What makes a conference useful for entrepreneurs?
In February of 2008, Tom Hopcroft, Heather Johnson, James Gesweiler and I started working on a new conference design focused on helping early stage entrepreneurs find people who can help them grow, and help them create great businesses.
We set out some ambitious goals:
1. A conference that could help a large number of entrepreneurs.
2. A conference that would bring out the helping spirit in the community.
3. A conference that would be fun and different.
4. A conference that would, in fact, help foster new businesses.
We quickly realized that the old designs just wouldn’t work. MassTLC already had a “pitch session” conference where potential investors are invited to hear early stage folks make their pitch. But this “pitching” model sets up a dynamic that isn’t really that useful. We want to help people at a much earlier stage — when they are working on the idea and need help.
And the old model of the podium-based conference where you line up speakers in advance isn’t great for the entrepreneurs either. They don’t need lectures. They need down-to-earth input from people who get what they are doing.
As we started hashing out some new ways to do this, an entrepreneur I had been working with, Andrew Borg, mentioned that he went to an amazing conference — an unconference in NYC, and it was run by Kaliya Hamlin. We quickly connected with Kaliya and then the design work took on a whole new flavor. With every new idea, Kaliya was able to instantly say if it would work or not. Or how to modify the idea. She just knows how people behave in groups, and she knows all kinds of new ways to help people come together.
So the idea was formed, and the name was picked; MassTLC Innovation 2008 unConference. I had never heard of an unconference, even though the approach has been around for decades. The idea is amazingly simple. Gather people together and offer multiple places for meetings to take place. Then, in a structured way, have people propose their topics and put them all on a giant “agenda wall”. Then people pick what sessions to go to. The ethos is that everything flows. If you don’t like a session, leave and go to a different one. The idea is that everyone is where they want to be, learning what they want to learn.
Unconferences are unique in that they need very little upfront work. You just need a venue. Then post the conference, and whoever comes creates the event.
However, for our event, we decided that we must build on a central core that is based on the mission of helping entrepreneurs find new helpers for their idea. So I began to think: “What kind of help was most useful to me in the very early days of Avid?” These four jumped to mind:
1. Early on, when I was 19, I was building a mechanical, relay-based “whistle” system to help my hospital roommate, Tom Wade, who was a quadriplegic, control his phone, lights, TV, etc even though he couldn’t move his arms or legs. Later I was introduced to a man named John Beall, who knew how to use digital logic chips, and insisted that I learn it, immediately. He showed me how, and that changed my career, yielded a working Whistle System (and a 1980 patent) and led to my transfer to MIT. (I wrote an article about John Beall in Mass High Tech)
2. Later, when I came up with the idea for the Avid editing system, I was able to get my initial idea vetted by people who understood the problem and could help create the system. Eric Peters, who later became Avid’s CTO, is a key example.
3. Just a month after starting the company, I presented to the MIT Startup Forum dinner meeting. This group convinced me that I should not bootstrap the business and should get venture capital.
4. In February of 1988, Bill Kaiser of Greylock was the first and only VC we talked to, and he later invested.
These four events represent four kinds of helping that were crucial to me. First, John Beall helped me get on the right technology path. Second, Eric Peters helped me create the product I wanted to build. Third, the MIT Startup Forum helped me choose a good path to grow the company, and fourth, Bill Kaiser became a lead investor who put his energy, intelligence, and his time behind building a great company. The investment was $500K so it was almost like having an angel investor that led to venture.
So this led to the question: How could one design a conference that makes it easy for entrepreneurs to find the kind of help that I found useful when starting Avid?
I always tell entrepreneurs to figure out the straightest path to just where they want to go, so I figured I’d try it here. I sent letters to a whole ton of people who I thought could provide the same kind of help that I got in my early days. I told them my story, and asked them to volunteer a day for early stage folks. The response was amazing. Everyone said “yes.”
So the conference began in a different way than most. Instead of accomplished people being pursued as speakers for a quiet audience, this conference began with a roster of volunteers, experts in their field, who are ready to say “How can I help?”
Only then did we set out to find entrepreneurs who needed the help. Last year, we had 60 volunteer experts and 60 entrepreneurs. This formed the core of the conference, and served to attract the rest of the attendees.
The event itself was amazing. The agenda creation happened so quickly that by the time I put up my own session, the wall was full and we needed to add another venue. (in an unconference, there’s always room for more). Michael Greeley told us it was like “lightning in a bottle.” See the event on video here. (3 minutes)
What excites me the most is that the central goal was met. So many entrepreneurs did find people to help them. And funny thing…so did I. One of my passions is hand-pedaled cycles, and I found a great designer, Alan Ball, to help on that project. Mechanical design buffs will enjoy this blog about the “Morphing Handcycle.”
This year, for MassTLC Innovation 2009, we’re building on the same theme. We have an expanded venue, so we can handle even more people. Now we have over 75 volunteer experts, and we are finalizing the list of entrepreneurs. That same great dynamic is at the center of this event. Talented people asking, “How Can I Help?”
