Thu 6/20 @ 5:30pm
By Isaac Mell
After achieving that first level of success on their own, digital technology entrepreneurs may boggle at the prospect of how to grow their business.
The answer: talk to, learn from, and drink with their peers at TechPint (Thu 6/20 @ 5:30pm). This new event, sponsored by JumpStart, Bizdom and LaunchHouse, will see 150 active entrepreneurs and investors gathering at the Market Garden Brewery.
Paul McAvinchey, product innovation manager at MedCity Media and Irish expatriate, organized TechPint with his wife, Rebecca. He recognizes that success doesn’t occur in a vacuum.
“You can start a digital technology company from anywhere in theory, but it takes more than just an idea to get started,” McAvinchey says. “You need to be around people who are doing similar things to what you are. You really need to bring people together to share ideas regularly, and I think that’s where inspiration and new ideas come from, from talking to people. I’m telling everybody about this event, and when I say there’s going to be pints, everybody gets excited about getting together and having a few drinks, having a reason for getting together with like-minded people.”
Despite the casualness of the bar setting, the evening serves to heighten the attendees’ natural motivation.
McAvinchey says, “We’re very purposefully focusing the event on active entrepreneurs and investors, people who are in the thick of it and going through major challenges. They have already proved their business models and are going through this chasm where they don’t know what’s going to happen next. They might have to rethink where their business is going and how they make it bigger.”
Cleveland-based entrepreneurs have a natural advantage, according to McAvinchey.
“The city’s just perfect for a startup,” McAvinchey says. “I’ve been here for over a year now, and I was really impressed by what was going on with LaunchHouse and Bizdom and JumpStart, and just the amount of resources that they’re giving to anybody with an idea. For instance, this summer, those accelerators, along with the ONE Fund grant, are attempting to start thirty new startups in one summer, which is staggering, really; it’s difficult to find that number of ideas and startups.
“We have all the organizations that are literally pushing cash to entrepreneurs with ideas, and then the resources that those organizations are given. It’s cheap to live here and it’s easy to get money to start an idea. There’s literally no reason why somebody with an idea shouldn’t be able to start in Cleveland.”
McAvinchey also points to the mentorship offered by experienced local entrepreneurs, several of whom will be speaking at the event: Josh Walsh, Mike Belsito, and John Knific, of DesigningInteractive.com, eFuneral.com and DecisionDesk.com, respectively.
“For instance, John Knific will be talking about the growing expectations that come with a growing company,” McAvinchey says. “Initially he had this concept of a web application that allows colleges to deal with the huge influx of applications, and in one sense he’s already built something that’s provided a solution to this. He’s grown to a company with about fifteen employees, so he’s got to a point where he wanted to be, but in order to bring on more investment dollars, and in order to grow a team, he’s really got to think beyond what he’s already done. It’s very interesting to hear what the expectations are from his investors, when he goes looking for x million of dollars.”
With a world of possibilities for apps, websites and internet-based technologies, the attendees of TechPint will determine the outcome of the evening.
“The value of the event is really based around who’s there,” McAvinchey says. “[Digital technology] is a very wide, broad area and it’s really going to be defined by who turns up. And that’s why I think it’s a good reason for getting these people together, over a few drinks, to let down their guard a little bit and just start talking about their lives and see what we can get from that.”
A handful of $15 tickets are left—purchase at http://TechPint.org. Send questions to paul@yaboya.com. If you miss this one, sign up in July for TechPint II, which arrives in September.
And stay in touch—“If somebody can’t get tickets I want to hear about them anyway, to learn more about them and make sure for the next event we can accommodate them, too,” McAvinchey says.
TechPint is happening Thu 6/20 at 5:30pm @ the Market Garden Brewery in Ohio City. Buy tickets at http://TechPint.org.
[Photo by Rob Sinclair]
Isaac Mell grew up in South Euclid, OH and attended American Jewish University in Los Angeles. He welcomes conversations with potential employers, collaborators and friends.
Cleveland, OH 44113