DISQUS

FYI, I used your TwitThis link, and it generated a bad link...

What a great list! There are a few here I've never been able to find — searching on the wrong keywords, I suppose. I'm in for an evening of blog tweaking, for sure.

Thanks for a really meaty blog.

Opening LaunchPad Coworking + Cafe in Downtown Austin early next year. Early adopter, serial entrepreneur, cocky bitch.

Glad to hear the MJS is Twittering! I grew up in Milwaukee and still have lots of family there. And although the the paper itself is, uh..., just a tad to the right for my tastes, I'll definitely be following my hometown Twitterer :)

Crap. He's right. I *do* suck at Photoshop.

Tell us more about your criteria for a space. Size? Cost? Does it need to be ready to go or will you do some finish out? Parking?

Have you talked with Joshua at Progress? He's into the coworking idea, and a while back I believe there was some space about to be available right in that building.

Gee, let's go stalk some hookers and see what we can find! Better yet, let's entrap someone we don't like - they get arrested and we make money!

This is scary, scary shit.

The hoops I'm referring to are the agreements that need to be set up for investors and partners. Incorporating is not a big deal, agreed. I'm referring to the nuts and bolts of the investment. Is it an equity deal or a loan instrument? How are funds distributed? Will there be additional rounds? How do you avoid too much eventual dilution? None of this is rocket science, but someone has to figure this stuff out. I have a hard time envisioning a company that can be set up with investors for just 2K.

I'd be happy if you proved me wrong, though! And I'd definitely like to hear more about YC.

I would *so* love for someone to figure out the microfund thing. Some of the problems with that:

* whether you're investing 25K, 250K, or 2.5mil, you still have to jump through all sorts of legal and regulatory hoops. Half of the 25K gets sucked up getting all that set up.
* so you do a pool, right? 250K for 10 startups. But then the investor has to keep track of 10 companies - can't really do that effectively.

I've done several startups, but never gone the VC route. Back in the day, AV wouldn't even touch a company who needed less than a million - too much work for not enough profit. The couple times I looked for investors in the 90s, I found the 250K I was looking for was *not enough* for anyone to be interested, even if I gave them a good sized chunk of my profitable business.

That said - I'd be all over doing my part to help someone figure it out. So many talented people need that small boost to get started - it would pay of in so many ways other than financial. Hard to get investors to think that way though.

Thanks for the improved picture :)

While it's true that, as a rule, older = less tech savvy, assuming a whole generation (or two) needs different tools isn't a very useful assumption. The differential isn't age, it's whether people are online or offline. So a more relevant question is "how can we help people who aren't online connect?"

Someone did a Twitter poll recently asking everyone's age - I believe the median age was 37. Not scientific, and not boomers, but it certainly shows it's more than a "kid thing".

re: the "these people" thing... there's not a doubt in my mind you were trying to be helpful. Turn that into "you people" though - What do You People [blacks, women, gays, liberals... the list goes on] want? It's a way to classify a big group of people as something other than the norm, which of course is straight, white, and male.

I've owned the domain youpeople.com for years. Perhaps I should bring it online and have this discussion there :)

John, John, John. Those folks in the picture? They are not boomers. They are parents of boomers. I'm 45 - at the tail end, technically, of the boomer generation.

"There needs to be a way to connect these people"? Hello! We're perfectly capable of using the same tools you are. (And really... "these people?")

Half the people at the last Jelly I attended were boomers. Your friends at LaunchPad Coworking, and notanmba, and geekaustin - we're all boomers.

Alex - It was so great to meet you at sxsw, and I'm so glad we had the chance to participate in so many good conversations together. Your passion is apparent and contagious. What a fantastic journey we're on!

yours in hoarseness,
Julie

Let's see... there's a high-heel shoe icon, astrology & "hair-day" weather forecasts up top. A quick scan of the articles by the celebs show clothing and shoes articles.

I'm female, 45, and so not interested.

AND...

Ideally, managers are leaders and leaders are managers. It's jut not always the case.

Leadership can be found at all levels. Think revolutionaries and pioneers.

Dictators are often excellent managers.

(I recognize these are extremes)

Management is about the business - about getting things done. Leadership is about the people - it's about motivation and inspiration.