Venturing Out: Durham
If you follow me on Twitter, you may have come across the following tweet from earlier this month:
It was on a particularly beautiful evening following CED’s Investor Fly-In Event, where founders and investors from all over the country convened for the afternoon.
Since moving to Nashville, I have visited the famed Research Triangle a handful of times to attend events and take meetings with the local startup community.
Yesterday, Bull City Venture Partners hosted their ninth annual Venture Outlook summit as part of their Entrepreneurs’ Series (#eseries19). They graciously invited me to join their VC panel, moderated by BCVP’s co-founder and managing partner Jason Caplain. Along with partners from Lightspeed, Foundation Capital, and Cisco Investments, I contributed Mucker’s perspective on the state of venture capital and the unique challenges facing founders and VCs alike in 2019 and beyond. Other sessions included a fireside with Scott Kupor from Andreessen Horowitz, John Somorjai from Salesforce and Salesforce Ventures, and local founders.
I met the Bull City Venture Partners team early in my relocation to the Southeast and have been a fan of theirs ever since. If you don’t know them, make sure to follow David and Jason on Twitter. Yesterday’s event reinforced my appreciation for them, given the high-caliber event they produced for over 700 attendees (including over 450 startup founders and 100 investors). They prompted meaningful discussion around the venture capital industry as a whole and both the advantages and disadvantages facing the Southeast as a growing force.
A few of my takeaways from #eseries19:
- Founders are increasingly choosing to build tech companies in the Southeast (#buildinSE), without the pressures of yesteryear from VCs to relocate to Silicon Valley
- Investors from the Bay Area, coastal areas, and Midwest are visiting North Carolina and the Southeast at a growing frequency
- Founders are in need of more options for local, early-stage capital
- Increasing numbers of local startup success stories will ideally create a flywheel effect to foster the growth of new startups
For those of you entertaining the idea of making the trip to Durham, here are a few of my favorite local stakeholders and places to stay, eat, and be merry.
- CED — the Council for Entrepreneurial Development is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization representing over 400 active companies in the Triangle, bringing investor and industry expert resources to North Carolina’s entrepreneurs.
- Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship — I&E serves as a hub and resource center across the Duke innovation system, connecting innovators to education, mentoring, resources, community, and intellectual leadership. (Duke also has the Duke Angel Network working closely with alumni to seed new ideas.)
- American Underground — In the heart of downtown Durham, you can’t miss American Underground’s beautiful building filled with startups and right-sized programming.
- Bull City Venture Partners — A Durham-based fund* investing in tech across the Southeast and mid-Atlantic region (and hosts of the Entrepreneurs’ Series!)
*For a full list of active Southeast investors, check out our Southeast Capital Landscape 2019 co-produced by Build In SE, Embarc Collective, Launch Tennessee, and HQ1.
Looking for a place to stay? I recommend staying downtown and enjoying the walkability to delicious restaurants and coffee shops. A few highlights:
- 21C Museum Hotel — central location, cozy accommodations, filled with art, and right across the street from my favorite little market and juice/smoothie place
- The Durham Hotel — MadMen-esque lobby perfect for morning coffee meetings, plus a beautiful rooftop bar with panoramic views of the Triangle.
- Coffee @ Cocoa Cinnamon — Love everything about the indoor/outdoor delight that is this coffee shop. Healthy breakfast treats are an added bonus.
- Breakfast & Lunch @ Jack Tar and The Colonel’s Daughter — Grab a seat at the counter with your laptop and enjoy!
- Sandwiches & Wi-Fi @ Lucky’s Delicatessen — Legit deli sandwiches and wi-fi. I loved cranking out emails while enjoying their Italian sandwich.
- Dinner @ Bar Virgile — I practically refuse to have dinner anywhere else at this point. This place rules. Fresh ingredients, swanky interior, beautiful bar.
I’m beginning to host regular events in Durham and would love to have you join if you find yourself passing through North Carolina. Just send me an email with your dates and we will go from there! I can be reached at Monique [ at ] mucker.com.
Did you find this post helpful? Check out the other blogs from my Venturing Out series on Atlanta and Chattanooga.
