While enjoying some sandwiches with the group at a local sub shop called Snarf’s, basking in the warm sunlight, we noticed that across the parking lot was someone very familiar. It turned out that it was Jen Lewin from the Studio Boulder, whom we had encountered a few days before. We easily went and talked with her while she waited for lunch. This is a great example of one of the factors that make Boulder such a thriving startup community: the easily made collisions, interactions between people in the community that happen organically.
Today we started the day by getting coffee and donuts to have at an outlook at the mountains, overlooking the expanse of Boulder, with the blue sky extending everywhere and beautiful Flat Irons behind us. After enjoying our breakfast with a view we went to meet Jason Mendelson from the Foundry Group. A very relaxed conversation where we got to learn about Jason’s experience and how he got to be where he is today.
Later in the day we went to meet with John Balk at Victor and Spoils, a nice and open coworking space in Pearl St. Another great example of collisions and serendipity, we had met John before while hiking near the National Center for Atmospheric Research. A beautiful walk by the way.
Boulder, with a population of around 100,000, is a tight community with an entrepreneurial culture, where most people are passionate about what they do. Where failure is not seen as something to be punished. With 330 days of sun a year, people are constantly doing activities outdoors; everything is at a short distant walking, and there’s almost no traffic in the city if you need to drive somewhere. As we have learned from the people we have met with, Boulder is such a good startup community because of the “pay-it-forward” mentality. Boulder is a place where there is constant collaboration and healthy competition.
This culture of collaboration that exists here creates an environment where spontaneity and serendipity give birth to great interactions with people and at the end a great learning experience overall.
