me here.  I’m not sure I would call myself a success but I’m happy with where I’m heading.

scott-gerber-circleScott Gerber

Scott got started in entrepreneurship by running a production company in New York City in college. He soon made lots of money, landing gigs on huge budget productions. With little experience, though, he also quickly lost all that money.

With graduation on the horizon and his last $700, Scott started Sizzle It, a much simpler business than the one he’d run in college. After plenty of hard knocks, Scott wanted to help other young entrepreneurs ignore some of the pitfalls he’d encountered. YEC was born from there.

john-hall-circleJohn Hall

I started my first real estate company because I hated typical student housing arrangements and wanted to live in a house rather than the typical crammed student housing.  I went to 33 banks and the 34 bank gave a loan mostly because of a friends personal connection.  I flipped that house and bought two more than built a small real estate company from there.  Influence & Co. started because Brent Beshore, Kelsey Meyer, and myself saw a need for entrepreneurs and small businesses to build their influence by getting authentically engaging with their audience.  We started by doing it for ourselves.  Once we saw some traction, it really picked up and we had a company on our hands.

 

Brian Wong, Gabriella Draney, Josh Miller, Ryan Hoover & Mike Muhney Speaking at #EETN

memphissky1

We have some great announcements coming this week. The Everywhere Else Tennessee speaker lineup is growing, and we’re lining up some amazing startups for the Avenue (there’s still time to apply!) Tickets are going fast. Don’t miss out on the early adopter discount, ending on March 31st.

On to the new speakers. Check out who will be in Memphis April 30-May 2.

Brian Wong

brianwongBrian Wong is the co-founder and CEO of Kiip (pronounced “keep”), a category-creating mobile rewards network that is redefining mobile advertising through an innovative platform that leverages “moments of achievement” in games and apps to simultaneously benefit users, developers and advertisers. Backed by IPG, Hummer Winblad, Relay Ventures, True Ventures, Digital Garage and others, the company has raised $15.4 million in funding to date.

 

 

Gabriella Draney

gabrielladraneyGabriella Draney is Cofounder and Managing Partner of Tech Wildcatters. Most recently she was with HP Growth Partners, an early stage venture fund in Dallas.  She co-founded an aircraft scheduling software company in 1998 that ended in a profitable exit. She went on to work for Morgan Stanley in private wealth management. True to her entrepreneurial roots, she left to follow her passion for nutrition by opening a specialty foods retail store, and simultaneously spent three years consulting with numerous Dallas-based startups on strategic planning and finance. Ms. Draney received her MBA in Strategy & Entrepreneurship from Southern Methodist University as a Cox Distinguished Merit Scholar, during which she interned for Silver Creek Ventures. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of North Texas with a BBA in Finance.

 

Josh Miller

joshmillerJust before his senior year, Josh Miller left Princeton University to build Branch, which Facebook bought in January 2014. Currently, he oversees the development of new products for Facebook, and do early-stage investing as a Venture Partner at Betaworks. Originally from Santa Monica, CA, he lives in New York City’s East Village. He’s twenty-three years old and a proud donor to KCRW.

 

 

Ryan Hoover

ryanhooverRyan is a product guy with a passion for startups, product design, and personal growth. He grew up in the beautifully green northwest, in a college town named Eugene. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he lived in Portland for a year before making the jump to San Francisco. He’s the Co-Creator of Product Hunt, Creator of Startup Edition, an EIR at Tradecraft, and former Director of Product at PlayHaven.

