About SpringStage
The SpringStage Startup Community
SpringStage is a community of catalysts who are in tune with their local entrepreneurship and startup scenes. Fomally launched in 2009, SpringStage mission is to ensure that there is a visible resource in every community for early stage entrepreneurs.
Today, if you’re new to a city outside of San Francisco, New York or Boston and you want to be involved in the startup scene there, there very few clear cut ways to get involved. Springstage hopes to fix that by identifying and promoting credible catalysts in each community. We are providing the infrastructure and mentorship for those catalysts to begin promoting their location entrepreneurship scene immediately.
David Cohen of Boulder, Colorado and Alexander Muse of Dallas, Texas co-founded SpringStage. Both have been blogging for years and both are natural startup catalysts in their respective communities. Their blogs are read by thousands in their community and are considered go to resources on entrepreneurial events and news in their area. Both are experienced angel investors and entrepreneurs.
Springstage was formed to take what David and Alexander learned and apply it nationwide to foster entrepreneurship. Every local community that hopes to improve the startup activity in their community can learn from those who have been successful doing so in the past. They can follow in our footsteps. 20 other local catalysts are already doing so, and we’re just getting started.
Our vision for Springstage is to be a beacon for entrepreneurial activities in local communities across the country. When someone enters a community and wants to get involved with the local startup scene, we want them to think about the local Springstage catalyst as the perfect starting point.
How will SpringStage improve the way news and information are devliered to geographic communities?
SpringStage fixes the fractures. Currently, news and information about the local startup community comes from local bloggers who are intimately tied to each community. Look around - angel investors are blogging. Venture Capitalists are blogging. Well known entrepreneurs are blogging. But it takes time and energy to discover this when you enter a new community.
What if these catalysts, who already exist and who are the leaders of their local tech community could instead organize under the banner of Springstage? This would drive national exposure and cross promotion to the local community. It would make their efforts more financially viable, as Springstage could serve to attract national advertisers and sponsors.
We’re simply promoting and organizing what’s already happening. Springstage simply unifies the catalysts who are already passionate about their startup community. We help them with best practices and joint learning. In turn, entrepreneurship wins.
How is SpringStage innovative?
There is no global network of startup activists and community catalysts. Entrepreneurship is therefore invisible in so many communities where it should not be. Springstage will drive distribution and give a higher purpose to the catalysts who are already so diligently attempting to promote their local startup communities. Springstage innovates by bringing the tools and experience to simplify this effort and to make it more rewarding.
What experience does SpringStage have?
David Cohen and Alexander Muse are co-founders of SpringStage. Both followed this model to become leaders and promoters of entrepreneurship in our own communities. Now they want to share this with the world.
David Cohen has been blogging at ColoradoStartups.com for three years. He’s covered hundreds of local startups and his blog is well known in Colorado by those involved in entrepreneurship. David is a four-time founder of companies in Colorado - he’s investing the money he made from those ventures and giving back to his local community. David is also an active angel investor. Through his blog, he has become perhaps one of the most well known angel investors in the state. David also runs TechStars, a seed stage mentorship driven investment fund in Boulder, CO. David has funded over 35 startups and has led successful M&A transactions. You would be hard pressed to find a more staunch supporter of early stage entrepreneurship in Colorado than David.
Alexander Muse is “that guy” in Dallas. He’s been blogging on TexasStartupBlog for nearly four years. He too has covered and promoted the Dallas startup scene with great fervor. Alex is also a well known investor and entrepreneur in his community. Alex organizes regular events in Dallas and brings the entrepreneurial community together through his efforts. You’d be hard pressed to find someone in the Dallas community who has done more to help put it on the national map as a leader of entrepreneurship.
Both David and Alex are doing this because they firmly believe that something like SpringStage should and must exist. We’re doing it because we love it, and because we can create good in the world.
Interested in joining?
WHY: There are perhaps a hundred reasons why someone would want to join SpringStage as a catalyst. David and Alexander initially became catalysts to generate deal flow for their investment activities. Over time the pair realized that being part of the communities they helped create was reason enough. The reality is we all win if we can create cooperative environments that are friendly to entrepreneurs and startups. They attract early and late stage investors and potential employees.
WHO: Anyone can make a great catalyst. It simply takes a) five to ten hours a month, b) a desire to connect with local entrepreneurs, c) the ability to write a few blog posts a week, and d) the dedication to stick with the effort for at least a year. Each SpringStage community will look different depending on the catalyst; there is no right answer. Great catalyst are:
* Angel Investors
* Venture Capitalists
* Entrepreneurs
* Would-be Entrepreneurs
* Academics
HOW: Becoming a SpringStage catalyst or contributor is very easy. Complete our short application: http://tinyurl.com/springstage-app. If there is already a catalyst in your area we will immediately connect you. If there isn’t a catalyst in your area a member of our selection committee (consisting of David and Alexander at this point) will give you a call to determine if there is a good fit.
