Steve Case’s visit to Raleigh and Durham next month is proof its hard to digest the entire startup community in a single day.

I hopped on the phone with Case’s team at Revolution yesterday, along with local organizer Adam Klein of American Underground, to hear more about the venture capitalist’s much-anticipated visit to the Triangle for the Rise of the Rest Tour May 5. It’s an event Klein believes will give the Triangle the national spotlight for a day, and despite the time and geographic constraints of the tour, the chance to tell the story of a region embracing entrepreneurship, not just a single city.
“This area has been under the radar for awhile but I suspect through this tour, word will get out,” says Klein. “It’s up to us to take advantage of that moment to capture new attention and investors after the tour heads out of town.”
Along Case’s second stop on his third tour (here are photos from the first two), he’ll meet with entrepreneurs, investors, startup supporters, economic development workers and policymakers, discuss the region’s biggest strengths and challenges in a public forum and judge a pitch competition that will send one lucky startup team home with $100,000 investment and a direct link to one of the biggest national names in venture capital.
Oh, and he’ll have some fun too. He’s throwing the first pitch at the Durham Bulls baseball game that evening.
So how do you get the best picture of the startup community in a day?  Here’s Case’s itinerary:
When he arrives to town from Richmond on a huge tour bus, he’ll first stop in Raleigh to visit the tech hubs at HQ Raleigh and American Underground on Fayetteville Street. Revolution’s Herbie Ziskend says Case will do a meet and greet with as many entrepreneurs as possible during that time, but the visit will be informal.

Klein believes that network effect is the beauty of the tour—it connects the Triangle to a national venture fund and its growing network in cities outside Silicon Valley. He also hopes Revolution and Case will provide some insight back to our region.
“They have a unique vantage point having been elsewhere and can point out strengths and weaknesses,” Klein says. “Having someone outside our area who is knowledgeable and has a precise view of things look in—that will be an important outcome of this as well.”