Phil, agreed. My only concern is the time.. 10 am on a workday doesn't necessarily work for everybody. Even if we keep the same day starting an hour earlier would help.
Mar
04
2007
The European start-up scene: a good beginning
18 Comments
A good start last thursday to Saul's new Open Coffee Club concept (although I must take some credit here for suggesting we needed something like this over a breakfast meeting with him and some VC's one friday) :-)
It really is good to have an event which isn't really planned as a special occassion, is in the morning from 10am, and doesn't involve beer. Imagine it more as a big open lounge where people come and go, talk to others in their industry, showcase demo's of what they are working on, save the world, and ultimately maybe get some work done and run a few small meetings.
Now, there's a few key things we all need to do here to ensure it becomes a real success over a longer term:
- Let's not treat it just another social networking event - if you don't make it along, it's not the end of the world - there's one every week. You don't have to go round speaking to everyone - sometimes it's good to meet a few good people and a few in-depth discussions - the other people will probably be there next week!
- More demonstrations - let's have more of these. We noticed one or two people going to one of the tables and just showing some new techology or even what they have been working on to-date. Definitely should be much more of this. You never know, it might stir some ideas for business partnerships with people or they may be able to match you with people who can help and enhance your offering. Plus, it's much more fun!
- Never, ever, have name badges or colour coded tags: it's not that type of event and never should be. It's not even an event - it's a place where internet people come and go for coffee, chat, and a cake.
- Filtering the people - which can be a bit controversial. Last week was perfect - a great blend of good people from our internet industry who could potentially add real value to someone else's business or aspirations. Now, what I don't want to see, and I'm sure everyone else feels the same, is a bunch of PR execs, recruiters & headhunters, or bob from the stationary department at big corp X coming along because they smell opportunity. If we want it to become the cult of e-cademy, then that's the quickest way to go about it. Let's just be polite but firm if they saunter on to our pad.
- Journalists, VC's, and Angels are more than welcome and we should help give them some fun and interesting stories, and opportunities. These guys often have a good perspective on the industry as a whole and are definitely worth talking to in the non-pitch sense. Remember, they're here to take part too and get away from people trying to sell them things - at least for a few hours.
Comments
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Mar 4 2007 -
Mar 4 2007
:-) Eugene - that's why we suggest you leave full-time employment and come and join the internet entrepreneur and start-up scene. Then, you can do your work from 12pm to 3am like the rest of us on thursday :-)
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Mar 4 2007
Well put. I don't wish to take people to my blog (really, I don't!) but I did write a post which I think, promotes the same environment http://segala.com/blog/opencoffee-in-london-queue-was-too-long/
I was motivated to write this after speaking to an investor who was there. He thought of the 'event' as a speed dating service. I'm sorry, but that's not what I thought this 'informal environment' was going to be. I'm all up for heading down for a coffee and a chat.
As John Wilson responded to my post, “this is about “talent� introducing themselves to “money. This means a brief 5 mins explanation of what you do and what you are looking for.�
I can understand the need for more of this type of meeting, but it’s not for me. I thought the morning was home to some well oiled entrepreneurs who don’t need speed dates – who are in a position to hand pick the investor(s)… -
Mar 4 2007
Great post Phil, really thoughtful and I think mainly spot - my comments are at http://localglobe.blogspot.com/2007/03/opencoffee-club-structure-vs-free-form.html
See you next week on Thurs 10-12 :) -
Mar 5 2007
I agree with Eugene, 10am of a weekday is not great for most working people. If one wants to join the scene however, how else do they get involved? Its a catch 22.
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Mar 5 2007
Take an hour off? Honestly - you can't moan about a 10am start and state that you don't know how to make it to an entrepreneur event.. your first challenge should be for you to look at all the way to solve this and never give up till you do! There's always a way if you want it enough :-)
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Mar 5 2007
If you can't take an hour off then it's possible this isn't the meeting for you - UNLESS you want to learn how to leave full time employment in favour of going out into the big bad world by yourself...
If you're looking for advice on how to set up on your own, this is absolutely perfect for you - all that free advice in one room over a coffee, oh, and possibly someone to give you a few quid if you're not insane (like me) :-/ -
Mar 5 2007
Phil - why don't you switch on a feed for comments, or allow us to receive emails when someone posts a comment?
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Mar 5 2007
good idea - now where did I leave my book on technical stuff....???!>>
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Mar 5 2007
Great post Philip!
