Adam Klein

Editor’s note: A joke circulating earlier this year lumped the Triangle, Nashville, Chicago together under a moniker that chided many cities’ perceived Austin-envy: “South-by-SouthMAYBE.” That’s a play off the South-by-Southwest festival, which has helped make Austin such a hot spot. But at the Southern Governors’ Association meeting, Adam Klein, who runs the American Underground entrepreneurial hubs in Durham and Raleigh, lets the world know: There’s no “maybe” about the Triangle as an entrepreneurial metro. Be sure to read Klein’s essay, requested by and written especially for WRAL TechWire. DURHAM, N.C. - Durham and the Triangle have done amazing things to...

Editor’s note: Adam Klein is chief strategist at the Durham and Raleigh based startup hub network known as the American Underground. DURHAM, N.C. – It’s well known among area entrepreneurs that something big is happening in the Triangle. And increasingly, people outside of startup circles understand, perhaps more vaguely, that good things are brewing. Two recent developments underlined the potential and excitement — one of them being the proverbial ‘front page news’ and both of them tied to an essential ingredient of entrepreneurial success: connectivity. Last week, Google announced it will engage with seven Triangle metros, including Durham and Raleigh,...

Editor’s note: WRALTechWire asked Adam Klein, chief strategist for the American Underground in Durham, to offer his assessment on the impact of Wednesday’s news that a Google Tech Hub will be established in the Bull City. Klein has been talking with Google about a possible partnership for months and was in Chicago for the announcement. DURHAM, N.C. – The American Underground and Google announced a partnership Wednesday, with the American Underground joining a Google for Entrepreneurs Tech Hub network of six other hubs across North American. So exactly what does Google partnering with the American Underground mean? Here are the...

Editor’s note: Adam Klein, the chief strategist for the American Underground, is blogging for WRALTechWire from the World Chambers Congress in Qatar. DOHA, QARTAR – The Smoffice wins gold! The Smoffice has just been declared the winner of the World’s Most Unconventional Economic Development initiative at the World Chambers Congress, announced today in Doha, Qatar. We were up against national chambers from Korea, Slovenia, Finland and Germany, all of which were very well funded and very quality projects. So, it did come as a shock to us when our name was called as the winner today. I was shaking on stage...

Editor’s note: Adam Klein is chief strategist at The American Undergroundin Durham. He is writing for WRALTechWire from Qatar where Durham’s “Smoffice” is competing for the Most Unconventional Economic Development Project award at the World Chambers Congress. DOHA, QATAR - No U.S. city has ever won an award at the World Chambers Congress – a fact that drove our team from the Triangle to focus very hard on the strategy behind our presentation this morning. As if we weren’t fired up already, I had the “Eye of the Tiger” from Rocky playing in the background while we worked. We presented at...

Editor’s note: Adam Klein is chief strategist at The American Underground in Durham. DOHA, Qatar – Sometimes thinking small can lead to big results – at least that’s the premise behind The Smoffice, a project launched in Durham last spring and now an award finalist at the World Chambers Congress annual meeting in Doha, Qatar this week. The Smoffice, spawned by the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Durham, Inc, was a national competition to give away the World’s Smallest Office in the front window of Beyu Caffe to one startup for six months. The winning company received technical...

It takes a region to build a region. A delegation of Triangle entrepreneurs and community leaders (complete list below, representing Startup NC, went to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday for a gathering of regions involved in the Startup America partnership. The Startup America Partnership, by way of background, is an organization supporting startup ecosystems around the country. The initiative was launched at the White House in 2011, with the Kauffman Foundation and Case Foundation providing initial funding. Scott Case, former Priceline CTO, is now CEO of the Partnership. Some might recall that Startup America initially visited the American Underground in the fall...

Editor’s note: Adam Klein is the Chief Strategist for the American Underground. He is responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the Underground including marketing, programming, and leasing. Prior to that he was with the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce where he launched the Bull City Startup Stampede and The Smoffice initiatives. He’ll be blogging for WRAL News about the launch of non-stop flight service to Silicon valley from RTP, which began Wednesday, and meetings with investors as well as entrepreneurs in technology’s cradle. SAN FRANCISCO – I had three hours Friday morning before I caught my departing flight home...

Editor’s note: Adam Klein is the Chief Strategist for the American Underground. He is responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the Underground including marketing, programming, and leasing. Prior to that he was with the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce where he launched the Bull City Startup Stampede and The Smoffice initiatives. He’ll be blogging for WRAL News about the launch of non-stop flight service to Silicon valley from RTP, which began Wednesday, and meetings with investors as well as entrepreneurs in technology’s cradle. SAN FRANCISCO – When you read entrepreneurial blogs from leaders like Brad Feld and others, a...