Bull City Venture Partners tried something new for its annual meeting of LPs recently—an evening of talks and panel discussions before an invite-only audience of dozens of entrepreneurs and investors in the Durham fund’s local and national network.

A highlight of the evening at RTP headquarters was a “fireside” chat between BCVP partner Jason Caplain (top right) and Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst, an LP in the BCVP fund and angel investor in addition to his role running one of the largest open source software companies in the world.

The conversation ranged from advice for the startup CEOs in the room to thoughts on the region’s startup ecosystem and business climate in North Carolina to a more existential discussion involving our country’s political climate and the pace of technology advancement.

Key points:

  • Don’t be more professional.
  • Include everyone in your company’s strategy/plan
  • Talent is competitive but the Triangle isn’t hard to sell (to 30 and ups).
  • Ansible acquisition “easy”. More Triangle tech acquisitions on the way?
  • Technology acceleration is causing a political, social crisis.
  • The region’s needs: more capital, visibility and a MedTech cluster
  • State economic development policy makers shouldn’t treat all regions the same

Read Baverman’s full story at:

http://exitevent.com/article/startup-advice-insight-from-red-hat-ceo-jim-whitehurst-160419

​Note: ExitEvent is a news partner of WRAL TechWire.