The only piece I would take issue with is when you say, "now what I don't want to see is...a bunch of PR execs, recruiters & headhunters".
My experience, and especially recently is that a savvy PR, recruiter or headhunter can be incredibly smart at cross-pollinating an industry like this. Their day-job is to filter and rate talent. Some of the smartest tip-offs I have had this year have been from PRs and headhunters, so I'd like to see them in the mix...
I suppose like anything, it's about quality and maybe one or two negative exeperiences can put you off?
Let discuss over...coffee :) It's an exciting time to be in London! -
Mar 5 2007
Phil:
Ok, firstly great idea. Heres my 2 pence,
Im pretty big on the filtering thing - owing specifically to an incident at a "networking" event some years ago where I was talking to a someone who described himself as a only as a VC... great.. I gave him the low down.. only to be told later that his idea of what VC meant was "Venture Catalyst" .. the bloke was a consultant...
So, Im as busy as the next guy & some days Im just as lazy as anyone else. I often endorse these ideas and then realise an hour before the event that I really cant be bothered. Like most people who go to any such event, my attendance is going to be driven purely by what it does for me personally.
I believe & I hope you'll agree that businesses run in phases:
A. Idea development: i have an idea, im studying its feasibility, im assembling the core team & working on a prototype. I want to meet entrepreneur types looking for something to work on.
B. Funding: Ive taken the idea as far as it can go & I need to get funded. So I will pitch anyone willing to listen. I want to meet VC's, angels, etc...
C. Post-Funding: I need to expand the team, get operations going, I also want feedback, its all about execution at this stage.. I want to solve usability issues, push out problems Im having with particular modules of the business and hopefully get some "free" solutions or introductions to people who can help. I want to meet corporate FD types (no one has a FD to start off... or do they?), uber developers, web 20 designers, product managers, other founders in a similar stage etc..
D. Expansion/Option evaluation: Its been running for some time. The idea has worked, its making money.. its become less about "breaking new ground" and more about making sure the "trains run on time". I want to raise a big round B and do the US, France, Germany & rest of EU.. OR.. I want someone to tell me how I can cash out from this thing. I want to meet my competitors, M & A, Corp dev types and also some people whove been there and done that.. so to speak.
What Im saying in so many words is that the sorts of people I want to meet depend entirely on the phase of business I am at. 4 stages, 4 weeks a month... Id love to attend if I thought that I wasnt going to get some guy in phase B (i.e. me a month ago) pitching the hell out of me in the false hope that I can help. I realise that I might be entirely disregarding the possibility that I might learn something from someone in phase A & by not having them attend, I lose out.. something I have be willing to live with.
I believe that having a running theme will help keep the numbers down so you dont end up with only standing room at the Starbucks while also making sure that you have a very engaged and driven set of people at the same place, at the same time. That for me reduces the frequency of the meetings I will attend, but makes the event a "must attend"..
WDYR? -
Mar 5 2007
fair enuff, paul and phil,
I will just have to make time!
John -
Mar 9 2007
[...] L’idée est de répliquer le concept dans toutes les grandes villes à travers le monde, et créer ainsi des points de rencontre favorisant les échanges. Une liste des lieux, par ville et par pays va s’établir (wiki en cours). “Imagine it more as a big open lounge where people come and go, talk to others in their industry, showcase demo’s of what they are working on, save the world, and ultimately maybe get some work done and run a few small meetings.” Phil Wilkinson [...]
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Apr 10 2007
[...] Copenhagen OpenCoffee Club is a new initiative - a relaxed meeting point for entrepreneurs and like-minded people interested in technology and start-ups. The concept was started off by Saul Klein from Index Ventures and has spread rapidly during the last few months. Come by and enjoy an informal coffee, discuss your latest ideas and learn about trends in the market. You are likely to meet other entrepreneurs and some investors. See more on http://www.opencoffeeclub.org & check out Phil’s blog comment http://blog.crowd… [...]
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Jan 29 2008
Phil - why don’t you switch on a feed for comments, or allow us to receive emails when someone posts a comment?
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Jan 30 2008
Good point "seducy" - I need to fix the blog a bit more and it's on the list for next week. Emails for replies, comment feeds, and working "share" links - here we come.
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May 28 2008
Phil - why don’t you switch on a feed for comments, or allow us to receive emails when someone posts a comment?
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Jun 7 2008
10 am of a weekday is not great for most working people really.