 

 

 

 

mike-muhneyMike Muhney

Mike is a recognized relationship management expert, speaker, and author. He’s the co-inventor of ACT!, which is acknowledged as the catalyst of the multi-billion dollar Customer Relationship Management Industry. His co-authored book, Who’s In Your Orbit? Beyond Facebook—Creating Relationships That Matter (2011) includes practical relationship-building techniques and offers a balanced view on social and personal networks for today’s professionals. Today, Mike is the CEO and Co-Founder of VIPorbit Software, creators of VIPorbit Contact Management apps designed for iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Your Complete Guide to Working the Conference Scene

annoucementad3

EECincy-236

I have been going to conferences for startups, technology, and video games for the past 10 years. There are some subtle and massive differences between them that can give an edge depending on your situation and personality.

incontent3People attend conferences for three reasons:

  • Learn
  • Network/Meetings
  • Show off their company/product

Knowing why you are going is key. This will help shape your “presence” at the conference. In this case lets define presence as: The way you act, look, dress, and when you take your meetings. Next week I am attending GDC (Game Developers Conference) in San Francisco. It is the most important video game development conference and I have a certain presence for the show.

­How to Dress

Video game conferences are not much different from tech & startup conferences. There is plenty of time and room for the top three reasons I listed above but the video game conference trumps all conferences in ability to look dress and act like a rock star.

Next week for GDC I will wear interesting dresses and clothing that I would wear on stage while playing with a band, I used to play keyboard in a couple of bands. I am a big fan of modcloth.com. My husband, Jared, will also wear clothes that make him stand out. The ability to make an impression is important. With a whole week of drinking, meetings, networking, and learning it is very important to be remembered at the end of the conference. Looking and acting like everyone else may help you in a corporation, but in the startup world I feel you need to have a different presence.

I believe this also works for tech and startup conferences but with a more subtle approach. Tone down on the bright colors and look a bit more professionally dressed. Potential investors and partners want you to be interesting, but they also want to make sure you can fit in at a corporate meeting to close deals.

Perfect Your “Meeting Attitude”

Do your homework before you get there. Find out who is going by searching Twitter and LinkedIn updates. People love to schedule meetings before a conference because it provides a schedule to plan their life arround. Before and after meetings prepare for the possibility of serendipitous meetings. These are meetings that could happen through the introduction to a new person from the meeting you have scheduled or through watching twitter while at the conference. It can easily get overwhelming but just keep a cool composure and take a couple of deep breaths. You can do it!

The attitude I try to take to meetings is the same I try to have throughout the entire conference. Be positive, polite, and open. Act like you own the place and care about everything. These actions and feelings help people open up and you can get your agenda accomplished easier while meeting new people. Most of the true deals will wrap up after the conference, allowing you to be more aggressive with terms. I find this is true for both video game and startup conferences.

Manage Your Meetings

The main difference between a videogame conference and a startup conference is when you schedule your meetings. Rule of thumb is at a videogame conference like GDC you never schedule a meeting before 11:30 AM. Video game development is a long hours profession with most workers getting up later in the day and working long into the night. The conference is a place for people to escape the grind by going to parties, concerts, and sometimes doing a lot of drinking. It is important to be courteous to this rule and it also allows you to send out emails in the morning to your team.

A startup conference is all about hustle. Packing in as many important things at one time has its benefits. Most meetings kick off at breakfast and continue through lunch. Making sure you get a good night sleep is important for all conferences, but you really need to be sharp and well rested for startup conferences. If you have any tips regarding other types of conferences please feel free to leave them in the comments below.

Shannon Steffes is the Founder and Art Director for Furywing. She has been involved in tech and video game startups since 2005. Follow her at @shayozzy

9 Simple Tips to Actually Meet The Right People at SXSW

annoucement2_rz_

P365x52-71: Cards

Learn Who’s Attending Ahead of Time

“Check in with people you want to catch up with to see when they’ll be onsite, and get on their calendars in advance. Once the event starts, send them a quick text or email to remind them about your meeting. Large conferences are too chaotic to ensure that you’ll just casually run into people. You have to make a concerted effort to ensure that the most innocuous of gatherings actually happen.”

Alexandra Levit, Inspiration at Work

rsz_incontentad2Don’t Listen to the Talks

“Most speakers are covering material that can be found all over the Internet. If you want to meet people, hang out in the lobby and the hallways. Strategically position yourself in places that everybody has to walk through, which maximizes your likelihood of bumping into the right people. If you have friends attending, ask them for help with intros to the right kind of people.”

