When we were not in scheduled meetings with important keystones of the Boulder startup community, we had some free time to explore the city, take in the culture, and create relationships on our own. Since we were required to use our free time to engage with the startup community, we had somewhat restricted freedom that pushed us out of our comfort zones and led to some truly amazing and inspiring experiences.
Alexis immediately and fearlessly began contacting people in the startup community. Our first visit, thanks to Alexis, was with The Studio Boulder, a co-working, office, and creation space. The space houses a variety of creative professionals including artists, graphic designers, and even a robotic companies. The Studio is different than any other co-working spaces we have seen so far thanks to the breathtaking aesthetics and focus on artists and builders. The industrial and vintage feel of the space is both charming and inspiring. We were shown around The Studio by the young and enthusiastic Charlie, who then helped us make a seamless introduction to the brewery next door, Sanitas. At Sanitas, we were able to talk with of the founding brewers, Michael Memsic. Michael told us about the struggles of starting a craft brewery but also of the immensely supportive craft beer community. Much like the mostly tech-based communities we have been studying, companies within the craft beer community are collaborative and always willing to help others. Breweries like Sanitas don’t view themselves as eachothers’ competition, but instead are all united in the goal of educating beer drinkers and chipping away at the giant share of the beer market that belongs the large corporations.
On our second day in Boulder, we had the whole day to ourselves to explore, indulge, and learn. I decided to spend much of my time on the famous Pearl St. in downtown Boulder. It was here that I began to think about and discuss the role that “lifestyle” businesses play in a startup community. I began the morning incredibly early at The Laughing Goat coffee shop, chatting the morning away with Jill, Fareed, and John. After a couple hours and an above par soy latte, a few more classmates showed up and we ventured out onto the pedestrian walking mall. We visited some great businesses and even saw a fire-juggling comedian. We also met up with a friend of mine from WMU, George, who now lives and studies in Denver and toured the beautiful campus of University of Colorado, Boulder. You can read about all of the activities in my blog post about Saturday.
On Sunday, we went to the mountains and had a beautiful hike. While in the mountains we met multiple people who were also from Michigan. We met a Sean and his wife, who run a dog-hiking company called Timberline Canine. We also met WMU alumni Jon Balck from Victors and Spoils, who was hiking with his family. Making this connection while hiking allowed us to be able to actually meet with Jon on Monday and discuss his advertising company and his thoughts on Boulder (plus score some cool new swag). Later on Monday, Jill, Fareed, Katie, and I stumbled upon the marketing company and co-working space Atomic 20. We met the president and co-founder, Jeff Donaldson, who told us how his company brings in work for the freelancers in the co-working space. Jeff suggested we check out the accelerator downstairs called Boomtown. We were lucky enough to meet with some guys who are actually going through the accelerator right now with their company RealTalk. We spent some time chatting with Anthony Haid, Yanni Laloudakis, and Adam Geiger about their product and the Boulder startup community. Having this experience was great because we were able to help give them feedback on their product and hear real stories about what it is like to be going through the process right now. The coolest thing we heard from them is that the “Boulder ethos” of “give first” is really happening! The guys from RealTalk told us they are able to afford living here because of a member of the startup community giving them a deal on a place to stay.
On our last day we arrived back at BoomTown for Boulder Open Coffee Club, where we were welcomed with applause for being college students out of bed by 8 am! The community was very welcoming and open. All different kinds of people from the Boulder startup community show up and announce any news on their business, open positions, or skills that they have. It seemed to be a great way to make connections.
I found that using my free time to interact with the Boulder startup community was extremely helpful and allowed me to really see some of the stuff in action that we have been discussing.
