NYEBN Meetup A Bust
Last night, I hopped a train to NYC and went to the NY Entrepreneurs Business Network Networking Event on behalf of my startup. There were good and bad things about this particular meetup. More after the jump…
The Good
- I met a few people who were very interesting, including one possible hire and a few fellow entrepreneurs with interesting and amusing war stories.
- I also got to catch up with a good friend and make a new one.
- There were a lot of people looking for jobs (see below for a bit more on the subject). When I gave each of them the Resume Everywhere elevator pitch, they were very interested and wanted to start using the service immediately. Anecdotal evidence sure, but it still is nice to hear.
The Bad
- As far as I could tell, no people who might have even considered providing funding. None. Not even one. A few bankers, but most startups I know are not really in the position to be chasing down loans (the ones that could get a loan don’t need one). If I was back in college, this would have been the equivalent of the all male kegger — lots of suitors, no dates or hookups.
- Lots of people looking for work. Not a bad thing in and of itself, but not what I’m looking for in one of these meetings. I am in a place where I need more resources, but I don’t have any cash with which to pay them nor do I have a mountain of equity lying around to compensate in that fashion.
The WTF?
- I understand the idea of using sponsors to defray the costs of hosting the event, but this was a bizarre mix of sponsors.
- A long distance company? (really, who pays for long distance anymore between cell phones for domestic calls and Skype for international ones?)
- A travel agency? (startups are poor and travel usually isn’t high on the agenda)
- Weight Loss?
- Laser Rejuvenation?
If you’re going to go through the hassle of having vendors in the hall, at least make them germane to the meetup. Like, this one: barter for goods & services rather than spend cash and they provide the marketplace for that. most startups are cash strapped, so that’s a useful service.
- A single drink ticket? I usually don’t drink at these functions — both to save on cash and to save on my dignity — but a single drink ticket seems unusually skimpy to me.
You know, I’m probably just spoiled by the DC startup scene. I know that NYC is supposed to be the hot market right now (second behind only Silly Valley), but the meetups I’ve been to in the DC area seem much more serious about things; there are funders there, the entrepreneurs seem both more collegial and more open to cooperative ventures and even the job seekers are more focused.
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