Emerson Spartz, Spartz

Leave Room for Serendipity

“You’ll want to line up some meetings ahead of time, but don’t forget to leave room in your schedule for grabbing lunch with the people you just met or sitting down for an impromptu talk. The benefit of being in the same place as a bunch of interesting people is that you can get very lucky and meet someone without any planning.”

Thursday Bram, Hyper Modern Consulting

Partner With Connectors

“The best way to meet interesting people is through a warm introduction. There are two ways to find introductions at events: through individuals or through brands. Figure out how to add value to an individual so he or she will take the time to make introductions. Similarly, you can volunteer to help a brand at the event so you will be around when others contact them. “

Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches

Get Exponential Introductions

“My strategy is to always meet a few awesome people early and ask them for the best one to two people they know that I need to know. Meet new people, then repeat this process as often as possible. With the right seed connectors, this can last through the whole event.”

Neil Thanedor, LabDoor

Book All Your Essential Meetings Ahead of Time

“When we send employees to a conference, we often have up to 25 meetings set in advance for them, along with specifically tailored agendas for each contact. By doing an aggressive email campaign before the conference, you can often confirm meetings well in advance so all you have to do once you’re there is go from appointment to appointment.”

Michael Costigan, Youth Leadership Specialist

Go Without a Schedule

“I have settled on the opposite of strategy — I just go and see what happens. If you go with a plan, you’ll struggle at SXSW because there’s no way you’ll stick to it. There’s no point in setting goals you can’t meet. SXSW is a week of serendipity. Who are the right people? You don’t know yet. Random meetings turn into meeting the right people.”

Andrew Angus, Switch Video

Be a Good Date

“There is a preparation process every time you’re about to go on a date: time, place, outfit and even a prospective conversation plan! That’s true of conferences as well. See what events are happening and who will likely attend in order to plan your agenda for a big industry conference. Select a couple of key events, meet some out-of-town business prospects and let the conversations start!”

Lauren Perkins, Perks Consulting

Forget Going to the Conference

“If you are seriously interested in only meeting people, forget the $600 conference badge — just go for the weekend to hang out. You don’t meet many people sitting and listening to talks, but if you know how to work the room over cocktails or know someone to get you into the right parties, then you will have accomplished your mission.”

Matt Wilson, Under30Experiences

Thankfully, the best startup conference is currently only $150, but time’s running out on early adopter tickets. Join us and some great speakers and investors on April 30-May 2. Head over to eetennessee.com to get yours now!

4 New Speakers Announced for #EETN

EEHeadline

 

EECincy-130

We’re counting down the days (and watching the tickets go!) for Everywhere Else Tennessee. We’re planning some awesome parties, a few amazing panels, and I have mentioned how spectacular the venue is? Seriously, y’all, old wood, open spaces in downtown Memphis. It’s so beautiful I’m hoping they let me live there.

In the meantime, we have a few more speakers to announce. We’re so excited about these guys and what they’ll bring to the #EETN attendees. Angel investors, developers, and entrepreneurs, they all have unique insights and advice for founders everywhere else. Check ’em out:

benyoskovitzBen Yoskovitz is the author of the popular Instigator Blog. He’s also a founding partner at Year One Labs, VP of Product at GoInstant, and co-author of the book Lean Analytics. He sold his first company Standout Jobs in 2010.

 

 

 

jaredsteffesJared Steffes is a lifetime entrepreneur living in Chicago. His current startup, Furywing, is creating electronic gambling entertainment for people who grew up with video games. (No more slot machines!) Jared’s talk at Everywhere Else Cincinnati was so loved, we knew we had to bring him back. And, we hear he has a few surprises up his sleeve…

 

 

 

nickhollandNicholas Holland is the CEO of Populr.me, a recent 500 Startups graduate. Before Populr.me he founded CentreSource Interactive Agency in Nashville, TN, and has spent most of his life in the Nashville area. Besides building companies, he’s passionate about building the Nashville ecosystem. I wonder what words he picked up from Dave McClure during 500 Startups.

