#BOSTech ‘17 Part 2: VC Initiatives List
Last week I wrote a post about how Boston VCs need to lead the way when it comes to building the Boston tech community. I got some great responses from folks at OpenView and Flybridge in the comments, along with a bunch of emails from other VCs. Not surprisingly, many said they agreed with my sentiments (though not many jumped at asking my opinion on what we could be doing better, but that’s ok) and shared some information on initiatives they have in place to help build community.
In order to do my part and help the VC community maximize their efforts, I’ve decided to start a comprehensive list of the local VC initiatives to make Boston Tech great again (see what I did there? I didn’t vote for Trump or HC FWIW).
IMPORTANT NOTE: This list is a starting point and I would like everyone to send me their initiatives, events, etc. If I missed anything, please contact me on VentureApp (it’s a messaging platform for the innovation community!), and I will add it to this list, which I intend to make an ongoing resource. If I left off your firm, my apologies, please let me know and I will add you as well.
BY FIRM IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
- Executive Councils — invite only network of top execs in cybersecurity, healthcare and data.
- Student Fellows Program — undergrad and grad students join two year program to get access to capital community, .406 vendor partners and accelerate their startups success.
- TUGG sponsor/participant
- Founded Technology Underwriting Greater Good, TUGG — hosts wine and tequilla party, Tech Gives Back, Boston Tech marathon team, and invests capital into dozens of social good startups
- Accomplice incubator — office space within their offices to provide free office space to dozens of early stage companies
- BOSS syndicate — network of angel investors they support by writing $250k to back their early stage investments. 36+ founders/angels in syndicate, 38+ companies funded
- hack/reduce — community platform for the big data community
- Funded BostInno
Atlas
- TUGG sponsor/participant
- Funded BostInno
CRV
- Stay in MA — scholarship to help local students attend tech events and get engaged with the community.
- What makes the Boston startup scene special — presentation by Jeff Bussgang published/updated every year.
- Graduate Syndicate — funding Harvard and HBS companies.
- NEVCA board member
- Insights
- NEVCA board member
- Founder Dialogues — event hosted by Eric Paley interviewing prominent entrepreneurs
- Disclosure: I am a founder of Fullstack. We are a seed fund focused on companies that can leverage “sports-as-a-platform” for growth.
- Fullstack Sports Syndicate — private investment syndicate of professional sports team owners, players, league officials, front office executives and top sports-tech funds.
- Coming soon: platform and physical space
- How hard can it be? — podcast by G20 group member Mike Troiano
- Venture Briefing Center — program to connect desirable customers with b2b tech companies in Boston
- Blog
- Roughdraft — Student run fund funding student startups
- Roughdraft academy — connects technical students with startups
- Entrepreneur Forum — private event where prominent entrepreneurs are interviewed
- Blog
- Common App — one consolidated application for their portfolio jobs
- For Entrepreneurs — David Skok’s blog outlining how to build a sales and marketing machine is one of the best resources for b2b startups
- Portfolio jobs
- Blog
- NEVCA board member
- Hitchhiker’s guide to Boston Tech — thorough breakdown of the Boston Tech community
- NextView content platform — resources for entrepreneurs
- OpenView Labs — insights, advice and founder interviews to help you grow your business.
- OpenView Events — curated list of OV’s events.
- OpenView Expert Network
- NEVCA board member
- Beyond Great — Leadership community
- Portfolio Jobs
- NEVCA board member
- _cores — community groups focused around a particular focus/discipline
