the hitchhiker's guide to the st. louis tech scene
TRANSCRIPT
Hitchhiker's Guide to the St. Louis Tech Scene
Last Updated 2/28/2014
Meetups
● StartLouis - monthly tech meetup● 1M Cups - weekly pitching and feedback meetup,
Wednesdays at 9am at KETC● 2nd Thursdays - monthly ITEN sponsored networking happy
hour at the Tavern of Fine Arts● St. Louis Game Developers Meetup● Women Entrepreneurs of St. Louis (WEST)● Start30 - general meetup for startups, tech, culture, art● EO - Entrepreneur’s Organization - Peer networking for
founders of later stage (e.g. not concept) startups.● Application Developers Alliance● Code Until Dawn - last Friday of the month, all night hacking
session at LockerDome.● List of St. Louis Tech Meetups on meetup.com
Conferences and Hackathons
● St. Louis Startup Weekend - build a company in 54 hours. National movement of startup events.
● Product Camp - unconference for product people● Strange Loop - Multi-disciplinary conference for
technologists and big thinkers● GlobalHack - St. Louis-based hackathon series.● Civic Hackathon - local movement organized around
National Day of Civic Hacking. ● InvestMidwest - venture capital forum● Gateway to Innovation (G2i) - national IT conference● StampedeCon - big data conference series
University Resources● Skandalaris Center (Washington University)
○ Ken Harrington, Director○ Aimee Dunne-Zander, Outreach○ Stacy Pearson, Programs
● John Cook School of Business - Center for Entrepreneurship (St. Louis University)○ Jerry Katz, Professor○ Tim Hayden, Director
● Bob Virgil Center for Entrepreneurship (Harris-Stowe University)○ Shawni Jackson, Co-Director
● Innovative Technology Enterprises at UMSL
Coworking Spaces and Incubators● Lab1500 - co-working space at 1500 Washington Avenue, downtown St.
Louis● T-REX - startup space in downtown St. Louis. 70+ startups and 200+
people.● Nebula Coworking - Space near Cherokee Street. Design, tech, artist,
freelancer-focused● Cortex - St. Louis hub for bioscience and technology research,
development and commercialization○ Center for Emerging Technologies
● IT Enterprises - UMSL collaborative space, for startups in chemistry, nanotechnology and IT
● STLVentureWorks - network of country-run incubators● Center for Impact - social enterprise incubator / accelerator● Arch Reactor - largest hackerspace in St. Louis● Cambridge Innovation Center● Claim - co-working space in downtown St. Louis (Railway Exchange Bldg)
Accelerators and Mentoring Groups
● go-celerator! - 12 month equity-free program for one young founder per year
● SixThirty - FinTech Accelerator - ~4 month program for financial tech startups, takes equity
● Capital Innovators - 12 week program for tech startups with traction, takes equity
● Arch Grants - Business plan competition, doles out (20) $50K equity-free grants per year in to startups in tech, bio, and consumer products
● ITEN (IT Entrepreneur’s Network) - nonprofit that provides free programs, events, and access to resources for early stage tech startups
Angel & Venture Capital Groups
● Cultivation Capital - pre-A round VC firm for tech and life sciences
● St. Louis Arch Angels - angel group investing in early-stage startups
● Billiken Angels - angel group connected to St. Louis University
● iSelect Fund - build-your-own private equity, personalized fund
Growth Funding
● Advantage Capital● FTL Capital● Thompson Street Capital Partners● Regional Growth Capital● Saturday Capital
Entrepreneurial Dev / Design Shops
● Integrity● Steady Rain● The Able Few● Spry Digital● The Net Impact● Wired Impact - nonprofit web design/apps● Happy Medium● Atomic Dust
Design Resources
● St. Louis AIGA● St. Louis Design Week● Graphic design contractors (list)
Journalists and News
● Techli - Edward Domain and Caryn Tomer● St. Louis Business Journal - Brian Feldt
○ TechFlash● St. Louis Post-Dispatch - David Nicklaus● St. Louis Beacon - David Baugher ● St. Louis Egotist● Hacker News (national) - y combinator
started tech/geek news thread and forum
Other Resources
● Accelerate St. Louis - resource database and community calendar for the St. Louis startup scene.
● Startup Genome - free and open platform for collecting, curating and analyzing data about the local startup activity
● LaunchCode - helping St. Louis grow tech talent base through pair programming and group learning.
Scaling Tech Companies to Watch
● LockerDome● FoodEssentials● Tunespeak● Gainsight● Hatchbuck● Aisle411● Click With Me Now● Juristat● BusyEvent● Time to Cater
● Norse● TrakBill● Lumate● RoverTown● Gremln● Bonfyre● PixelPress● Answers.com● BidRazor● Material Mix● Upside
People to Follow
● @mattmenietti● @bmatthews840● @clebeau82 ● @TravisSheridan ● @dylanized● @saburkett● @jennydibble● @jimmyb31560 ● @EdwardDomain● @janignitiontank ● @2000f● @meporter● @jon
● @WhiteboardDerek● @next90guy ● @TheJoeFischer ● @Newlouventures ● @tymathews ● @CarynTomer ● @lniedner ● @kylewelborn ● @mikeaorlando● @robinrath ● @Kulig62 ● @aaronmottern● @marshal
People to Follow (cont’d)
● @chris_degroat ● @AaronPerlut ● @DrewWInship ● @AlexCruz4u ● @RyanRakestraw● @nicoletteand● @jon_leek● @PatentEnabler ● @tarapham ● @DanReus ● @sensoredmedia ● @Danlohman
● @JoeReaganSTL● @zoescharf● @jeromekatz ● @toddmetheny ● @MrSondag ● @wylodude ● @ronstoryjr ● @bredon ● @elbryant1226 ● @IsraelVicars● @pheirendt ● @sommerscm
How to Connect
● Maintain a good balance of giving and taking - what can you offer the startup community?
● Be respectful of people’s time - don’t always ask for an hour in person meeting. Ask questions via email or schedule 15 minute phone calls to start.
● Don’t ask investors/mentors to sign NDAs - figure out a way to talk about your idea without disclosing your ‘secret sauce’
● Attend events and meetups first - chances are, people will refer you to them.
● Be friendly and thank people for their time and/or advice, even if you don’t agree with it.
● Immerse yourself in the community - get a desk at a co-working space, volunteer at a startup event, be active on sites like Quora, Twitter, GitHub, Reddit, etc.
● Give and receive. If you’re asking for help, consider how you can give back.