how to help startups

Something really strange happened at the January ExitEvent Startup Social. Even with the distraction of the incredible craft selections from Mystery Brewing and the noise from the ping-pong table smack in the middle of Neu Concepts, a whole lot of lame business-type stuff got done. Despite the lack of any agenda, nametags, speakers, panels, sponsors, breakouts, demos, swag, sessions, or hashtags. The simple beauty of the Startup Social is that I put smart entrepreneurs — this time just over 100 but we’ve gotten over 200 — and a few investors in the same room, give them music and beer,...

First, let me set it up. Every month, ExitEvent puts over 100 smart entrepreneurs in a room with some investors, without any agenda, nametags, or instructions of any kind. We give them beer, music, and some food, and then they inevitably solve a lot of their own problems. It’s called the Startup Social. At the January Startup Social, I put a suggestion box near the beer and asked (and I goaded almost everyone into answering): If ExitEvent.com wants to be the first place entrepreneurs log into every morning, what does it need to offer? Context: ExitEvent is a network...