 

 

 

kutyshalevKuty Shalev has spent the last twelve years as CEO & Founder of Clevertech. Headquartered in NYC with a global team, Clevertech is a lean startup design and development organization that works with entrepreneurs and enterprises to help launch minimum viable products (MVP) in 30-90 days. Client projects have been featured in the New York Times, VentureBeat, Bloomberg News, Mashable and many other media outlets.

 

 

 

We’re just getting started, y’all. We’ll have more speaker announcements coming soon. Buy your tickets before they sell out!

If you’re a startup that has raised less than $2 million, apply to win a booth at our Startup Avenue. Selected startups will also get 2 free tickets to the conference. The best companies will get a chance to pitch our investor panel and win the title of Heavyweight Champion of Everywhere Else.

And, we still have a few sponsorship opportunities available. Get in touch and let us help you be involved in the everywhere else movement.

EETNBannerAd1

CB Insights: Silicon Valley Is The Only Relevant Market For Venture Capital


VCstory2Top research firm CB Insights released some very relevant and interesting data last week. The firm has been diving into their VC data to better understand fund performance and syndicate. In what they call one of their “more polarizing” briefs, they revealed that even today Silicon Valley is the most relevant market for venture capital. Silicon Valley is still producing the most exits.

Their latest data, measuring deal flow across the country, Silicon Valley still represents 52% of VC backed exits, leaving “everywhere else” with an improved, but still less, 48%.

VC, Silicon Valley, Everywhere Else, Rise Of The Rest, Everywhere Else Conference

When purely looking at the value of exits, Silicon Valley is still far ahead of everywhere else. When CB Insights analyzed the valuation of the top 50 exits in the country Silicon Valley companies accounted for 86% to the top aggregate exit valuations of those top 50 exits. In 2012 Facebook’s IPO accounted for a tremendous chunk of the 86% but once removed Silicon Valley still accounts for 54% of the aggregate exit valuations.

New York, Southern California, Massachusetts and Illinois trail behind Silicon Valley.

There are even investors who believe that New York is a waste of time.

CB Insights reports that at a recent dinner in NY hosted by Silicon Valley firm Lowenstein Sandler one VC said “New York is an irrelevant market for us as a venture capital firm. They went on to say that from the investor’s perspective allocating his firm,s time to New York or any other market outside of Silicon Valley was a waste of time.

But there’s hope.

Late last month AOL founder Steve Case announced that his Revolution Venture Fund had raised $200 million dollars that they were specifically going to use to back companies everywhere else. Case’s big mantra is “Rise of the rest,” and that is exactly what’s going on now.

There have always been investors and startups everywhere else. One of the fundamental problems we’ve found since launching Nibletz and the Everywhere Else conferences is that entrepreneurs and investors exist everywhere. The problem lies in the fact that the entrepreneurs believe that it’s best to move to Silicon Valley or in some regards New York City to grow their company. At the same time the investors either don’t know that there are good deals in their own neighborhoods or it’s just flashier to find an investment in a larger city or participate in rounds with Silicon Valley.

Investors like Mercury Fund’s Blair Garrou, Dundee Venture Capital’s Mark Hasebroock, and Drive Capital’s Mark Kvamme all see the value in finding startups worth investing in everywhere else, thus contributing to the rise of the rest. These investors are not alone. At our recent Everywhere Else Cincinnati conference, we had over 40 investors from across the country that represented over $1 billion dollars in deals across Everywhere Else. (Note we still consider New York Everywhere Else and obviously many others do too.)

Events like Big Omaha, Big KC, UpGlobal’s startup summit, and the Everywhere Else Conference Series all unite entrepreneurs from everywhere else to continue developing their own market.

The notion that innovation only happens in Silicon Valley is quite ridiculous. Cars were invented in Detroit. Air planes were invented in North Carolina (some may dispute that). The overnight package was invented in Memphis, Tennessee. In the overall landscape of things, everywhere else far outweighs the rest of the country as far as large corporations being founded and continuing to produce.